The Last Ring-Bearer.

[Cain]

Just to say:

while of course liking LOTR doesn't make you racist, it is equally true there are certain tropes within the fantasy genre as a whole, which was pretty much in its modern form invented by Tolkein, that do have an appeal to that kind of person.  I do not think it is for an appreciation of fine British writing that Italian neofascist militias in the 70s named their training camps after locations in Lord of the Rings (elven and hobbit name places, for those wondering).  And the volkisch emphasis on the rural, rustic way of life as opposed to the modern, technologically driven way of living is something which is easily read into LOTR, especially in the Scouring of the Shire (though equally, the precursors to Italian fascism were the futurists, who loved modern technology).  Not to mention seeing ones enemies as subhuman and not needing to be shown any mercy, as they are inherently evil...

In the hands of less capable writers, these tropes become noticeably more troublesome and hard to ignore.  The Iron Dream by American sci-fi/fantasy writer Norman Spinrad is actually a rather good take on this, as it is obstensibly an alternative history fictional novel written by Adolf Hitler (who, in this work, came to America after WWI as an artist and later writer) and is replete with Nazi themes which were not out of place in the pulp sci-fi and fantasy writing of the time.  In fact, Spinrad did almost too good a job with the book, as it ended up on several neofascist reading lists over the years.

[BadBeast]

I've just read Stan Nicholls'  "Orcs" trilogy, "Army of Shadows".
It's a better than average fantasy, nicely re-inventing the Orc's role, as complex, proud Warriors, much maligned by the other races.
Kind of like Klingons, without the fat ugly heads. And of course, maghjickal artifacts, and noble quests.

[Jasper]

My favorite take on orcs is, regrettaby, 40K.  It's not that they're low minded insane megalomaniacs whose motives are painfully simple/simply painful, it's the subtext that for them, there is no hardship.  They're the only race in the galaxy that is truly at peace with the world, which is to say, only happy during wars.