kalash@ucbcad.UUCP (07/09/84)
Well, if the truth be known, Herbert has written exactly 2 "great" books. Those are "Dune" (of course), and "Dragon in the Sea" (also known as "Under Pressure" and "21st Century Sub"). Curiously enough these are the ONLY two books he wrote under Campbell. I suspect there might have been a connection there.... Joe Kalash kalash@berkeley ucbvax!kalash
williams@psuvax1.UUCP (Lance Williams) (07/14/84)
I'm getting weary of hearing people call the Dune sequels "garbage". Anything pales against Dune, but I personally am glad that Herbert continues to write sequels. "God Emperor" is brilliant. What other author (with the possible exception of C. S. Lewis) has dared address the issues raised there? Techni mentality appreciates exposure to current issues in exotic setting. Emphasis on exotic setting. Herbert creates a universe with fewer strokes than most authors use to create a world. He allows us to glimpse a bit of the meta order, the big picture. How many people have seen how many suns rise on how many worlds for how long? Every single pain and pleasure a mirror of itself and all others across all of space and time. All of us are comfortable with rebellion. We identify with Maud'dib. It is easier to destroy than to build. Destruction is the pattern. Creating an order breaks the cycle. Reading "God Emperor" we are forced to ask what it is we should build. Contrast Leto's "Golden Path" with the conclusion of Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet". To which philosophy do you subscribe? Lance Williams The Pennsylvania State University
perelgut@utcsrgv.UUCP (Stephen Perelgut) (07/17/84)
>-=> psuvax1!williams > I'm getting weary of hearing people call the Dune sequels "garbage". I think that we may be in for a long fight about the value of Herbert's writing. I have TRIED to read anything Herbert wrote other than DUNE. My only recourse is to say that he is the worst writer that I have attempted to read. And that includes a lot of garbage. His characters are fractal-dimensional, his plots are trivial and meaningless, and his stories are loaded with pseudo-meaningful concepts. Anyone can talk about the beginnings and ends of the world, or hunger, or the evils of neverending technocracy, or god, or other important issues. Few can truly deal with them. Herbert is not one of the few. > .....Herbert creates a universe with fewer strokes than > most authors use to create a world. ..... As far as I am concerned, the above is the most damning thing I could say about Herbert except I would phrase it: "Herbert spends only a few strokes creating a universe when most authors lavish great care to create a world or an even smaller locale." -- Stephen Perelgut Computer Systems Research Institute University of Toronto Usenet: {linus, ihnp4, allegra, decvax, floyd}!utcsrgv!perelgut CSNET: perelgut@Toronto
jejones@ea.UUCP (08/05/84)
/***** ea:net.sf-lovers / psuvax1!williams / 2:13 am Jul 17, 1984 */ All of us are comfortable with rebellion. We identify with Maud'dib. /* ---------- */ Right--we *do* identify with Paul Muad'Dib Atreides. BUT we (or at least I) don't identify with Leto II. (Well, maybe some people do--I would tend to think that they would be of the sort that thinks they are Napoleon, or maybe God.) Did anyone really think that Leto II couldn't pull off the Golden Path? Did anyone care (for precisely that reason)? "Do you want Arrakeen Standard Time, or Sietch Tabr Standard Time?" "I don't care! I just want to know what bloody time it is, right now!!!" "--Four-fifteen!" (That Bene Gesserit witch! She used the Voice on me!) [vaguely remembered from a Dune parody in IASFM] James Jones