Enough Computer Talk !
So, I am watching the 1984 version of Dune, and having been an avid Science Fiction reader since about 1959, I just know I read a book before Dune, that introduced the original idea of Spice. Does anyone remember it?
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You are remembering the
You are remembering the prequels written by Frank Herbert's Son (Brian Herbert) and Kevin J. Anderson. The chronological order up to Dune is -
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Corrino
Dune
Dune Prequels
Dune was the first book, written by Frank Herbert and released in 1965, which introduced the setting to the world. After Frank Herbert's death, his son Brian Herbert and sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson collaborated on several prequel books, which are probably what you're thinking of. I haven't read any of them, but it sounds like you're thinking of the "Legends of Dune" trilogy.
Frank Herbert never wrote
Frank Herbert never wrote prequels for dune, after his death his son hired a sci-fi writer to produce a trilogy of prequels
Dune: House Atreides 1999
Dune: House Harkonnen 2000
Dune: House Corrino 2001
I have no idea how good they are. Dune is an awesome book, the original film was good too.
Pity Star wars and ET were released at cinema's at the same time, it never gained the recognition it deserved.
Big hugs
Lizzie :)
Bailey's Angel
The Godmother :p
missed a book
there was also sand worms of dune written by his son which I am lucky enough to own a signed first edition of.
Hugs,
Jenna From FL
Moderator/Editor
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It is a long road ahead but I will finally become who I should be.
Quality
The first 6 books of dune, they were excellent.
Everything his son touched is ... at best fanfiction. Bad fanfiction.
Fanfiction...
To be fair, there is quite a bit of fan-fiction that's better than the stories which inspired them.
By definition, ongoing television series are severely restrained in telling their little mini-story "arcs," because they have a "book" which insists that almost every character remains essentially unchanged, floating serenely above the troubles of the workaday world.
This severely limits plot and character development, a rule which fan-fiction is perfectly free to ignore. Part of its popularity, especially amongst women, is the fact that the characters can manage their lives without wooden restraints upon their emotional and physical lives. If Spock falls in love in TV life, it's sure to be explained away as having been "just a dream" inspired by lotus plants or wicked witches or something, because he has to be fitted back into his slot at the end of the episode, ready to be trotted out for the next.
More than that, the ongoing series typically have "sponsors" who further limit character behaviour, since they can't violate what the sponsors feel is appropriate for their intended audience. This means that characters in even the wildest series face only problems which would be familiar to contemporary audiences (except on cable) and behave in ways which the stupidest amongst them will be "comfortable" viewing.
The Dune prequels faced exactly the same restraints as confront any "hack" writer, a preordained outcome and a "book" which couldn't be deviated from, lest the "new" stories offend "purists".
One might be surprised that they're as good as they are, whatever level of quality they might aspire to, but "commercial" artists often face similar constraints. There are so few patrons of the arts to be found these days, so many artists write whatever sells, even if their hearts aren't fully engaged.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
Dune
Dune was released in 1984, ET in 1982 and Return of the Jedi in 1983. Those other movies had nothing to do with the failure of Dune at the theater. There are essays people have written about why the movie failed but the general consensus is that it was too complicated for audiences not familiar with the book.
My apologies I think I got my
My apologies I think I got my wires crossed, the week before Dune's release was Gremlins and also Ghost busters.
Beverly hills cop was also released that month for us in UK I think The Terminator was soon after poss first week of 1985.
I was confused with Blade Runner which was struggling against ET and Star Trek not (Star wars)
Sadly my memory isn't always great these days.
Big hugs
Lizzie :)
Bailey's Angel
The Godmother :p
It failed, because it was
It failed, because it was poorly executed, badly acted, and written terribly.
Ad Hoc: Dune
Here's my brother, Don, and a couple of his geeky friends doing their podcast thing on Dune: http://www.imore.com/ad-hoc-5-dune
They did RoboCop last month and are doing Princess Bride in a week or so.
It's fairly funny and if you enjoyed the movie you will probably enjoy three geeks talking about it. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Definitely Duniacks :)
These guys are full blown geeks. :)
Gwendolyn
The Dune movie was about on
The Dune movie was about on the same level as the "Starship troopers" movies. horribly butchered attempts to bring complex novels to the big screen.
To be fair, Dune pulled it off better than "Starship troopers", no surprise there, An attempt by Liberal Hollywood to make a movie about a novel that underneath the space opera is a political lesson that does not sit well in Hollywood nowadays.
I tried to read the first "prequel" novel, it was ok, just did not hold my interest enough to read any more of them. The sequels to Dune didn't really do it for me either, hard to top a book like Dune. Dune was the first "Adult" Novel I ever read, I ended up rereading it several times over the years, one of the benefits of a bad memory, I can reread a novel, and it's almost like reading it the first time!