Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

The worst error of Frank Herbert was Brian!

Isn't there a quote around here somewhere of Frank saying years later that he really wished he'd pulled out that night they made Brian?

Or did I make that one up?

SandChigger wrote:Isn't there a quote around here somewhere of Frank saying years later that he really wished he'd pulled out that night they made Brian?

Or did I make that one up?

We did have that conversation at one point, but I'd imaging that searching for the phrase "pulled out" on this board would result in too many posts to search through.

Nekhrun wrote:

SandChigger wrote:Isn't there a quote around here somewhere of Frank saying years later that he really wished he'd pulled out that night they made Brian?

Or did I make that one up?

We did have that conversation at one point, but I'd imaging that searching for the phrase "pulled out" on this board would result in too many posts to search through.

245

SandChigger wrote:Isn't there a quote around here somewhere of Frank saying years later that he really wished he'd pulled out that night they made Brian?

Or did I make that one up?

I'm pretty sure I remember we had that conversation at DN too. Maybe it was in code, or maybe it was before Byron figured out that all those things we were saying were insults.

Clarification: I don't think Byron is smart enough to have figured that out on his own. I think someone else clued him in.

Freakzilla wrote:

Nekhrun wrote:

SandChigger wrote:Isn't there a quote around here somewhere of Frank saying years later that he really wished he'd pulled out that night they made Brian?

Or did I make that one up?

We did have that conversation at one point, but I'd imaging that searching for the phrase "pulled out" on this board would result in too many posts to search through.

245

Schu wrote:I found the White Plague one of Frank's best, right up there with the Dunes.

I agree. I don't know what it was about The White Plague, but I loved it. Just the whole plot and the characters and the execution were brilliant. It was an amazing book.

Other than the Dune novels, I've only read The White Plague, Whipping Star, and The Dosadi Experiment. They were all amazing books, so I can't choose which one was the worst.

Since I haven't read any other Frank Herbert books, I am forced to say that Frank Herbert could not write a bad novel.

The Red Duke wrote:I don't know what it was about The White Plague, but I loved it. Just the whole plot and the characters and the execution were brilliant. It was an amazing book.

That one seems to have the wildest range of reactions around these parts. I could barely get through it, personally, and found that the premise just barely held together. And I'm not alone in that sentiment.

Others seem to really groove on it. Which is cool. It would be a sad world if we all agreed on everything, even at a site that mostly discusses the works of a single author.

TheDukester wrote:Others seem to really groove on it. Which is cool. It would be a sad world if we all agreed on everything, even at a site that mostly discusses the works of a single author.

Exactly. If we all agreed on every single point, this would be a pretty boring forum.

Any opinion is possible - some people even dispute that the Green Brain is FH's worst work.

Not sure how The White Plague wound up even mentioned in this thread. Pure sacrilege if you ask me. I couldnt put the book down and read it in less than two full day. It was well thought out, well written and had a topic that in this day and age with H1N1 and Aids and other diseases seems almost appropriate. One must also remember the book was written when the IRA were the three letter word of the day. Obviously someone needs to sit down and read the book and remember that the master himself wrote it.

I think that just about all of Herbert's writings are interesting, and many are absofuckinglutely compelling. But he has squeezed out a dud or two. His worst IMHO was a YA novel called Direct Discent. Click on the title to see a review and a photo of the cover. And no, I have not read all of them, but I have read a lot of them.

Otheym wrote:Not sure how The White Plague wound up even mentioned in this thread. Pure sacrilege if you ask me. I couldnt put the book down and read it in less than two full day. It was well thought out, well written and had a topic that in this day and age with H1N1 and Aids and other diseases seems almost appropriate. One must also remember the book was written when the IRA were the three letter word of the day. Obviously someone needs to sit down and read the book and remember that the master himself wrote it.

obviously, someone needs to sit down and read around this forum
before jumping in with both douche-cannons blazing ....

Meh, everyone gets their opinion about the quality of his other books. I haven't read Direct Descent yet, but I maintain that The Green Brain was garbage, seriously I almost could have written it myself in highschool if I had better prose at the time.

Many people dissagree with me that the Pandora series is pretty much pure excellence though, it's all fine.

The White Plague - awful
The Green Brain - bad
The Heaven Makers - awful
The Lazarus Effect (with Bill Ransom) - dull
The Ascension Factor (with Bill Ransom) - dull

Excape Felicity wrote:The White Plague - awful
The Green Brain - bad
The Heaven Makers - awful
The Lazarus Effect (with Bill Ransom) - dull
The Ascension Factor (with Bill Ransom) - dull

4 of your 5 points are subjective and I can't be arsed taking them to task, but what makes The Green Brain bad, and based on the assumption you read the whole books in question why would you finish 2 dull books?

I can't really judge a book unless I've read it. I really enjoyed Destination Void and Jesus Incident. I felt the last 2 Pandora books ran out of steam a bit.

I see all book reviewes as completely subjective.