Reading the prequels more than once


Moderators: Freakzilla, ᴶᵛᵀᴬ, Omphalos

User avatar
Ash
Posts: 14
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 13:13
Location: Gatlin, Nebraska

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Ash »

I sold all of my KJA and Brian Herbert Dune books for $80 this summer. I have one of those collecting obsessions but I couldn't stand to see that crap sitting next to the originals anymore. I could never read those books a 2nd time. :puke:
"Dune can be read on so many different levels. I really get different things out of it every time I read it. You can read it as just a plain old space adventure story, people being stranded on a desert planet that has giant sandworms on it, but you can also read it and get politics and economics out of it."
Kevin J. Anderson
User avatar
lotek
Posts: 5784
Joined: 28 Jul 2009 08:33

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by lotek »

Reading the prequels more than once
If it's because you didn't get everything you're a preeq!
:lol:
Spice is the worm's gonads.
User avatar
TheDukester
Posts: 3808
Joined: 20 Jun 2008 13:44
Location: Operation Enduring Bacon

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by TheDukester »

Ash wrote:I sold all of my KJA and Brian Herbert Dune books for $80 this summer.
Smart. Some good came out of it.

And if there's people stupid enough to pay cashee-money for some of the worst writing in world history ... well, it's not your fault they're morons.
"Anything I write will be remembered and listed in bibliographies on Dune for several hundred years ..." — some delusional halfwit troll.
User avatar
Ash
Posts: 14
Joined: 21 Aug 2009 13:13
Location: Gatlin, Nebraska

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Ash »

I thought I was ripping the guy off at the $80 price so I threw in my wife's Twilight books. I guess I cleaned out all of the bad authors from my bookshelf. Then I spent the $80 on EBay buying those Sci-Fi mags with Frank Herbert short stories in them.
BEST summer ever!
"Dune can be read on so many different levels. I really get different things out of it every time I read it. You can read it as just a plain old space adventure story, people being stranded on a desert planet that has giant sandworms on it, but you can also read it and get politics and economics out of it."
Kevin J. Anderson
User avatar
lotek
Posts: 5784
Joined: 28 Jul 2009 08:33

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by lotek »

Ash wrote:I thought I was ripping the guy off at the $80 price so I threw in my wife's Twilight books.
that was the real rip off ;)
Spice is the worm's gonads.
User avatar
SadisticCynic
Posts: 2053
Joined: 07 Apr 2009 09:28
Location: In Time or in Space?

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by SadisticCynic »

It's probably why he got them to buy it though; I recently sold my collections seperately on Ebay as sets of Legends, Preludes and Dune 7 all for £0.99. It took several relistings.
Ah English, the language where pretty much any word can have any meaning! - A Thing of Eternity
User avatar
lotek
Posts: 5784
Joined: 28 Jul 2009 08:33

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by lotek »

your resilience paid off :)

Mine are still at my mum's place, awaiting autodafé(that I want to film to document the devastating effect of that drivel on any sane human mind)
Spice is the worm's gonads.
User avatar
Freakzilla
Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
Posts: 18449
Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Contact:

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Freakzilla »

My KJA/BH books have hidden from me out of fear.
Image
Paul of Dune was so bad it gave me a seizure that dislocated both of my shoulders and prolapsed my anus.
~Pink Snowman
User avatar
Hunchback Jack
Posts: 1983
Joined: 30 May 2008 15:02
Location: California, USA

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Hunchback Jack »

lotek wrote:Mine are still at my mum's place, awaiting autodafé
It's what you oughtn't to do, but you do anyway!

HBJ
Last edited by Hunchback Jack on 28 Sep 2010 01:59, edited 1 time in total.
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
- Carl Sagan

I'm still very proud of The Quarry but … let's face it; in the end the real best way to sign off would have been with a great big rollicking Culture novel.
- Iain Banks
Frybread
Posts: 268
Joined: 16 Aug 2008 11:40
Location: Wyoming, USA

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Frybread »

dunaddict wrote:I think it's safe to say most forummembers here have read the six real Dune novels numerous times.
The prequels are a different story. Would you read them again? Have you already done so? Why did you do it? How bad was it? Discuss...

Myself... I've read all the Dune novels at least twice (Dune and GE a lot more). The pre/se/interquels only once, and I can't bring myself to re-read them. I tried to pick up House Atreides again a while back, just to see if my recollection of it being the "best" of the prequels was still true. (And maybe discover a few new inconsistencies along the way. :) ) After three pages I thought to myself; I've got other, better things to read than this....

