Dune
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I was just telling a friend of mine that I have zero knowledge of what dune is about at all, other than knowing it’s been a book and movie, and talked about in Syfy circles. I watch the trailer yesterday, and was a little underwhelmed even though I do like the styling and cinematography.
@89th it's an amazing story, with phenomenal world-building.
On third reading, however, I found the story-telling not as compelling as I did when I first read it in the 1980s.
If you're new to it, however, it's definitely worth a read.
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@89th it's an amazing story, with phenomenal world-building.
On third reading, however, I found the story-telling not as compelling as I did when I first read it in the 1980s.
If you're new to it, however, it's definitely worth a read.
@89th it's an amazing story, with phenomenal world-building.
On third reading, however, I found the story-telling not as compelling as I did when I first read it in the 1980s.
If you're new to it, however, it's definitely worth a read.
It's definitely got a different vibe than a lot of sci-fi. Different story.
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THE DUKE OF CALADAN to be released October 13
The Duke of Caladan, Book 1 of the Caladan Trilogy, is the first new Dune novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson in years.
The year before Dune.
Leto Atreides, Duke of Caladan and father of Muad’Dib. While all know of his fall and the rise of his son, Paul Atreides, little is known about the quiet ruler of Caladan and his partner Jessica. Or how a Duke of an inconsequential planet earned an emperor’s favor, the ire of House Harkonnen, and set himself on a collision course with his own death. This is the story.
Through patience and loyalty, Leto serves the Golden Lion Throne. Where others scheme, the Duke of Caladan acts. But Leto’s powerful enemies are starting to feel that he is rising beyond his station, and House Atreides rises too high. With unseen enemies circling, Leto must decide if the twin burdens of duty and honor are worth the price of his life, family, and love.
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Release wars...
Link to video -
It's a magical first book but Herbert is apparently one of those people who had one good book in him. That's one more than the vast majority of us, of course.
It's a magical first book but Herbert is apparently one of those people who had one good book in him. That's one more than the vast majority of us, of course.
I'm finishing off the last of the "Legends of Dune" trilogy: The Battle of Corrin.
It's set thousands of years before the events in "Dune" and explains a lot of the backstory of the Atreides and Harkonnen houses. The development of Mentats and Guild Navigators are major themes, as well as the quasi-religious aspects of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Bene Gesserit, etc.
If you have the inclination, take a look at this trilogy. It's not as "ethereal" as "Dune," and it's really hard, hard science fiction. I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
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It's a magical first book but Herbert is apparently one of those people who had one good book in him. That's one more than the vast majority of us, of course.
I'm finishing off the last of the "Legends of Dune" trilogy: The Battle of Corrin.
It's set thousands of years before the events in "Dune" and explains a lot of the backstory of the Atreides and Harkonnen houses. The development of Mentats and Guild Navigators are major themes, as well as the quasi-religious aspects of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Bene Gesserit, etc.
If you have the inclination, take a look at this trilogy. It's not as "ethereal" as "Dune," and it's really hard, hard science fiction. I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
It's a magical first book but Herbert is apparently one of those people who had one good book in him. That's one more than the vast majority of us, of course.
I'm finishing off the last of the "Legends of Dune" trilogy: The Battle of Corrin.
It's set thousands of years before the events in "Dune" and explains a lot of the backstory of the Atreides and Harkonnen houses. The development of Mentats and Guild Navigators are major themes, as well as the quasi-religious aspects of the Orange Catholic Bible, the Bene Gesserit, etc.
If you have the inclination, take a look at this trilogy. It's not as "ethereal" as "Dune," and it's really hard, hard science fiction. I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
I enjoyed them quite a bit, too.
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First trailer for part 2:
Link to video -
First trailer for part 2:
Link to video -
From the other “what are you watching thread”.
Never read the books, but it seems to be a common number one all-time sci-fi listing.
In short, I don’t know how anyone can watch that movie without subtitles, so many original terms and hard to hear. Otherwise I enjoyed the production quality and emersion into that world. Good music, visuals… I feel like I got dropped into an epic sci fi tale without knowing the previous context or the eventual future, but I heard Dune 2 is beyond impressive.
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In addition, I feel like I’ve scratched the surface of a much much larger story. Similar feeling when I watched LOTR.
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From the other “what are you watching thread”.
Never read the books, but it seems to be a common number one all-time sci-fi listing.
In short, I don’t know how anyone can watch that movie without subtitles, so many original terms and hard to hear. Otherwise I enjoyed the production quality and emersion into that world. Good music, visuals… I feel like I got dropped into an epic sci fi tale without knowing the previous context or the eventual future, but I heard Dune 2 is beyond impressive.
———-
In addition, I feel like I’ve scratched the surface of a much much larger story. Similar feeling when I watched LOTR.
From the other “what are you watching thread”.
In short, I don’t know how anyone can watch that movie without subtitles, so many original terms and hard to hear.
———-In addition, I feel like I’ve scratched the surface of a much much larger story. Similar feeling when I watched LOTR.
