Several of the older authors that I've read have all claimed that they don't read the field of fantasy. They like to draw their inspiration from older sources. Beowulf, Le Morte de Arthur, Dante's Inferno, just to name a few. This seems to have changed in the last few years. Lately, we've seen the rise of a third generation of writers.
Those of us today consider Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert E. Howard and the like to be the fathers of modern fantasy. The next generation started with people like David & Leigh Eddings, Piers Anthony, and Terry Brooks. Continuing on with that came Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin. But what about the next generation? Steven Erikson, Brandon Sanderson, and Patrick Rothfuss all embody the third generation of Fantasy.
The first generation got their inspiration from the classics, and the next generation drew from the same, but were soundly influenced by the original masters. This new generation, however, draws its influence from all of these sources. I don't think its possible to write modern fantasy by simply drawing your ideas out of thin air.
It is important to try and keep your ideas your own, but don't just copy someone else's story, or even a character. Archetypes are called that for a reason.
