Don't get me wrong. I loved the Covenant books too, but lets face it: if you're looking for Tolkien in any epic fantasy, you're bound to discover him.
Brooks and Donaldson (and Lester Del Rey) were (un)lucky enough to be some of the first
commercially successful fantasy authors since Tolkien wrote LoTR. One or the other (or both) were bound to be brutally picked apart for any resemblances to Tolkien.