Santaroga Barrier

[Caid Ivik]

I read at one of my favorite pages a little report about Herbert's book "Santaroga Barrier", which is deeply into existentialist thoughts of Heidegger. It is interesting, as Dune was more about mass sociology. Has here anybody read it?

[Khan]

Got it, started it, haven't finished, I know other people have though.

[Andrew]

This reminds me I should pick up another FH book sometime. Been a couple years :(

[TMA_1]

yeah I read it awhile back ago. It is about a reporter who got a tip about disappearances at this one secluded town. He goes to investigate and a whole can of worms is opened up from there.

SPOILERS!!!!!

He finds that the town is extremely xenophobic and centered completely on the community. There is a strange connection between the townspeople and hears about a strange substance called "jaspers". You later find that the community uses the jaspers (which are a kind of hallucinagenic fungus you find out) in order to connect with eachother mentally. He finds a woman and    falls in love. Throughout the book there is a strong tension between him and the community. Though at first he fights it, he is slowly absorbed into the community and at the end of the book joins it.

You either become apart of the isolated town or die. It is an extremely interesting book. I havent read it in a long while so I have forgotten many details, I remember it as being one of my favorites though of franks. I highly suggest reading it! :)

[gowachin]

Read it and really enjoyed it.

I don't know about Heidegger, but I got a very strong "culture jamming" feeling from the book. An almost rant about, and against, what Herbert calls the Suk mentality.

I just finished The Green Brain... so-so. Didn't really like it.

I am looking forward to reading the work Herbert did with Bill Ransom.

[Andrew]

I would recommend The White Plague

Not really a futuristic scifi, but good nonetheless.

[TMA_1]

Read Destination:Void if you are interested in Franks non-dune books. It is probably still my favorite. That and Whipping Star.

[gowachin]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

This past weekend I picked-up four Herbert books at the local used book/comic/gaming store. The Godmakers, The Worlds of Frank Herbert, The Jesus Incident, and The White Plague. Only Five bucks for all.

I really want to read Destination:Void before starting The Jesus Incident, so I will have to find it somewhere. I have plenty to read, right now, anyway.

I'm reading The Godmakers, and then I think I'll take Andrew's suggestion and read The White Plague.

[Andrew]

Only Five bucks for all.

Whaaa??

Good condition (not badly damaged)?

Lucky you. Should buy them all if they are that cheap! :O

[gowachin]

Good condition? lol!

In this case, the operative word in used book store is "used"!

The copy of The Godmakers is from 1973, and it has pages of the deepest yellow. It only cost me a dime. But, overall, they are in decent condition. I think I'm the only Dune nerd in town, so I cleaned the store out of all it's Herbert (Frank, that is).

I'm not really a collector... as long as it has all the pages, and is legible, I'm happy. No need for mint quality. If I come across a better copy, I'll pick it up.

I have seen on Ebay people offering almost complete FH collections. I might try for one of those sometime.

I'm wondering, as a general question, if many of the participants on this forum read Frank's non-Dune works? I find they really help me understand The Dune Chronicles better.

[TMA_1]

yeah they can help a bit. Some of his non-dune books arent that good, but a few are excellent. The odd thing is a lot of terms from Dune are scavanged and put into the non-dune series. Especially the whipping star series and the Jesus Incident series. I wrote an email to the main Dune website asking about  the terms and technologies, and how they were used at times in startling similarity. Kevin actually wrote back and said it was strange and said he wasent sure if there was a connection or not.

[driftingcloud]

Good condition? lol!

I'm wondering, as a general question, if many of the participants on this forum read Frank's non-Dune works? I find they really help me understand The Dune Chronicles better.

I think I've only read White Plague, and remebered enjoying it very much but can't recall the details. I think I've read parts of Eye too, a collection of short stories I believe. Been a while since I pulled that off my shelf. I read everything Dune and most of Robert Heinlein when I was a teenager.

[Egeides]

Caid, would you have any direct link to this article about Santaroga Barrier? The URL you posted is interesting, but I didn't find the article...

[gowachin]

yeah they can help a bit. Some of his non-dune books arent that good, but a few are excellent.

Most everything non-Dune I have read I have really enjoyed. Just finished The Godmakers, parts of The Worlds of Frank Herbert (short stories), and almost thru with The Jesus Incident.

The Dune Chronicles have such a wide range of themes. What I have found is his other books seem to touch and expand on themes presented in the six Dune books.

For example: The ideas in The Chronicles about the Fremen and Sardaukar. An extremely hostile environment will produce humans of exceptional hardiness, viciousness and power. This theme is only a part of The Chronicles. Then I read The Dosadi Experiment, and this theme is what the whole book is about. It gives me more insight in to the Fremen and Sardaukar.

The odd thing is a lot of terms from Dune are scavanged and put into the non-dune series. Especially the whipping star series and the Jesus Incident series.

I kinda like this about FH. I know Galach is used in The Dosadi Experiment (and I assume The Whipping Star

[TMA_1]

Starting Soul Catcher, and I must say it might be one of my favorites. It is awesome so far.

Eh, Worlds of Frank Herbert is okay, it has a few great shorts like The Tactful Saboteur (probably didnt spell it right.lol)

I suggest getting the two book volume of The Best of Frank Herbert. It has many new shorts that are pretty good.

[gowachin]

Eh, Worlds of Frank Herbert is okay, it has a few great shorts like The Tactful Saboteur (probably didnt spell it right.lol)

I haven't read Tactful Saboteur yet. I enjoyed Mating Call quite a bit. A-W-F Unlimited was bizzare, but I liked Herbert's vision of advertising in the future.

I suggest getting the two book volume of The Best of Frank Herbert. It has many new shorts that are pretty good.

I will definitely take you up on that suggestion. Thanks.

I want to get Eye, as well.