Wow..love the name... was watching "The Holy Grail" this AM while sorting laundry.
Don't know about the Lord of the Rings similarity - I've only seen the movies, never got into reading the books and we ALL know the book is always better than the movie.
Still, if Tolkien and family is getting royalties off the movies, more power to him! I think HP is racheted down to a younger audience. And since parents like myself are desperate to pry the kid off videos and the PC (and it worked for 3 days) but still vetting what they read, Rowling has something good going.
BTW, if I ever publish my first book, I'll either use initials or my maiden name to help avoid the kook factor.