Has ANYONE here read a BH/KJA-word collection twice?
I've read the entire Dune series three times (I only read them for the first time in 2007), but have only read most of the nuDune books once. I skipped half of "Paul of Dune" (skipped all of the child Paul chapters) and didn't buy or read "Winds of Dune."

Since they are both not written by Frank Herbert and of poor quality, I find the nuDune books to be inconsequential and I won't waste time reading them anymore.
User avatar
Nekhrun
Icelandic Wiener
Posts: 3298
Joined: 10 Feb 2008 16:27

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Nekhrun »

dunaddict wrote:
SandChigger wrote:Anything good in McDune comes from FH. ;)
Logically, this means Brian Herbert = good...

:oops: Sorry, couldn't resist.

EDIT: Reading it again, I think my logic is flawed. If you had said "Anything from FH in McDune is good", then "Brian Herbert = good" is true.
I don't know, can you imagine how stupid Brian would be if FH weren't his father?
"If he was here to discuss Dune, he sure as hell picked a dumb way to do it." -Omphalos :character-cookiemonster:

Happy Memorial Day everyone! -James C. Harwood

"Three of my videos have over 100 views."
"Over 500 views for my 'Open Question' video." -Nebiros
User avatar
lotek
Posts: 5784
Joined: 28 Jul 2009 08:33

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by lotek »

no one can!

and that too:
Image
Spice is the worm's gonads.
User avatar
SandChigger
KJASF Ground Zero
Posts: 14492
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 22:29
Location: A continuing state of irritation
Contact:

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by SandChigger »

Nekhrun wrote:I don't know, can you imagine how stupid Brian would be if FH weren't his father?
Unfortunately FH's contribution to Brian and Penny (and through them to the rest of the family) was not simply an injection of genetic material. If we're honest, we have to acknowledge that FH himself played a role in shaping the personalities and characters of the people who are now reaping the benefits of the butt-hurting a stranger is perpetrating on his legacy.
User avatar
merkin muffley
Posts: 1584
Joined: 23 Apr 2010 15:18
Location: War Room

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by merkin muffley »

Someone my GF works with overheard her say she was reading Dune and, meaning well, gave her a copy of House Harkonnen today. It was immediately given to me and has been stored with my collection of medical waste, next to the tub of smallpox, in case I need it for a flame war.

But I would never read it again just for the sake of reading it. It sucks, after all.
"I must admit, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor...."
User avatar
Nekhrun
Icelandic Wiener
Posts: 3298
Joined: 10 Feb 2008 16:27

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Nekhrun »

Thanks for taking that one out of circulation. The book I mean, not your girlfriend.
"If he was here to discuss Dune, he sure as hell picked a dumb way to do it." -Omphalos :character-cookiemonster:

Happy Memorial Day everyone! -James C. Harwood

"Three of my videos have over 100 views."
"Over 500 views for my 'Open Question' video." -Nebiros
Serkanner
Administrator
Posts: 2974
Joined: 17 Feb 2008 18:44
Location: Den Haag - The Netherlands

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Serkanner »

merkin muffley wrote:Someone my GF works with overheard her say she was reading Dune and, meaning well, gave her a copy of House Harkonnen today. It was immediately given to me and has been stored with my collection of medical waste, next to the tub of smallpox, in case I need it for a flame war.

But I would never read it again just for the sake of reading it. It sucks, after all.
That person was fired ... no?
"... the mystery of life isn't a problem to solve but a reality to experience."

“There is no escape—we pay for the violence of our ancestors.”

Sandrider: "Keith went to Bobo's for a weekend of drinking, watched some DVDs,
and wrote a Dune Novel."
User avatar
merkin muffley
Posts: 1584
Joined: 23 Apr 2010 15:18
Location: War Room

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by merkin muffley »

Nekhrun wrote:Thanks for taking that one out of circulation. The book I mean, not your girlfriend.
:lol:
Serkanner wrote: That person was fired ... no?
Mock execution. They won't do it again.
"I must admit, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor...."
User avatar
SandChigger
KJASF Ground Zero
Posts: 14492
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 22:29
Location: A continuing state of irritation
Contact:

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by SandChigger »

In preparation for filling in the synopses for the Legends books on HToD, I went through and marked and numbered the "chapters" (if you want to dignify them with that term) in the three books:

TBJ: 126 (prolog + 125); 675/126 = 5.36 pp/ch

MC: 118 (prolog + 117); 762/118 = 6.46 pp/ch

BoC: 117; 675/117 = 5.77 pp/ch

Those simple averages aren't really very informative, though. Particularly for TBJ, there's about a fourth of a page of blank space between the epigraph and the first line of text. And the chapters in all three books always begin on a new page, so there's often a lot of blank paper at the end of the previous chapter. I think I'm going to go through and estimate how much actual text there is in each chapter, work up some more accurate stats.