This is the third (completed) attempt to put Dune on the screen. David Lynch's was the first version and it is universally hated - or loved.
What didn't come thru in the first half of the movie is that this is all politics, with the Emperor pulling the strings behind all the machinations. Hopefully that'll become apparent in the 2nd half (Christopher Walken!).
And yeah, it's all part of a huge story that goes back at least a thousand years before "Dune." The rivalry of House Atreides and House Harkonnen, the origin of the Spacing Guild, the Bene Geserit Sisterhood, the Mentats....all that stuff predates the movies.
After Frank Herbert died (having completed Dune and five (6?) sequels, his son, Brian, undertook an effort to flesh out the story with a dozen or more prequel stories. They're much easier reads than Dune, but they explain how everything got to be the way it was.
I've enjoyed the "before Dune" books.
tl;dr version: Intelligent Machines are evil, and humanity cannot allow them to control ANYTHING. The various factions of humanity evolved to fill the needs of intelligent machines (The Mentats and the Spacing Guild).
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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From the other “what are you watching thread”.
In short, I don’t know how anyone can watch that movie without subtitles, so many original terms and hard to hear.
———-In addition, I feel like I’ve scratched the surface of a much much larger story. Similar feeling when I watched LOTR.
This is the third (completed) attempt to put Dune on the screen. David Lynch's was the first version and it is universally hated - or loved.
What didn't come thru in the first half of the movie is that this is all politics, with the Emperor pulling the strings behind all the machinations. Hopefully that'll become apparent in the 2nd half (Christopher Walken!).
And yeah, it's all part of a huge story that goes back at least a thousand years before "Dune." The rivalry of House Atreides and House Harkonnen, the origin of the Spacing Guild, the Bene Geserit Sisterhood, the Mentats....all that stuff predates the movies.
After Frank Herbert died (having completed Dune and five (6?) sequels, his son, Brian, undertook an effort to flesh out the story with a dozen or more prequel stories. They're much easier reads than Dune, but they explain how everything got to be the way it was.
I've enjoyed the "before Dune" books.
tl;dr version: Intelligent Machines are evil, and humanity cannot allow them to control ANYTHING. The various factions of humanity evolved to fill the needs of intelligent machines (The Mentats and the Spacing Guild).
After Frank Herbert died (having completed Dune and five (6?) sequels, his son, Brian, undertook an effort to flesh out the story with a dozen or more prequel stories. They're much easier reads than Dune, but they explain how everything got to be the way it was.
He also wrote a couple of graphic novels for Dune, broken up into two books.
What's cool about those is that he knows what Dune is supposed to look like, so in a way, they're about the most authentic visual representations of the story you can find. (Although the most recent movie gets it just as close in my opinion.)
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What I enjoyed about the "prequels" written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson is the "origin" stories. As I mentioned, why do the Harkonnens hate the Atreides so much? They explain how Erasmus, the most powerful "thinking" machine took a human under his "wing" and helped him develop superior thinking skills, becoming the first Mentat. How spice is SO addictive, and imparts the ability to forsee the future, enabling FTL navigation. Until then, FTL was possible, but by might end up in the middle of a star. Spice changed that.
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What I enjoyed about the "prequels" written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson is the "origin" stories. As I mentioned, why do the Harkonnens hate the Atreides so much? They explain how Erasmus, the most powerful "thinking" machine took a human under his "wing" and helped him develop superior thinking skills, becoming the first Mentat. How spice is SO addictive, and imparts the ability to forsee the future, enabling FTL navigation. Until then, FTL was possible, but by might end up in the middle of a star. Spice changed that.
What I enjoyed about the "prequels" written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson is the "origin" stories. As I mentioned, why do the Harkonnens hate the Atreides so much? They explain how Erasmus, the most powerful "thinking" machine took a human under his "wing" and helped him develop superior thinking skills, becoming the first Mentat. How spice is SO addictive, and imparts the ability to forsee the future, enabling FTL navigation. Until then, FTL was possible, but by might end up in the middle of a star. Spice changed that.
As well as the Bene Gesserit, the Tleilaxu, the Fremen, and more. It was especially interesting to see how some of the larger elements to Dune had much more mundane beginnings but through the centuries would wind up being twisted, changed, and almost unrecognizable in the days of Paul Atreides.
The one thing that really made the whole thing work, though? They didn’t try to write in Herbert’s unique voice. They wrote in their own. You could read the Butlerian Jihad storyline as it’s own unique Sci-Fi series and without having a few familiar names, you wouldn’t realize it was connected until the end.
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Yup. The prequel books get a lot of hate on the FB Dune-fan groups, but I found them entertaining and informative. They stand alone, and should not be compared to Herbert's work, other than living in the same "universe."
I really enjoyed BUtlerian Jihad, btw.
And yeah, "The Free Men of Arrakis."
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I think the fan groups dislike the prequels because of the sequels and the ending. Most seem to doubt that Frank really envisioned that.
