If you have never read the book, I believe it is one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time.
The movie version in the 80 which had Kyle MaCallen(sp) Patrick Stewart and many others was given mixed reviews.
The one good thing is they are not going to try to do it in one single movie but in two.
I do a fair amount of reading but have never read the book. Please briefly make the case without spoilers, why is it a great novel?
Why read Dune
Dune has a very involved man story line with several sub plots
The characters are well developed with flaws and this goes to all of the significant one(I am talking at least 25 characters)
For female readers, you have strong female protagonists who are likeable and not Mary Sues
Re: Dune
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 10:09 am
by tallyho
Series goes downhill though, but enjoyed the first book.
Duncan is a bit lame in the film though
Re: Dune
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 10:17 am
by Get Your Exxon
There’s also a really good 3 part mini TV series “Frank Herbert’s Dune” and possibly an even better follow up “Children of Dune” (starring James McAvoy). Both were circa 2000.
The new movie (directed by a Canadian, Denis Villeneuve ) is going to be sick. Dude did Sicario and Arrival plus Blade Runner 2049.
You are more into taking abuse, I am more into giving abuse. LOL
Re: Dune
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 2:58 pm
by tallyho
Lol. As Mr Dazzle stated BWB, the first book is great and the second whilst not as good is enjoyable. Just stop after those.
Another really good Sci Fi read is 'Consider Phlebas' by Ian M Banks. His descriptive writing is a joy to read and I could really get into the worlds he created. Plus his shape shifting lead character isn't a nice guy which appeals to me
Lol. As Mr Dazzle stated BWB, the first book is great and the second whilst not as good is enjoyable. Just stop after those.
Another really good Sci Fi read is 'Consider Phlebas' by Ian M Banks. His descriptive writing is a joy to read and I could really get into the worlds he created. Plus his shape shifting lead character isn't a nice guy which appeals to me
Thank you, that is good to know. Thanks for the info, I just ordered the first one from Amazon. I used to read a lot more of science fiction when I was younger but I guess I somehow got away from it with the exception of Orson Scott Card's Ender series and related universe titles. I remember some years back that I got on a kick of checking out the top 100 novels of all time and selecting some of those titles to read. I remember at the time that Dune was on that list but I never got around to checking that book out and now I will get that chance. Based on the responses on here, I have the feeling that I will enjoy this book immensely. I will also check out the Banks book you recommended. Thank you for the recommendations. This is probably a stupid idea and is probably ill suited to a site that is dedicated to superheroine peril, not literary subject matter, but I almost feel as if it might be a good idea to carve out a little section of the site for a sort of book club of sorts, to discuss our favorite books past and present and perhaps offer recommendations. Then again, maybe the subject matter is too off topic and too off brand. Just a thought.
Lol. As Mr Dazzle stated BWB, the first book is great and the second whilst not as good is enjoyable. Just stop after those.
Another really good Sci Fi read is 'Consider Phlebas' by Ian M Banks. His descriptive writing is a joy to read and I could really get into the worlds he created. Plus his shape shifting lead character isn't a nice guy which appeals to me
Thank you, that is good to know. Thanks for the info, I just ordered the first one from Amazon. I used to read a lot more of science fiction when I was younger but I guess I somehow got away from it with the exception of Orson Scott Card's Ender series and related universe titles. I remember some years back that I got on a kick of checking out the top 100 novels of all time and selecting some of those titles to read. I remember at the time that Dune was on that list but I never got around to checking that book out and now I will get that chance. Based on the responses on here, I have the feeling that I will enjoy this book immensely. I will also check out the Banks book you recommended. Thank you for the recommendations. This is probably a stupid idea and is probably ill suited to a site that is dedicated to superheroine peril, not literary subject matter, but I almost feel as if it might be a good idea to carve out a little section of the site for a sort of book club of sorts, to discuss our favorite books past and present and perhaps offer recommendations. Then again, maybe the subject matter is too off topic and too off brand. Just a thought.
I was thinking the same thing.
I read more when I was young but with the exception of Douglas Richards there has not been any great new writers of Sci-Fi as opposed to fantasy.
Re: Dune
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2020 4:56 pm
by tallyho
I used to like Sci Fi short stories. Read a great one called Schrodinger's Plague by think it was Greg Bear (great concept to it and yes it was like the cat)
He also wrote a good novel called Eon.
