Geek of the Week

[Stretch]

Last night I finished reading the 14-part series of Frank Herbert's Dune, after starting in early September.

In chronological order (not in the order they were published):

Prelude to Dune trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson:

Dune:  The Butlerian Jihad
Dune:  The Machine Crusade
Dune:  The Battle of Corrin[/list]


Legends of Dune trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson:

Dune:  House Atreides
Dune:  House Harkonnen
Dune:  House Corrino[/list]


The original Dune series by Frank Herbert:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse:  Dune[/list]


New sequels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson:

Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune[/list]


Paul of Dune is scheduled to be published shortly.

I'm in the middle of Road to Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, which isn't one of the Dune novels, but contains chapters that were edited out of Dune and Dune Messiah, alternate endings, and Frank Herbert's original work Spice Planet, which was published as a serial in Analog magazine in the early 60's.

Dreamer of Dune, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is also not one of the Dune novels, but a biography of Frank Herbert, Brian's father.  I probably won't read it.

The original Dune was published in 1965, with Frank Herbert writing the remaining 5 parts of his series until his death in 1986.

In the late 1990's his son Brian Herbert happened across a safe deposit box of his father's and found the original outline for what Dune Geeks call "The Dune Universe".  Brian Herbert got together with a writer friend, kevin J. Anderson, and they continued Frank's work in the direction he had intended.

I have read other serial books where one author takes over from another, and the new author goes off in a completely new direction, effectively ruining the continuity of the whole series.  That didn't happen here.

The new authors used Herbert's outline to create an even deeper Dune universe.

The Prelude trilogy goes back (from Dune) 10,000 years to follow the story of the Butlerian Jihad, the century-long battle between Thinking Machines and humans (kind of like in the Terminator and Matrix movies).

The Legends trilogy follows the early life of Duke Leto Atreides (Paul's father, who was killed in the beginning of Dune.

The sequel series ties a lot of the loose ends together from Frank Herbert's series, which he wasn't able to finish.

The whole series flowed pretty well, although it was easy to distinguish between the two writing styles:  Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson are mainstream writers, having published quite a few novels previously.  Their work is easier to read and not quite as complex as Frank Herbert's work, as he dove pretty deeply into philosophy and metaphysics.

I had a grand time reading these books.

That is all.  Carry on... nothing to see here.

[HappyMan]

Nice synopsis.  I love to read!  Thanks for the review.  Now, if it included motorcycles you'd truly be a geek!

[TigerTrax]

Currently reading this book:
His Excellency: George Washington.

Very interesting read. At first you don't particularily like George. He's kind of a pompus butt who managed to 'wiggle' through several blunders and come out smelling like a rose.

He was accused of having wooden teeth, but that is not true. In actuality
he carved wooden teeth to wear while riding his motorcycle about in the colonies. The wooden teeth protected him from bugs and the occasional spill.
Oh Yes... he had a motorcycle. One of the first in Virginia. When he met the extremely wealthy Martha Curtis, he offered her a ride. It must have been eventful because they married; He had access to the fortune and
spent his years setting up dealer networks and organizing the Sturgis Rally... Even before there was a Sturgis ... Before a South Dakota....
What foresight!

Aah yes, old GW was a dreamer. Unfortunately he never wore a helmet under that 3-pointed hat; One day he had a fall, couldn't remember a thing.... and became our first President.         Now don't that beat all ?

[HappyMan]

TigerTrax, now you ARE a geek!!  The people at the office are wondering why I'm crying right now.....

[noivson]

Enjoy the movies. I know the books are better!  :D
 I'm hooked on Clive Cussler, Dirk Pitt Adventures....

To explain the differences in books/movies:
  Clive Cussler walked off the set of "Saraha" starring Matthew McConaughey..........


crying...vowing to never let anyone butcher another of his books....

[HappyMan]

Enjoy the movies. I know the books are better!  :D
 I'm hooked on Clive Cussler, Dirk Pitt Adventures....

To explain the differences in books/movies:
  Clive Cussler walked off the set of "Saraha" starring Matthew McConaughey..........


crying...vowing to never let anyone butcher another of his books....

It is a VERY rare movie that does justice to a book.

[paulie]

I've read a few of the Dune books.. I never really latched on to that series like I did with all the Star Wars books when I was younger, or Orson Scott Card's "Ender" series.

I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan tho.

Currently reading William Gibson's new one, Spook Country (it's not sci-fi in the traditional sense), and Vol. 1 of Neil Gaiman's Sandman Collection(talk about GEEK, this ones a comic book).

I could go on and on about great sci-fi books and authors... But is this thread the right place?  :lol:

[Stretch]

is this thread the right place?  :lol:

Yep.

I dig Heinlein in a big way also.  Being a Marine veteran, I really got into Starship Troopers, and the social commentary was right on as well.  Stranger in a Strange Land was a GREAT book.

I'm a voracious reader, one subject or another, whatever interests me at the time.  I detest network television programming, although I do admit being a History Channel junkie... so I read instead of watching TV.

Next up is Stolen Valor, a non-fiction account about men who claim to be War Veterans, but have been exposed as being nothing of the sort.  It ought to be pretty good... I hate a poseur, regardless of the subject at hand.

[HappyMan]

I'd love to hear a review of Stolen Valor.

[Mudhen]

Enjoy the movies. I know the books are better!  :D
 I'm hooked on Clive Cussler, Dirk Pitt Adventures....

NICE!  I bought Vixen 03 at a thrift store when I was in 5th grade (liked the plane on the cover) and it got me hooked.  I have read them all since.  Pretty much the only books I read - I just can't seem to get into anything else.

Any other authors you read?  I wouldn't mind branching out a little...

[noivson]

:D  Entering "way back machine"

 John Varley-Titan....or a little more mainstream:

 Mary Stewart-Merlin series... both left lasting impressions....

[WIDGIN]

I highly recommend 2 authors with extensive chains of books:

Terry Pratchett's discworld series is great.  Read "The Truth" or "Thud" as an introduction.

George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series are great historical novels and can be extremely Politically Incorrect.  Just find a time in British military history that you'd like to read about.

[flux]

It takes a REALLY interesting book to keep my short-as-hell attention span in check, but I also like the Dirk Pitt books...that Sahara movie was entertaining although like usual it was nothing like the book.  I find that I mostly read books that were later made into movies.  Last book I read was "Legend" which was 100% NOTHING like the movie.  Both the movie and the book were good, though, so long as you can get over the fact that they are similar in title only.