Posted on 02/02/2015 3:27:28 PM PST by Perdogg
I apologize for the vanity, but I know that FR is a community of avid readers. Last year, I read "The Hobbit", "The Lord of The Rings" and "The Silmarillion".
I read that Arthur C Clarke referred to "Dune" as 'The Lord of the Rings' of Science Fiction.
What are Freepers opinion of Dune (the book not the movie) and should I continue with the sequels? I saw the film 30 years ago, I remember receiving a sheet with a primmer at the movie theatre after buying a ticket.
also, is there a Gothic horror equivalent to "Dune" of "Lord of the Rings"?
The spice must flow...
I really enjoyed the first Dune book, completely, and most of the sequels were pretty good. It has been a long time, so I can’t remember specifics: but some of the later books became tedious and a little weird, between the occasional very good scene.
But still all were worth the time.
I read all the novels some time ago. I thought that Dune and the next couple of novels were excellent, but then I thought it began to go downhill a bit. But definitely worth reading Dune and Dune Messiah, the second book. Then take it from there and decide yourself.
I read a lot of vintage sci-fi that I get from the Gutenberg project. (1920s to 1950s)
A while back someone mentioned a story about a Kentucky (?) town that was transported back to Germany in the 1500s I’d live to read but I have long since lost the link.
I haven’t read it but all my “brainy” relatives have. Why do the smart ones always like sci-fi?.
Every one of them liked the books. My Nephew has read them all and he tells me the other books in the series are just as good.
As for the horror genre, not sure about Gothic Horror ... but I would put forth H.P. Lovecraft and both “The call of Cthulhu” and “Cthulhu Mythos”.
Dune is a masterpiece. I especially love the heavy use of internal dialogues and the complex political scheming. You’re in for a real treat.
BTW, there are four sequels (I think) to Dune. I read three of them. If you end up enjoying Dune, you’ll probably like the next two books - Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. IMHO, they aren’t as strong as the original novel, but they are very good. The fourth book - God Emperor of Dune - was kinda “meh”, IMHO. That’s just my take, though.
BTW2, I think you deserve a ribbon for completing the Simarillion. I love Tolkien, but I just couldn’t get through that one!
Dune is a great book. The sequels weren’t as engrossing to me, although I have read them as well and they aren’t as terrible as I had heard from others.
It’s funny to see that some folks find Dune boring, different strokes and all I guess.
The two authors who were Frank Herbert’s close friends were Jack Vance and Poul Anderson. Eventually try those guys too. They never had a hit like Dune, but then pretty much nobody writing sci-fi/fantasy ever did either.
The Demon Princes or Planet of Adventure by Vance and anything with Anderson’s Polesotechnic League might be good places to start. Good luck with Dune.
FReegards
This may sound nuts, but start by reading the appendix that lists all the various factions and names. Dune is a book that creates an incredibly complex empire (much like Game of Thrones) that needs a score card to follow. It is worth the effort as the first three books of the canon are much like LOTR for sci-fi. The last one I read was God-Emperor of Dune but many of my friends have read all the later works that flesh out the history of the series.
The first three books were written as a trilogy. The second and third books are not sequels but one continuous story which takes place over the span of three books. I have read all the later stories and fan fiction. some are good others not so much but none compare to the original three books in my opinion.
Yes it’s a good book. Hard to get started, but it comes up all the time in fandom. He creates an entire world and society.
I had a t-shirt made that read:
(On the front)
You know you are in trouble when.....
(on the back)
Cthulhu says opps!
The line came from playing the RPG game and in one instance my party was face to face with the horror of Cthulhu and the game master was about to deliver his well planned monologue. Just as he started to speak, he dropped the paper and said “opps”.
/johnny
Heh, ditto. I really wanted to get through it, to better understand the others better, but just couldn't do it.
Yeah. The book is great. The movie sucked!
The Mountains of Madness by Lovecraft almost became a movie with John Carpenter and the guy that did Pacific Rim. Considering it was written in the early 20th century, it holds up very well even today.
I saw it like 30 years ago. Watching it was like sitting through a seminar on watching paint dry. It was like it would never end. If you water boarded me I could not tell you what it was about. I just remember having the munchies. :-)
Heh, to your image. Good one.
Cool. Sounds like a Harry Turtledove story.
I absolutely love Turtledove’s “The road not taken”
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