I'd have to push for Robert Jordan's super-lengthy Wheel of Time series along with
>>8. I'm on the 11th book right now and it's really getting crazy. To me, it feels more like the LotR trilogy than the Silmarillion did, though the Sil was good in its own right. I'd have to say that this series is probably even better than LotR, in terms of character depth, plot, world depth... In short, the Wheel of Time series has always felt more like a living, breathing world than LotR did. I highly recommend it.