ANYTHING to avoid actually starting to reread them! :P

Seriously, though... WHO the fuck writes a book with more than 100 chapters? :roll:
"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"
User avatar
dunaddict
Posts: 211
Joined: 24 Sep 2008 09:09
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by dunaddict »

SandChigger wrote:In preparation for filling in the synopses for the Legends books on HToD, I went through and marked and numbered the "chapters" (if you want to dignify them with that term) in the three books:
[...]
ANYTHING to avoid actually starting to reread them! :P
You don't really mean that. We know these synopses are just an excuse to read them again. :-)
How else are you going to summarize the chapters without reading them?
SandChigger wrote: Seriously, though... WHO the fuck writes a book with more than 100 chapters? :roll:
I wouldn't mind 100 chapters.... if they were longer and their content was not just a summary of the previous chapters and novels.
User avatar
SandChigger
KJASF Ground Zero
Posts: 14492
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 22:29
Location: A continuing state of irritation
Contact:

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by SandChigger »

100 chapters by ACTUAL, GOOD writers would be GREAT! (I've got just one chapter left to read in Surface Detail, for example. :cry: I WANT MORE BANKS! I WANT MORE CULTURE!!)

But we're talking the verbal Hershey squirts of the Great DICtahiker. :roll:
"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"
User avatar
merkin muffley
Posts: 1584
Joined: 23 Apr 2010 15:18
Location: War Room

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by merkin muffley »

These guys don't know how to develop anything, hence a hundred five-page chapters of uninteresting events. It's impossible to read that shit.
"I must admit, you have an astonishingly good idea there, Doctor...."
User avatar
Hunchback Jack
Posts: 1983
Joined: 30 May 2008 15:02
Location: California, USA

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Hunchback Jack »

The thing about their books is that while you can quote specific passages to show particularly awful writing, it's not *so* mind-numbingly dire that people immediately see the problem.

It's only when you endure page after page of flat, uninspired plots with cardboard characters and truly wretched dialogue that you realize what an appalling waste of potential these new Dune books are. Not just mediocre, but hundreds and hundreds of pages of mediocrity, never rising to an even basic level of adequate storytelling.

HBJ
"The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars."
- Carl Sagan

I'm still very proud of The Quarry but … let's face it; in the end the real best way to sign off would have been with a great big rollicking Culture novel.
- Iain Banks
User avatar
SandChigger
KJASF Ground Zero
Posts: 14492
Joined: 08 Feb 2008 22:29
Location: A continuing state of irritation
Contact:

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by SandChigger »

I think what's starting to piss me off again is how blatantly they completely disregarded the Dune appendices in the Legends books, and how mind-fuckingly idiotic and unimaginative the shit they themselves came up with is. :evil:
"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"
User avatar
Shaitan
Posts: 292
Joined: 27 Aug 2010 22:52
Location: Freeport, Maine USA
Contact:

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Shaitan »

I think the part that really burns is that clearly, they just don't care.

Passion for a story is absolutely 110% requisite for good storytelling, IMHO. You can't write well if you don't give a shit, no matter how talented you might be.

The combination of not giving a shit and lack of talent...well, we've seen what that produces. McDune.
"When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro." -Hunter S. Thompson
"Man, a guy gets drunk *once* and it's all anyone remembers..." -HBJ
Unfront
Posts: 100
Joined: 18 Dec 2008 21:29
Location: Portland

Re: Reading the prequels more than once

Post by Unfront »

SandChigger wrote:. . .there's about a fourth of a page of blank space between the epigraph and the first line of text. And the chapters in all three books always begin on a new page, so there's often a lot of blank paper at the end of the previous chapter. I think I'm going to go through and estimate how much actual text there is in each chapter, work up some more accurate stats.
It is oddly similar to the age old student tactic of shrinking the margins ever so slightly so as not to be noticed, or adding an extra line between the paragraphs (or my favourite) switching from Times New Roman to Courier font in order to add length to any paper that requires a certain amount of page length.
Anything Dune not written by Frank Herbert is simply Fan Fiction.
Post Reply