What Next?

I just noticed that Anne McCaffrey died.  When did that happen?  No, no, I realize it was 5 days ago.  Still, it's shocking to think - so many of these fantasy and sci-fi writers from my youth are getting up there in age.  It must be how my parents feel about their rock star idols.  Sure, there's plenty of good writers who are currently churning out novels.  But will they ever be as good as those who have passed before us, like Douglas Adams and Marion Zimmer Bradley (to say nothing of Tolkien, Lewis, and Asminov)?  Shall we be left parsing together old tales; for truly, how different can a quest of high fantasy be from one another, or a voyage into deep space?  Can we really come up with new plots for vampires and werewolves, ghosts and witches, aliens and monsters, dragons and princes?

I love fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal fiction as much as the next.  I'm certainly not trying to criticize.  I think it would be nearly impossible to write in these genres without -ahem- borrowing from other authors.  But maybe, just maybe, there's a way to find new plots.