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Frank Herbert's Dune
Who here is a fan of the series, whether it be games, books, or movies?
Here's a bit of info about the storyline for those of you who don't know what Dune is:
There is a planet in the universe where Spice (or Melange) is found. It's called Dune (or Arrakis). The spice is a drug which has geriatric qualities and allows people to go into a trance which allows them to see the future to a certain extent. But, it is guarded by vicious sand worms, which are creatures that are about 50m long and virtually indestructable. Without the spice space travel would stop, economies would collapse, and trade would come to a standstill.
So basically there are these 3 main houses: Atreides, Harkonnen, and Corrino. House Corrino is also the house that rules the Universe. Atreides and Harkonnen have had a blood feud for a long time, so they are sworn enemies. There are 2 other powers: the spacing guild which has a monopoly on space travel, and the Bene Gesserit, who are a matriarchal society bent on their breeding programs to give birth to the Kwizats Hadherach, or in other words, a man who can be many places at once. So, during the first Dune novel Arrakis is given to the Atreides after 80 years of Harkonnen rule and all sorts of stuff happens (read the book to find out).
I would recommend also to read the Preludes to Dune, Legends of Dune, and the series about the Butlerian Jihad, but not before reading the original novels because the original novels serve as a foundation to your knowledge about the Dune universe.
My favourite book in the series is of course the original Dune. My least favourite one was God Emperor.The house that I would choose would be Harkonnen.
There's a new film coming out, by the way.
Here's a bit of info about the storyline for those of you who don't know what Dune is:
There is a planet in the universe where Spice (or Melange) is found. It's called Dune (or Arrakis). The spice is a drug which has geriatric qualities and allows people to go into a trance which allows them to see the future to a certain extent. But, it is guarded by vicious sand worms, which are creatures that are about 50m long and virtually indestructable. Without the spice space travel would stop, economies would collapse, and trade would come to a standstill.
So basically there are these 3 main houses: Atreides, Harkonnen, and Corrino. House Corrino is also the house that rules the Universe. Atreides and Harkonnen have had a blood feud for a long time, so they are sworn enemies. There are 2 other powers: the spacing guild which has a monopoly on space travel, and the Bene Gesserit, who are a matriarchal society bent on their breeding programs to give birth to the Kwizats Hadherach, or in other words, a man who can be many places at once. So, during the first Dune novel Arrakis is given to the Atreides after 80 years of Harkonnen rule and all sorts of stuff happens (read the book to find out).
I would recommend also to read the Preludes to Dune, Legends of Dune, and the series about the Butlerian Jihad, but not before reading the original novels because the original novels serve as a foundation to your knowledge about the Dune universe.
My favourite book in the series is of course the original Dune. My least favourite one was God Emperor.The house that I would choose would be Harkonnen.
There's a new film coming out, by the way.
Comments
As for the books, I finished the first one, and am currently reading House Atreides, the first prelude. I liked the first book, but that should be logical seeing as I finished it and am reading another book from the same series.
*
All of the Preludes/Legends/etc ones I've looked at were terrible.
Those rules were put in place to prevent this kind of stuff.
Necro, I'm fairly certain that you're A-OK.
Please add spaces after sentences and other punctuation please. -Andrew
What follows are my suggestions of books to read for the fresh initiates into Dune novels and sci-fi in general.
Read all the books in the Dune series, then some more Frank Herbert novels, and then read them again.
Get some stories by Larry Niven, and check out Asimov (The Foundation describes an interesting picture of
the state of sci-fi during the atomic age). For a little more fascist and hopefully dated perspective on the
sciences, politics, and the progression of mankind in general, read some Ayn Rand.
Take a look at Steven King's The Gunslinger series. It is great rendering of a gritty and haunting sci-fi journey.
Look to Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos for a fresh and inventive creation of future worlds, along with a critique of
the religion, and technology that help to shape them. After that read every book that you can get by Kurt Vonnegut
for a little human perspective (read time quake last, it may break your heart). Then read One hundred years of
Solitude.
This should give you a good basis or perspective with which to judge the quality of good science fiction.
After that post of your opinions about the stuff at will.
Also the sand worms are not vicious, they are guardians and should be respected.
Dune : House Atreides, the second best dune book behind the original dune. More fun than good plot.
Dune : House Harkonnen, same as above. (Harkonnen's do some brutal stuff in the book, I wanted to kill beast
Reband)
House Corrino, I am only halfway through but this is the weakest one of them all.
The Prequels were written by Frank's son and remind me of star wars (originals) in a good way.