An elephantine form of the East African demons called shetani, as carved by a Makonde sculptor

In addition to his science fiction, Alan Dean Foster has written a lot of fantasy stories. From some of the things he's said, I get the distinct impression that he writes SF to nourish the mind and fantasy to nourish the soul. His fantasy is generally fairly light on character and plot, and very heavy on the world-building and the creativity. Which may not get him many awards, but makes for some mighty fine reading, in my opinion.