Another "How Many Times Have You Read Them" Thread
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- SandChigger
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Another "How Many Times Have You Read Them" Thread
Actually, these things bore me to death.
Mainly because I've never bothered to keep track of the number of times I've reread them. (More than once, at least. )
But I know some people get off on them, so here we are.
Here's the real reason for starting this, though:
Yesterday evening I was transcribing some bits of that Adventures in Scifi Publishing podcast interview with Kevin and he says something about having reread Messiah about six times.
So there's a benchmark for you: One of the world's biggest...Dune fans (self-proclaimed) has read the second book six times. CAN YOU DO BETTER?!
(Edit: Title supposed to be Another Silly "How Many Times Have You Read Them" Thread, but evidently that's too long. )
Mainly because I've never bothered to keep track of the number of times I've reread them. (More than once, at least. )
But I know some people get off on them, so here we are.
Here's the real reason for starting this, though:
Yesterday evening I was transcribing some bits of that Adventures in Scifi Publishing podcast interview with Kevin and he says something about having reread Messiah about six times.
So there's a benchmark for you: One of the world's biggest...Dune fans (self-proclaimed) has read the second book six times. CAN YOU DO BETTER?!
(Edit: Title supposed to be Another Silly "How Many Times Have You Read Them" Thread, but evidently that's too long. )
"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"
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I've only read Dune twice. I've never been as big a reader as I am a film watcher, so I have not re-read as many books as I have rewatched lots of films. I also find it much harder to discover good books that I'd like to read over and over again than films. Plus a good 95% of the utter garbage I used to read I will never read again.
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(Rocky Horror Picture Show?)Freakzilla wrote:Quake with fear you tiny fools!
(Bonus points if anyone knows where that quote is from.)
I'd conservatively estimate I've read them around a dozen times.
I would say I have read Dune, DM, CoD, Chapterhouse 8-10 times. I've read Heretics and GEoD at least a dozen.
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- Phaedrus
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I don't have a clue. First, I can't tell you how many times I've read the books, I just don't know.
Second, I don't always reread the books from start to finish. I'll often just flip open a Dune book, and read a few chapters, then put it up. The next time I pick up a Dune book, it might be an entirely different book, and if it's the same one, I probably won't pick up where I left off, I'll just flip it open again. That's almost always what I do when I feel like reading Dune.
Of course, I've read some books more than others. I'd say I've read Messiah, Heretics, and Chapterhouse most. Then Dune, and CoD and GEoD tie for least(although I was looking through them more, before I kind of stopped with Dune for a while).
I've probably read the entirety of Dune Messiah at least a dozen times, and that's a severe underestimate. It's probably my favorite book in the series, and it's also the shortest, so I've managed to read the entire thing to death. I can recall more from that book than others(the other day, I was quoting something from DM here on the forums, and I checked the book out of habit, but my remembered phrasing was right. )
Either way, I'm pretty sure I beat KJA.
Second, I don't always reread the books from start to finish. I'll often just flip open a Dune book, and read a few chapters, then put it up. The next time I pick up a Dune book, it might be an entirely different book, and if it's the same one, I probably won't pick up where I left off, I'll just flip it open again. That's almost always what I do when I feel like reading Dune.
Of course, I've read some books more than others. I'd say I've read Messiah, Heretics, and Chapterhouse most. Then Dune, and CoD and GEoD tie for least(although I was looking through them more, before I kind of stopped with Dune for a while).
I've probably read the entirety of Dune Messiah at least a dozen times, and that's a severe underestimate. It's probably my favorite book in the series, and it's also the shortest, so I've managed to read the entire thing to death. I can recall more from that book than others(the other day, I was quoting something from DM here on the forums, and I checked the book out of habit, but my remembered phrasing was right. )
Either way, I'm pretty sure I beat KJA.
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Lost count a long time ago, though this year has been a bit thin.
I am currently immersed in DUNE for my fan comic efforts, so I'm constantly going over that (highlighting elements in my "guide" for organizational purposes). Other than that I read Messiah and Children before I decided to start reading non-Dune stuff by BH&KJA
(just to see if there was any truth to "certain" claims that they suck, happily this isn't so )
I've read "the Race for God" which was good, not "daDaDA! GREEEAAAT" but easily as good as some of FH's non-dune stuff (not bad for being a new author's first book!).
Also I'm digging the Saga of the Seven Suns (i've only read the first nine chapters of "Hidden Empire" thus far but only because I had to force myself to put it down so I can finish the books I'm already in the middle of). Where I'm at right now, man had just ignited their first star and pissed on those gasious beings living in the nebula. As soon as I'm done with this World War Z book, it is on!
I am currently immersed in DUNE for my fan comic efforts, so I'm constantly going over that (highlighting elements in my "guide" for organizational purposes). Other than that I read Messiah and Children before I decided to start reading non-Dune stuff by BH&KJA
(just to see if there was any truth to "certain" claims that they suck, happily this isn't so )
I've read "the Race for God" which was good, not "daDaDA! GREEEAAAT" but easily as good as some of FH's non-dune stuff (not bad for being a new author's first book!).
Also I'm digging the Saga of the Seven Suns (i've only read the first nine chapters of "Hidden Empire" thus far but only because I had to force myself to put it down so I can finish the books I'm already in the middle of). Where I'm at right now, man had just ignited their first star and pissed on those gasious beings living in the nebula. As soon as I'm done with this World War Z book, it is on!
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First read Dune back in the late 1970s. I forget how many times I've reread it since then. I certainly remember reading the entire series - Dune to Chapterhouse Dune - at least 3 times in the past 15 years. But I did reread Dune alone only last year. I was rereading my favourite twelve sf novels, to see if they would still be favourites afterwards...
Simon - I flogged my copy of The Race for God on eBay, as I didn't recall being all that impressed by it. And I have a first edition copy of The Hidden Empire for sale too. I thought it was dire.
Simon - I flogged my copy of The Race for God on eBay, as I didn't recall being all that impressed by it. And I have a first edition copy of The Hidden Empire for sale too. I thought it was dire.
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(sigh)tanzeelat wrote:You have to wonder about a sf writer who thinks the future of robotics is... Tweeky. That's what "compies" are, isn't it?
I had forgotten I knew about this. Thanks for the reminder.
His FoI with regard to future computer/AI technology is something I've kvetched about enough already, though.Compies - "Competent Computerized Companions" come in a variety of makes and models (Teacher, Friendly, Governess etc.), and are referred to by the first two letters of their serial numbers. such as DD, EA, UR, OX etc.
It's tempting, in a really perverted sort of way, to go through his wonderful Sag and see just how much he has sto...um, appropriated?...from other works.
I think I've mentioned somewhere about how a lot of the elements seem to have been inspired by Simmons' Hyperion books. (His Theron green priests or whatever he calls them are the Templars, the Roamers are the Ousters, the Hanseatic League the Hegemony/Pax; Simmons describes a jovian world with a breathable atmophere, etc.)
Tempting...but I just don't think I have the fortitude any longer.
"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"
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