Let´s talk about Dune...

I have only managed to read the first three books so far and then for one reason or another, I never got around to the others.
Without asking for too much detail, does God Emperor of Dune elaborate further on Leto and his "changes"?
Granted, I am not overly familiar with details of the Middle East(life, religion, etc), but it sure seems like the Fremen are descendants of that culture. That may well be old news to some, but I have always wondered if that were the case with the Fremen.

GED does talk more about Leto's changes... and Dune's.

There are indeed clear similarities to Middle-East culture (especially in the words, alot of which are really arabic).
Herbert even admitted in an interview that C.H.O.A.M. was really his view of O.P.E.P.

I think he had a very good idea, for normally sci-fi and fantasy are more based on European imagery; Herbert gave sci-fi a wider look.

GEoD takes place thousands of years after the previous book, near the end of Leto's reign.

I haven't read anything in the series after that book, though.

I'm right in the middle of Chapterhouse: Dune right now. I've been going slowly through the series for almost 2 years. All of them have been, IMO, great novels. It, like it's 5 predecessors, is an interesting novel.

Now, the movie, that was horrible. I still don't know why I bought the DVD of it. I can't wait for the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries later this year. That should be good.

"I can't wait for the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries later this year. That should be good."

Remember Battlestar Galactica?!?!

Cross you're fingers...

I loved Battlestar Galactica!!!!!! You better not say anything bad about that show. I know...I know....but I still loved it!

Yeah... I'm sure it was the cowboy-looking guys...
Bonanza in space (again with Lorne Greene!!!)

(didn't we have a chat about that series once?!)

I don't think that we ever discussed Bonanza, I never watched that show. Commander Adama(sp?) (Lorne Greene) wasn't my fav on BG....it was Starbuck (Dirk Benedict).

I meant, we did talk about BG... and also about Starbug. Which led us to talk about A-Team... ya know, one of those endless chat that only sleep could stop... Ah, television, a gift from the gods!

Ah yes, now I remember....silly me. Yes, it was one of those four-in-the-morning-I-know-I-should-go-to-sleep conversations.

So, has the Dune series started on the Sci-Fi channel yet? (I had to make this somewhat on topic, otherwise Tater would come in here and cause a ruckus. )

I don't catch the scifi channel (don't have cable), so i won't have the "luck" of watching that series...

No it's coming this fall.

Anyone read House Atreides?

It wasn't as good. I would have liked to have seen a darker side to the Old Duke...

He was killed by a bull, for cryin' out loud! The old man was nutsy!

I've read the first two (bought them), and I'll probably get the rest when I have some money.

So use the library

I didn't buy any of the Dune books.

They only have the first two, but I had decided that I wanted to buy them beforehand.

I have all of them except Heretics...I'm kind of ambivalent about the post-Tyrant novels...Re-reading Chapterhouse...it's better this time around.

Can't wait for House Harkonnen!

Chapterhouse... is this the one in which Duncan Idahoe develops, during an interrogation, some superpower to move extremely fast compared to people? I found that scene extremely annoying, especially coming from Herbert.

No, that was Heretics...and it wasn't Duncan Idaho, it was Miles Teg, the Atreides descendat who restores Duncan's memories...

[precarious segue]While we're on that subject:[/precarious segue]

What is up with the incessant use of Duncan Idaho? I mean, the guy's hardly in the First Book before he gets run through by Sardaukar, and yet he's the character that constantly recurs, book after book, ghola after ghola.
It gets a little tedious...

Couldn't we, just once, have had a Gurney Halleck ghola? Now he was cool!

I'm curioius, why did you find Miles Teg's ability to move "super fast" annoying?

It was in keeping with the sorts of abilities he always gives his characters. It wasn't so much that he could move super fast as that he developed the ability to predict EXACTLY what his opponents would do at every moment and always predict exactly how and where they would move in an attack and thus he could be there and striker first. Yes his reflexes were enhances, but his ability sprung from precognitive abilities, just as all of Heberts other characters had from Paul Muadib to Leto... and Teg was one of their descendants. Therefore it wasn't much of a departure from his normal storyline.