My fave Sci Fi growing up was the excellent The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
I used to like Sci Fi short stories. Read a great one called Schrodinger's Plague by think it was Greg Bear (great concept to it and yes it was like the cat)
He also wrote a good novel called Eon.
My fave Sci Fi growing up was the excellent The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
It's a great read.
Yes that in my list of favorites along with Riverworld by Phillip Jose Farmer and Island World by John Maddox Roberts and Eric Kotani
Re: Dune
Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:33 pm
by Dogfish
I looked at the pictures that came out for this movie and it looks bland as hell. Really uninspired, like a videogame from that era when everything was brown and grey cover shooters. Considering how long ago the Lynch version was I was really disappointed, and I mean, sure, only Lynch can do Lynch-tier visuals, but so far this looks like a Gears of War cutscene.
I looked at the pictures that came out for this movie and it looks bland as hell. Really uninspired, like a videogame from that era when everything was brown and grey cover shooters. Considering how long ago the Lynch version was I was really disappointed, and I mean, sure, only Lynch can do Lynch-tier visuals, but so far this looks like a Gears of War cutscene.
Of the stills I saw
The Stillsuits look good
The Battle Armour is out of place and does not relate to the book
The picture of House Atredies does look bland
Re: Dune
Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2020 3:33 pm
by Dogfish
Yeah the Stillsuits look good, but I suspect they look good simply because they were in the Lynch movie so they just went, "Okay lets use those."
I read more when I was young but with the exception of Douglas Richards there has not been any great new writers of Sci-Fi as opposed to fantasy.
The publishing industry has been a mess since the 1990s. There are writers who should by all rights be grandmasters and A-listers by now, but instead they seem to be just scraping by. Walter Jon Williams, for one.
Would you count Neal Stephenson as new?
How about Andy Weir?
Re: Dune
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:59 pm
by Dazzle1
Never hear of Weir, I will check out.
The other not so new.
But I am talking Sci fi
So I am eliminating all fantasy or books like the Honor Harrington series which is more of an adventure yarn than true Sci-Fi
Re: Dune
Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2020 3:12 pm
by tallyho
A really good read is Pasiphae by William Smethurst (might be Peter as a middle name).
It's a good science /history combo story with two yarns unfolding in parallel, one modern day one in medieval times. 2 leading physicists develop a Quantum spy satellite but one dies and no one can work out how his half of the project works. I read it 20 years ago but really enjoyed it. Some true to life blunt characters which were great, and very well written
A really good read is Pasiphae by William Smethurst (might be Peter as a middle name).
It's a good science /history combo story with two yarns unfolding in parallel, one modern day one in medieval times. 2 leading physicists develop a Quantum spy satellite but one dies and no one can work out how his half of the project works. I read it 20 years ago but really enjoyed it. Some true to life blunt characters which were great, and very well written
Could not find that one on Amazon , but he did have another one for 99 cents called Sinai
Re: Dune
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:09 am
by tallyho
Sinai is OK, interesting concept but not as good a read but we'll worth that t price. Keep an eye out for Pasiphae though it's a very good read. Slightly wobbles with a bit of silliness near the end but a good 8.5/10
Re: Dune
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:14 am
by tallyho
Haven't read anything else of his actually might have a look for some
Sinai is OK, interesting concept but not as good a read but we'll worth that t price. Keep an eye out for Pasiphae though it's a very good read. Slightly wobbles with a bit of silliness near the end but a good 8.5/10
I could not get into Sinai made it about 15% in and gave up.
Re: Dune
Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 8:55 am
by tallyho
Yeah you haven't missed much but the biblical Miracles explanation is good (and a lot of it really plausible) and at least you didn't waste a lot of cash.
In my defence it was Pasiphae of his I recommended, not Sinai. (I remember I struggled with the early part of Sinai too )
Re: Dune
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 12:53 pm
by Get Your Exxon
So back on topic.
Apparently there is a great interview with the films director Denis Villeneuve in this month’s Empire Magazine. Super smart guy, compares Paul’s character arc to that of Michael Corleone. Never thought of it that way before but bang on. Shows how this dude is just on another level.
Oh and here’s a link to Syfy’s Dune mini series - way better than Lynch movie:
The sequel Children of Dune is even better but having trouble tracking it down. Remember friends: Fear is the mind killer.
