Fantasy vs. Science Fiction

I've read Tolkien's five-book series, *The Lord of the Rings*, *The Hobbit*, and *The Red Book* (I think that's what the collection of his early stories about Middle-earth is called?). And I actually liked the last one the most. It's fresh, unspoiled by violence and hatred. Poems, songs, and even culinary recipes! All without heroic pathos and mystical mumbo jumbo.
As for *The Lord of the Rings*... well, it's epic, wonderfully described, but so predictable... I devoured the first four books, got to the middle of *The Return of the King*, and put it down. It was already clear how it would all end. Then, four years later, I picked it up again, finished it... well, I didn't regret it, but I still felt that the work lacked something. It needs more intrigue.