new to the forum - my thoughts on the prequels...

[silverjunky]

Hey im new to this forum, i have read over quite a few of the comments about the prequels and the butlerian jihad books, and have enjoyed what you all have commented on.

here are my two cents worth:

the three prequels (Corrino, Harkonnen, and Atreides) were on the whole not too bad as long as you take them at face value, it seemed to me that the whole exploration of human thought and ideas, was disregarded in favour of action and plot, i always enjoyed FH's "in the characters thoughts" style. Rather than having the characters lieterally there to do nothing more than service the plotline, they were instrumental in how the plot came about because of who they were and what actions THEY would take. rather than just following along the plotline as "the army leader" or "the holy icon", very shallow writing.

Now the butlerian jihdas, i least liked the House prequels were generally okay as "lite" reading, but the Butlerian Jihad was just pure almost fantasy rather than science fiction, and my biggest gripe is the rejection of the "human" accomplishments of the BG and the SG and so on in favour of Sorceresses?? and Norma Cenva's almost superhero like powers, too far beyond the pale for me. I had always liked how FH had the human need to survive linked into purely human Mental and physical growth  (ie with a lil help from melange) to create some amazing abilities, we had to imporve ourselves to survive without computers and machines doing all the work and such like. That seemed much more innovative than super human transformations and amazing fantastical mental owers, which by the way is a direct contradiction of Frank Herberts canon, as numerous times throughout the dune series Bene Gesserit abilities were nothing more than amazing conditioning and leraning, and specifically stated as NOT being telepathy and so on, so to the bring in telekinesis as an ability in the butlerian jihad seemed like an easy get out clause to ctreate a begining for the BG sloppy imagining.

thats my lot, sorry if it sounded a bit like a rnt but i need to say it.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Accurate for the most part. I must play devil's advocate on one section however. You state that introducing super human transformations and the like is a direct contradiction of FH cannon, but recall Leto II. I'm not sure what else to call that but a super-human transformation :)

[Dante]

Yes, but once in six books isn't much compared to a whole society of brains in tubes and lightning women.

I agree with the main points raised here, I think, although I have tended toward a far harsher phrasing in the past. The primary concern seems to be the transformation of the books away from Frank Herbert's originals, yes? That's certainly a major issue, but we must not forget that - and I am talking about the 'Legends' series here - they are simply bad books.

[Colonel_Worf]

All the machinery and advanced powers in the books serve a purpose, though. By the time of the original Dune novel, society is no longer relying heavily on machinery because of the past.

[Dante]

Are you saying that the powers and machinery needed to be present in order for it to be missing later? That works with Omnius, but not with crazy lightning women.

[Egeides]

thats my lot, sorry if it sounded a bit like a rnt but i need to say it.

LotR has so much of it that it might have influenced people's view of Tolkien's work :P Influential authors get some other people writing after, and claiming it as "within the original world".

[Smeghead]

Yes the Legends books were much like "fairytales" much more action-y and superhuman than the Dune universe...

- However I actually enjoyed them, because until I read them... The butlerian Jihad WAS a fairytale for all I knew...

All the ridiculous stuff like Norma Cenva's transformation and Selims "oops i tripped and fell onto a worm!" was appropriately exaggerated to make it seem like the 'legend' that Imperial citizens would tell their kids 10,000 years later... I also agree about the characters thoughts, Herbert Jnr. focuses more on action, and when he does focus on telling the story through the characters thoughts, it looks like he's trying to imitate his father

And Erasmus... Everybody loves Erasmus

I liked 'em, but if they weren't Dune novels I probably woulnd't have given a rats arse

[Tako]

As I stated before, I liked the books but we are talking about comparing the prequels to the original work of FH.

This is not really possible, its like compairing shakespear with readers digest

So the prequels where nice but I do not really want to compare them

end.

[SandChigger]

Dune : Legends :: Herodotus : 300.  8)