Apparently there is a great interview with the films director Denis Villeneuve in this month’s Empire Magazine. Super smart guy, compares Paul’s character arc to that of Michael Corleone. Never thought of it that way before but bang on. Shows how this dude is just on another level.
Oh and here’s a link to Syfy’s Dune mini series - way better than Lynch movie:
The sequel Children of Dune is even better but having trouble tracking it down. Remember friends: Fear is the mind killer.
Sorry the SYfy version is terrible. They don't come close to the book version. Lynch's biggest problem is he needed to do a 3 seperate movie. If you go on YouTube you see missing scenes
I look for his interview. But I don't see any parallel between Paul and Michael Corleone
Michael was the younger brother who did not even want to be part of the business. Paul was born, bred and trained for what he became
Re: Dune
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 1:59 pm
by tallyho
Yes I don't see a Corleone parallel. Paul lost everything whereas Michael lost a wife and.... well, freedom of choice.
Re: Dune
Posted: Mon May 18, 2020 2:53 pm
by Get Your Exxon
No one says you guys need to buy tickets. The Lynch movie exists and is there to be enjoyed. I’m still queuing for the 2020 version and stand by my Syfy recommendation.
No one says you guys need to buy tickets. The Lynch movie exists and is there to be enjoyed. I’m still queuing for the 2020 version and stand by my Syfy recommendation.
No one says you guys need to buy tickets. The Lynch movie exists and is there to be enjoyed. I’m still queuing for the 2020 version and stand by my Syfy recommendation.
Just finished reading Dune. I would not say I loved it, but I did really like it. I can see why it has a place in the literary canon of great works, that it was an ambitious work with a lot to say on various issues. The book felt like it had a Game of Thrones vibe at times.
Sometimes I read some older and more classic literature, and I enjoy many of those books but sometimes I find in some of those older books that they can be laborious to read at times and a little difficult to get through and I had that problem here with Dune as well at times, but I still enjoyed reading the book. In my version of the book there was an afterword by Herbert's son Brian where he mentioned that the second book endured a lot of criticism due to the fact that Paul's character is proven somewhat more fallible in the second book. I think I will check it out anyway. Thanks for the recommendation guys! Now that I have read the book, I really want to see the upcoming film and see how the visuals from the book are fully realized on the big screen.
Re: Dune
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 12:36 pm
by Femina
Well Dune was written decades before Game of Thrones so it'd be more accurate to say.
Well Dune was written decades before Game of Thrones so it'd be more accurate to say.
Game of Thrones has Dune Vibes.....
I don't really see it. Yes both stories deal with control of an Empire.
But Dune is a far more serious read and Sci-fi and Game of Throne is more fantasy
The palace intrigue stuff, plus the attempted wipeout of the Paul Atreides and his family and Paul's return to power sort of remind me of the arc of the GoT attempted wipeout of the Starks and Jon Snow's ascension to King of the North.
Re: Dune
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 2:26 pm
by tallyho
They both have Houses I suppose perhaps that sort of House power struggle is where you are getting the vibe from.
Re: Dune
Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:21 pm
by Danorian
Fair warning, I have read the ENTIRE series, and I consider it one of the toughest slogs through a novel series I have ever done, and I've also read The Silmarillion!
Fair warning, I have read the ENTIRE series, and I consider it one of the toughest slogs through a novel series I have ever done, and I've also read The Silmarillion!
The Silmarillion is a history text of Middle Earth. It's not a fantasy 'novel' in the same sense even as Lord of the Rings by the same author... it wasn't ever even INTENDED to be. It wasn't ever even finished, so what we HAVE of the Silmarillion is more like half of it... then a bunch of notes about what Tolkein may or may not have wanted to include.
...... in any case it's not really comparable to Frank Herbert's Dune. They aren't the same sort of books.
Fair warning, I have read the ENTIRE series, and I consider it one of the toughest slogs through a novel series I have ever done, and I've also read The Silmarillion!
When you say the full series I take it you went past God Emperour of Dune, I compliment on your persistence
Fair warning, I have read the ENTIRE series, and I consider it one of the toughest slogs through a novel series I have ever done, and I've also read The Silmarillion!
When you say the full series I take it you went past God Emperour of Dune, I compliment on your persistence
Yes I was done in by the Godawful Emperor of Dune.
