Introduction

Redstar · Post by **Redstar** » 18 Mar 2009 05:56

Eh. Generally I don't use these 'introduction' forums in favor of just jumping right into whatever discussions interest me. But I just realized I registered a couple weeks ago and have been too busy with school to do that. So, I figured I might as well.

I received a PM from 'Dune Nerd,' and though it seemed like a random plug for Jacurutu I decided to register anyways. Thanks if it was a well-meaning invite.

So I first read Dune when I was about 17 after pulling it off the library shelf, otherwise bored. I'd heard of it before but thought it would be some convoluted mythos impossible to jump into from a random Wiki skim a few years earlier and couple misleading references in an Orson Scott Card book that made it seem trite.

Anyways, it was one of the best books I'd ever read and the moment I switched high schools to one with a better library I read the rest of the series, finishing each book in about three days. Best series marathon I've ever done. (Though the Ender's Game marathon immediately afterwards was pretty fun too).

Now that that's out of the way, here's to hoping for discussions that can hold my attention longer than a single post at DN.

Schu · Post by **Schu** » 18 Mar 2009 07:17

Hi Redstar, glad you're here

I think we've mentioned before that we think that you seemed too smart for the regular DN types.

inhuien · Post by **inhuien** » 18 Mar 2009 07:57

Hiya and have bun

Redstar · Post by **Redstar** » 18 Mar 2009 08:03

Schu wrote:Hi Redstar, glad you're here I think we've mentioned before that we think that you seemed too smart for the regular DN types.

Yeah, I've been going through past threads and I see I've been mentioned a few times. Some of my posts have been made fun of, but I'm finding the whole 'let's talk about DN discussions without them knowing' hilarious. So no problem.

And I'll be sure to have bun.

Tleszer · Post by **Tleszer** » 18 Mar 2009 08:37

Welcome!

Eyes High · Post by **Eyes High** » 18 Mar 2009 09:08

Welcome on board. I believe these guys/gals can keep your interest and provide you with meaniful discussions.

Look forward to getting to know you better.

Post by **Freakzilla** » 18 Mar 2009 10:59

You may be banned from DN for what you say here, consider yourself warned.

But don't worry, it's a badge of honor around here.

GamePlayer · Post by **GamePlayer** » 18 Mar 2009 11:23

Newbie! Welcome

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 18 Mar 2009 11:57

Welcome. Your Water is Ours.

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 18 Mar 2009 12:38

Achlan wasachlan fî sietchnâ!

Welcome and twice welcome to the best little hole house on Arrakis!

Or something like that.

Oh yeah. Just one small clarification: it's actually "let's talk about DN discussions in full public view without them being smart enough or having the sack contents to do anything about it".

Hunchback Jack · Post by **Hunchback Jack** » 18 Mar 2009 13:08

Welcome! This forum is definitely more interesting than DN. In a number of ways.

HBJ

DuneFishUK · Post by **DuneFishUK** » 18 Mar 2009 13:59

Welcome!

A Thing of Eternity · Post by **A Thing of Eternity** » 18 Mar 2009 14:47

Welcome.

TheDukester · Post by **TheDukester** » 18 Mar 2009 14:48

Welcome.

(three in a row now)

Mandy · Post by **Mandy** » 18 Mar 2009 14:50

Hi Redstar, nice to meet you.

Redstar · Post by **Redstar** » 18 Mar 2009 16:51

Baraka Bryan wrote:where are these Dune references in OSC you talk about? I've read most of his stuff so must have missed them...

big ender series fan here. have you read his homecoming series?

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Writer's Digest Books, 1990.

Dune is referenced twice: first on page 10, where Card suggests that FH was "trapped" into writing Dune books his whole life by the readers; and on page 16, where he uses the book as an example for a novel where genre and elements can easily be substituted without changing the story

Thanks for the welcomes, everybody else.

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 18 Mar 2009 18:52

Yeah, those reader-terrorists back in the 70s and 80s were merciless, hounding writers to death, backing them into figurative corners, kidnapping them and making them write books they then bought through the bookstores. The horror ... the horror!

Card has an interesting perspective on many subjects, doesn't he?

For what it's worth, Bobo Herbert has written (in Dreamer of Dune) that his father wrote (IIRC, more than) one of the books to pay bills. And he wrote plenty of non-Dune books. Maybe it wasn't completely "If I write it, they will come," but seems to me a writer could find themself in a worse "trap".

SandRider · Post by **SandRider** » 18 Mar 2009 19:42

I'm tending to believe now Spinrad's take that the money offered from the
late seventies on was just too much for an intelligent man to turn down,
no matter his personal or artistic principles. I guess that could eventually
be pinned to "reader-demand", if the publishers thought there would be
a huge, lucrative market.

but that line of reasoning doesn't explain the continued publication of
Keith's Dune Comics .....

Redstar · Post by **Redstar** » 18 Mar 2009 19:49

That particular line of OSC's really surprised me, considering he himself is known pretty much only for the Ender's Game series and everything else is his personal religious drivel.

Though the readers probably have a lot of influence on what and when a writer chooses to write, it's really their own choice. I only write what I please.

Redstar · Post by **Redstar** » 18 Mar 2009 19:58

Baraka Bryan wrote:
Redstar wrote:That particular line of OSC's really surprised me, considering he himself is known pretty much only for the Ender's Game series and everything else is his personal religious drivel.

Though the readers probably have a lot of influence on what and when a writer chooses to write, it's really their own choice. I only write what I please.
THe Homecoming series is a sci-fi reimagining of the book of mormon, but if you ignore that fact, it's really quite a well written series.

Yeah, I forgot that one. It's certainly not his most well-known work, but it does have a following.

Hart's Hope sounds like a pretty good fantasy of his, so I've been meaning to check it out. It's just morbid enough to keep my attention on fantasy.

Hunchback Jack · Post by **Hunchback Jack** » 18 Mar 2009 19:59

Alvin Maker's pretty good, too.

IIRC, only Heretics and Chapter House were "done for the money", and I doubt whether FH took them less seriously in any case. Doesn't show in the result, regardless.

Edited to add: "done for the money" is an overstatement.

HBJ

SandChigger · Post by **SandChigger** » 18 Mar 2009 22:02

That sounds right ... according to Bobo, FWIW.

IIRC Brian wrote that one of them (Heretics?) was written to pay off the IRS....

TheDukester · Post by **TheDukester** » 18 Mar 2009 22:15

SandChigger wrote:Card has an interesting perspective on many subjects, doesn't he?

And he's an expert at being a complete asshat, too. He's multitalented.

trang · Post by **trang** » 18 Mar 2009 23:04

Well Met and Welcome!!

Hunchback Jack · Post by **Hunchback Jack** » 19 Mar 2009 01:11

TheDukester wrote:
SandChigger wrote:Card has an interesting perspective on many subjects, doesn't he?
And he's an expert at being a complete asshat, too. He's multitalented.

I have to agree, sadly. He's become increasingly vocal about his opinions, which seem to be increasingly based on less and less actual facts. I've read that this trend has leeched into his latest novels as well, and I've steered clear of the latest Ender novel as a result.

I think the final Alvin Maker book will be the next and last thing I read of his - if he ever gets around to writing the damn thing.

HBJ

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Introduction

Introduction

Re: Introduction