Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel Dune, first published in 1965, still has a great influence. Science fiction author Matthew Kressel has recently reread Dune for the first time in more than a decade.
“I was worried,” Kressel says in episode 417 of the Geek Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “I said,‘ I’m going to read this and I don’t like it now? Did I pass this book? And absolutely not. It was exactly the opposite. I love you even more. “
Dune it contains a depth of world construction that is rarely compared to science fiction. Geek Guide to the Galaxy Host David Barr Kirtley has always found the book a bit slow, but acknowledges it as a great achievement.
“It’s a really awesome book, just from a writer’s point of view,” he says. “I’m absolutely amazed, just thinking about the kind of effort and thinking you’d have to write a book like this.”
Dune has influenced many later works, from Star Wars to Star Wars Game of Thrones. TV writer Andrea Kail says that Duneinfluence of the Time wheel series is especially evident. “I remember reading clearly Time wheel books for the first time, “he says,” and I say, “Wait a minute, that’s all Dune. ‘ He lifted it in bulk. “
Frank Herbert wrote five sequels to Dune, and his son Brian Herbert (along with Kevin J. Anderson) has written more than a dozen more. Fantasy author Rajan Khanna tried the first sequels, but is still interested in the original novel.
“I felt a sense of declining returns as I went further,” he says. “So I decided,‘ No, I’m fine. I’ll just read it again Dune. ‘ Maybe one day I’ll read the whole series. But after watching too many movie series getting worse, I thought, “Maybe this time I’ll leave it at first.”
Listen to the full interview with Matthew Kressel, Andrea Kail and Rajan Khanna in episode 417 of Geek Guide to the Galaxy (on top). And look at some of the highlights of the discussion below.
David Barr Kirtley Dune dreamer:
“There is a biography of Frank Herbert that I read that says Dune dreamer, written by his son Brian Herbert, who went on to write the sequel / prequel books with Kevin J. Anderson. Unfortunately, I read it 15 or 20 years ago, so I don’t remember it in detail, but I just remember very well that there was a part where [Frank Herbert] he had put it all together Dune, and if it was not a success I would have to stop writing. I just remember I closed the book at the time and was very depressed. I said, “Oh man, that’s so hard.” So I picked it up the next day and started reading it again, and everything went really well for the book, after that. “
Matthew Kressel on court intrigue:
“What I like about this book is that there are so many layers of manipulation, and Herbert talks openly about it, the feints within the feints within the feints. Everyone plays at various levels, to the point that Bene Gesserit could have been played by someone else on an even larger scale. [Herbert] he understands what really motivates people. In that dinner scene, every look, every movement, where there is someone, everything has a meaning. Sometimes I read a science fiction book and say, ‘Oh, that’s kind of ridiculous. I feel the author’s hand. But in Dune, there was never a time when I thought, ‘Well, that’s ridiculous. That would never happen. He is just a cunning observer of human nature. “
Rajan Khanna is Dune vs. Game of Thrones:
“When I was reading [Dune]it felt great Game of Thrones for me, because you realize that Vladimir Harkonnen, the baron, is playing better. Somehow, you can draw a direct line from Leto to Ned Stark and say, “Oh, he died because he didn’t play the game well.” I was trying to be too noble, and the game doesn’t work that way. So I think as you read it further, the baron is doing what he has to do to put his house on top. And I think if you looked at the other landsraad houses, you would probably see more of that kind of intrigue, based on all the other noble people we see in this book.
Andrea Kail on the Power of Literature:
“Reading [Dune] it made me realize where I got my whole philosophy of life from. I always say I was raised books; I got all my focus on life from books. This is the book where I learned about honor and sacrifice, and about doing the right thing at all costs. I had forgotten where it came from — I knew it came from books — but that was the source, that was like a personal Bible to me. And realizing that was incredibly emotional. I was reading this while on a business trip and sitting alone in a hotel room, reading and actually crying. Not so much because of the book, but because I was rediscovering myself as a teenager who was easily influenced by literature. ”
