I'm a big fan of Zelazny and Tolkien. What their works have in common is that a very lifesized, modern protagonist explores a mythical world. The out-of-place-ness and the presentday viewpoint of the heroes revives the myth itself and make it far more interesting for us. This tendency is symbolized by the habbit of smoking: Both Bilbo (and other hobbits) and Corwin (and almost all Zelazny heroes) are heavy smoker. By smoking, they defy the seriousness of the old mythical world.
In Ilium, although I'm through only 30 pages or so and don't know if the protagonist Hackenberry smokes, the setting is very Zelazniesque and Tolkienesque. A 20th century scholar revived in the midst of Trojan War as a servant of Greek gods reports the legendary war on site. He says Achilles is "sort of infinitely more handsome Arnold Schwarzenegger"! And he decides something. Although he don't yet tell what he decided, I know it. In "The lord of the rings", irrelevant hobbits changed the fate of the Middle Earth, like a flatter of a butterfly in China causes a Hurricane in NY. He is Sam (in the Lord of [Light |the Rings]).
