I suppose that this really has become quite a popular theme nowadays. Vampires or hobbits, it's all about escapism, isn't it though. Seeing as how I live in a country with a 17% inflation (and rising), a surreal book is an always welcome distraction

As far as originality is concerned, I am probably not qualified enough to judge that since I haven't really read too many books belonging to this genre. Vampires aside, the main romance did contain some good old clichés, though