Dune

[pianoperformer]

Hi,

I jus tfinished reading the book Dune, by Frank Herbert.

Has anyone here read this? It is a great book!

I don't know whether to read the other 5 though. From what I heard, Paul doesn't do so great in the second book.

[schola]

Dune. One of my favorite sci-fi books ever!

The intricate and detailed world Herbert creates is amazing. I loved the idea of a "mentat." A human computer trained to do advanced calculations in their head because the galaxy no longer trusts smart machines.

As for the sequels, I recommend Dune Messiah and maybe even Children of Dune. After that, the series starts to go down hill in my opinion. One thing about Sci Fi authors, it seems like they can never let a good story stand alone.

Another of my favorites is Ender's Game.

[pianoperformer]

I don't know if I can bear to see Paul decline though...the ending of Dune was so perfect, and I'd hate for it to be marred by the other books!

I really thought that his transition from just another Fremen, though one whom they respected, to their ruler, was quite sudden. I thought his little speech was quite bold, lol. That was probably one of my favorite parts. Oh yeah and him telling off the Reverend Mother, and her freaking out over Alia.

Ender's Game sounds good, too.

Have you ever read Destination: Void by Herbert as well? It also sounds decent.

[schola]

I know what you mean. The next two books kind of turn the story on its head. It's frustrating but in many ways more realistic. The first book is this mystic, heroic epic. The next two books deal with more serious political and social issues.

The 2nd book reminds me of the history of Christianity. Paul's followers take his message and corrupt it and end up creating more pain and suffering instead of peace.

Then after that it just gets weird. You get clones of dead characters popping up and then clones of clones. In one book, all of the sudden he jumps like 3,000 years into the future. I think I stopped reading after the 4th book, but I just read that his son actually released two more books that are supposed to finish off the series so maybe I will get back into it again. I haven't read those books in years and now ya got me curious again.

I haven't read any of Herbert's other books.

[JimOfferman]

Read the book, saw the movie, played the games - Dune is cool!

Never got around to the follow up books, though.

[Dan.Linehan]

Never read Dune, but I wanted to vouch for the Ender's series. Loved it.

[Bene]

I only played the games lol. They were kind of fun. I'll read the book sometime.

[schola]

Thought I'd bump this thread. I'm rereading Dune now. I found a copy at a used bookstore.

Has anyone seen any of the movie versions?

[frajilthunder]

Originally Posted by schola

Thought I'd bump this thread. I'm rereading Dune now. I found a copy at a used bookstore.

Has anyone seen any of the movie versions?

Yes both the David Lynch version and the sci-fi channel version. I liked the sci-fi version better actually. I was expecting more out of David Lynch. Neither version does the book justice, but they still are both entertaining.

And for those who mentioned Ender's Game, I recommend Card's Alvin Maker series.

[The David]

For those who recommend Orson Scott Card, I want to recommend a return to the topic at hand.

I've only seen the Sci-Fi channel miniseries. It's insanely long and there isn't much to hold a short attention span, but for some reason I really enjoyed it.

[frajilthunder]

Originally Posted by The David

For those who recommend Orson Scott Card, I want to recommend a return to the topic at hand.

Hey, I resemble that remark!
NYUK, NYUK, NYUK

[The David]

Originally Posted by frajilthunder

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Well, feel free to use it as your avatar.

[ar81]

To me, Dune is fantasy, not science fiction.
Science fiction should have some science in it.
I liked Dune the movie BTW.

[marinik]

You have to read it! All of it!!!

[HighGrace]

Originally Posted by pianoperformer

Hi,

I jus tfinished reading the book Dune, by Frank Herbert.

Has anyone here read this? It is a great book!

I don't know whether to read the other 5 though. From what I heard, Paul doesn't do so great in the second book.

It's a beautiful book with a truly original premise...or not so original, since a good bit of it was 'stolen' from the cultural mores of several Middle Eastern groups? Tolkein did the same thing with LOTR, only he used Early English. You gotta remember he WAS a university Old English Prof, right? What's that old saying? There is nothing new under the sun, right?

That being said, each of the subsequent books becomes a copy of a copy of a copy. That's like using a .jpg format over and over--It's called a lossy format for a reason! G.

[schola]

Originally Posted by frajilthunder

Yes both the David Lynch version and the sci-fi channel version. I liked the sci-fi version better actually. I was expecting more out of David Lynch. Neither version does the book justice, but they still are both entertaining.

And for those who mentioned Ender's Game, I recommend Card's Alvin Maker series.

I've heard there are several crappy versions of Lynch's film floating around. The one I rented from Netflix was horrible! It is so different from his cut that they changed the director to a pseudonym, Alan Smithee!

I'm wondering where I can find the original theatrical David Lynch version now.