Just came back from dinner with the wife. We had a cocktail the restaurant called "Spanish Winter": Liquor 43, ginger ale, cinnamon and star anise. A perfect drink for a miserable autumn evening.
This was on the radio, wasn't it? I remember coming home from school and my mum telling me about it. I fell in love with the idea straight away, but it was a few more years before I ever got to play.
Terry Brooks describes it in some detail in Sometimes The Magic Works, plus LdR's other contributions to his career. But it's interesting to read about the bigger picture.
It's all moot: Star Wars has "Andor", and therefore wins.
That aside, you're never going to convince each other of your point of view. Just agree to disagree while things are still civil.
If anyone's ever in Spain, try La Mafia se Sienta a la Mesa. A chain of Italian restaurants with excellent food and excellent service. The menu isn't your standard "pizza and pasta". And they meet the "fast food" criterion because in my experience the service is faster than any fast-food place...
Have you tried the comics? I read the first four, I think, and they were quite good. They explain what happens to the "Two by two, hands of blue" agents, for instance.
It's a creature. That's one of the central themes of the book: Victor Frankenstein creates it. He's trying to be God, the Creator.
ETA: Gary Larson understands.