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I'm still heartbroken and echo your feelings of the impact Ursula K. Le Guin had on me as a child, which has beautifully persisted, thankfully, into adulthood.

Farewell Ursula K Le Guin.

Your search for balance and compassion as you explored the inner lands of imagination was an inspiration, and it was with you that I first encountered the practice of magic as precise as any science, and as morally ambiguous, and where the use of power always hinged on a precarious balance of opposing forces. Since then, a need for balance in acts of power always resonates within me. Maybe one day it will resonate with the real-life wizards of our world, as it did with the Archmage Sparrowhawk. So long to Earthsea and beyond.

I love how she framed the need for "realists of a larger reality."   So long Ursula K. Le Guin.

All wonderful.  Hooray for the hippos!

It was hard for me to suspend reality to see a rat as a chef and did not find credible the short amount of time it took the rat to become a "genius chef,"  but I was happy to read how the film impacted you in such a beautiful way. 

Was I the only one, as a little boy, who fell instantly in love with Jenny Agutter?

I suspect Rey would look good even in an empty sack of potatoes.

Is there any sci-fi/fantasy work that does not have special elixirs or drugs?    ;-)

Echoing, "chilling."

Ok, I need a walk outside and some fresh air after this excerpt.    Well done.

Here's to the cockroach authors!  Long may they thrive.

Haven't read any of the five books mentioned. Is there something other than polyamory that should land them on a reading list? Carl Kruse Note: message edited by moderator. Please don't include links to unrelated sites in comments.

"Two years of miscellaneous dialogue about such knotty questions as the existence of God in a universe in which true evil exists ensue, without anything like a proper answer arising. (Which, really, is just as it should be.)"

I like how you phrase this.  Not that I like that there is no proper answer for the question as to why true evil exits.

Carl Kruse

If anyone finds themselves in Munich I encourage a visit to Bavaria Films Studio, where The Neverending Story was filmed.

You can even “ride” Falcor and watch yourself do it via a screen monitor.

Thanks for the article.  I never thought I would revisit The Neverending Story but have added it to my list to see again.

Carl Kruse

Thanks for the suggestion of reading The Hobbit, and for that matter The Lord of the Rings ALOUD. 
Always viewed these books as a guilty individual pleasure, as something to enjoy oneself, closeted in a warm nook, not as works that could be shared by reading aloud, especially to children.  I will try it.

Carl Kruse

About Carl Kruse

Thanks for your review Foz.  I’m unfamiliar with Kate Elliot’s work but have added the first book, King’s Dragon, to my reading list after reading your review.

Carl Kruse 

http://carlkruse.org

Sorry never mind. Re-reading the article I see it is available now on Vimeo.  Apologies!

Carl Kruse