The Guardian is running a list of the Top 20 geek novels of the past 100 years (or so.) The HitchHiker’s Guide to the Galaxy places number one with multiple entries for Neal Stephenson and Isaac Asimov. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was not on the list. Probably because, as one responder put it:
I think that (the LOTR trilogy) comes under the category ‘Geek Bible’.