Fair warning, I have read the ENTIRE series, and I consider it one of the toughest slogs through a novel series I have ever done, and I've also read The Silmarillion!
When you say the full series I take it you went past God Emperour of Dune, I compliment on your persistence
I read all six of Frank Herbert's novels, and not the fan add-ons. Quite a trudge.
Re: Dune
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:16 am
by shevek
Given that I very much enjoyed both Arrival (beautiful alien contact concept) and Blade Runner 2049, I am looking forward to the Villeneuve remake of Dune in September. Already digging the casting of Skarsgard as Harkonnen and Momoa as Duncan Idaho, but the film's gravitas will center around whether Chalamet makes a believable and weighty enough version of Muad'Dib. The combination of him and Zendaya (as Chani) has to have way more legendary impact than, say, the inexperienced young leads of Valerian & Laureline, or it's just not going to work, and it'll be too much like Twilight in space. Plus they've got to have great-looking worms.
Looking forward to hopefully gazing at the screen in December, and proclaiming with epiphanous wonderment, "Kull wahad!".
As I tend to do.
P.S. I wouldn't necessarily knock the Brian Herbert successor novels in the Dune series - they're a way to spend an afternoon.
And to add to the earlier points about sci-fi recommendations, my favorite author is Ursula K LeGuin, but my favorite series
is David Brin's Uplift Universe double trilogy. Iain Banks' Culture, which was mentioned in this thread, is great, and so is John Scalzi's neo-Heinleinian "Old Man's War" series (although Scalzi himself has become quite a woke mess more recently).
Given that I very much enjoyed both Arrival (beautiful alien contact concept) and Blade Runner 2049, I am looking forward to the Villeneuve remake of Dune in September. Already digging the casting of Skarsgard as Harkonnen and Momoa as Duncan Idaho, but the film's gravitas will center around whether Chalamet makes a believable and weighty enough version of Muad'Dib. The combination of him and Zendaya (as Chani) has to have way more legendary impact than, say, the inexperienced young leads of Valerian & Laureline, or it's just not going to work, and it'll be too much like Twilight in space. Plus they've got to have great-looking worms.
Looking forward to hopefully gazing at the screen in December, and proclaiming with epiphanous wonderment, "Kull wahad!".
As I tend to do.
P.S. I wouldn't necessarily knock the Brian Herbert successor novels in the Dune series - they're a way to spend an afternoon.
And to add to the earlier points about sci-fi recommendations, my favorite author is Ursula K LeGuin, but my favorite series
is David Brin's Uplift Universe double trilogy. Iain Banks' Culture, which was mentioned in this thread, is great, and so is John Scalzi's neo-Heinleinian "Old Man's War" series (although Scalzi himself has become quite a woke mess more recently).
Casting is always important one thing I always thought about Lynch with the exception of Sean Young as Chani, Stewart as Gurney. Not how Stewart played the role, but Gurney is suppose to a big ugly scarred indvidual, Sting as Feyd
The rest of the casting was great especially Kyle as Paul and Francesca Annis as Jessica.
Re: Dune
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 4:50 pm
by lionbadger
I'm looking forward to twitter losing it's shit over this and the usual dummies shouting "keep politics out of sci fi"
About Dune
Gonna be glorious, good guys are muslims but the bad guy is such an over the top gay Epstein, which side to hate?
Re: Dune
Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:14 pm
by Damselbinder
As far as I understood it, the Fremen were a kind of combination of Sufi Islam and Buddhism. Am I remembering wrong?
Re: Dune
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 2:11 am
by shevek
Yes Damselbinder, you are remembering it somewhat correctly, and to use a British turn of phrase, I'm not even sure what our friend
Lionbadger is "on about". Frank Herbert made very sure to employ lots of cultural/religious syncretization in his far-future sci-fi
scenarios, in order to create futuristic cultures which would *seem* to be familiar but are still different enough to seem unique.
The Fremen were indeed descendants of the Zensunni Wanderers.
And Lionbadger: the Fremen aren't "Muslims" any more than the Tusken Raiders are Tuaregs.
It hopefully will be glorious, though, with Villeneuve at the helm.
Re: Dune
Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 4:47 pm
by Dazzle1
Herbert took aspects from several religions, to create his theologies.