The Green Brain

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 10 Apr 2008 13:06

This is not one of my favorites. I'm sure there's more to it, but it left me with the impression that FH was just pissed at the way humanity treats Earth and wrote the most straight ahead idea he had on the subject (perhaps so as not to leave any room for miss-interpretation). The message was good, the delivery a bit strange for me.
Anyone dissagree with me on this one?

orald · Post by **orald** » 10 Apr 2008 14:22

Can't say, I haven't read it yet, but from what I heard "wrote the first thing that popped into his head" would seem a bit harsh.
I don't think FH ever did that anyway.

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 10 Apr 2008 15:06

It is a bit harsh, and I don't mean to disrespect him, but if you read it you'll understand why I got that impression. I'm editing my first post to better reflect what I meant.

inhuien · Post by **inhuien** » 12 Apr 2008 08:41

I’ve always felt that this and Hellstorms Hive should be read back to back, do so and you may be moved more so. I do think that it’s one of his most unambiguous books superficially but was it written off the cuff? No.

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 12 Apr 2008 11:46

I didn't mean to imply so much that it was written off the cuff, more that the original idea probably came to him quickly and he stuck with it, which is quite different than say Dune, where even the underlying messages were obviously constructed over a period of years. Once an artist gets an idea they like in their head, sometimes they keep going with it even if it's not their strongest work, I know I can be guilty of this. Especially when that idea is something close to their heart.
I havn't read Hive yet, I'll see if I can pick one up soon. I still think this book is the least plausable of all his works that I've read. It was extremely well researched, and well exectuted, but it was getting a bit away from the science part of scifi for me. I'm really only judging it so hard because it is a Herbert (thus putting it in a feild with some really heavy duty literature).
Definitly don't mean to be insulting, only critical.

martinburo · Post by **martinburo** » 15 Jun 2008 08:47

but it was getting a bit away from the science part of scifi for me

I disagree with this assessment. A human brain in symbiosis with an insect colony is consisent with the kind of symbiosis that one can find in nature. The step to go from there to that symbiosis then functioning as some sort of catalyst and producing human bodies composed of insects rather than cells is a bit wild, but not as wild as some other extrapolations that can be found in quality SF, e.g. a shield to name but one (I haven't done the calculations, but if a shield let through oxygen molecules as slowly as a slow stab with a knife, I think you would suffocate).

Post by **Freakzilla** » 15 Jun 2008 08:51

martinburo wrote:
but it was getting a bit away from the science part of scifi for me
I disagree with this assessment. A human brain in symbiosis with an insect colony is consisent with the kind of symbiosis that one can find in nature. The step to go from there to that symbiosis then functioning as some sort of catalyst and producing human bodies composed of insects rather than cells is a bit wild, but not as wild as some other extrapolations that can be found in quality SF, e.g. a shield to name but one (I haven't done the calculations, but if a shield let through oxygen molecules as slowly as a slow stab with a knife, I think you would suffocate).

FH does mention the air getting stale inside shields.

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 15 Jun 2008 13:57

martinburo wrote:
but it was getting a bit away from the science part of scifi for me
I disagree with this assessment. A human brain in symbiosis with an insect colony is consisent with the kind of symbiosis that one can find in nature. The step to go from there to that symbiosis then functioning as some sort of catalyst and producing human bodies composed of insects rather than cells is a bit wild, but not as wild as some other extrapolations that can be found in quality SF, e.g. a shield to name but one (I haven't done the calculations, but if a shield let through oxygen molecules as slowly as a slow stab with a knife, I think you would suffocate).

I think sentient hive mind bug people is a bit wilder than force feilds. IMO -take it or leave it.

dunaddict · Post by **dunaddict** » 29 Sep 2008 12:43

I finished reading 'The Green Brain' and I think it is definitely the weakest Frank Herbert novel I've read so far.

The first half of the book is very good. Great 'world-building' and exciting scenes.
But the second half (aka "on the river") gets mindnumbingly boring after a while, with nothing new happening at all until you suddenly reach 'The End' in the last five pages.
The end itself was not bad, but it still feels rushed somehow. Maybe because of the extremely long-winded river-scene.