LOTR-Dune

[Emperor Harkonnen]

Is there any resemblance between Dune and Lord of the Rings?

[Digital Guerrilla]

No, only that they both are very complex worlds outside of that you really can't compare the two to each other.

[Emperor Harkonnen]

But had Frank Herbert read LotR before he wrote Dune?

Many names in LOTR are like the ones in Dune.

Like Sauron isn't quite that different from Sardaukar  :-/

[quoudam72]

Well in a sense both are heavily researched worlds created by the writers (Tolkien and Herbert). Both have some eastern influence more evident in Herbert's Dune than Tolkien's LOTR. Both writers used great efforts to make each of their worlds believable. Each one of the two worlds created by Tolkein and Herbert are different than each other. Tolkien's (LOTR) is fantasy and Herbert's (Dune) is sci-fiction if they have to be categorized.  As far as the name comparison between Sauron and sardaukar that could be true but they have different functions all together. This is the basis of why I think the two are not similar to one another (characters, settings, groups of people and over all story) you can't compare the Hobbits and the Fremen, nor Arrakis and Middle Earth, Sauron and Shaddam there all very different.

If Herbert did read LOTR before writing Dune I do not see where and how it influenced his novels.  :)

[gryphon]

There was a topic about the the differences between them. Have been looking for it but can't find it.

Does anyone know what the topic was ?

[Emperor Harkonnen]

But Sauron and Vladimir ain't that different 8)

By the way thanks for the answer quoudam, it explained a lot.

[Nefud]

Nope, I haven't heard of this topic before...  :-/

I think anyone could start a search to compare names and other things with other which resembles to them...

This leads nowhere I think...

[vidiware]

Vladimir is a russian (and east european name)...

Why are they always doomed to be bad guys?

[Acriku]

Well, they aren't always doomed to be the bad guys. Why would you think that?

[Frodo]

in david lynch's version of the film, they were definately made out to be evil. But in the miniseries, they just resembled politicians that were from another country. I always thought that the Harkonnens were evil.

[Anathema]

In lOTR you have Sauron, who represents everything that is evil (though he is a mere servant of evil). The Harkonnens are evil, but do not represent evil. And they were eradicated in the first nove (I think- I have yet to read it) so there is no such thing as pure evil in Dune but there is in LOTR. Dune is thus more realistic.

[Caid Ivik]

Muad'Dib, anyway he's quarter-Harkonnen, was showed as evil in later Dune novels. In Heretics he's showed as catastrophical end of Bene Gesserit plan.

[jacobdouds]

No resemblance. Sauron and Sardaukar are very different. Otherwise, every word starting with S and with a D are the same.

[Anathema]

Muad'Dib considered evil? Just by Bene Gesserit I assume?

His grandfather was baron Harkonnen, so he's quarter Harkonnen.

[Caid Ivik]

Bene Gesserit sister were main characters.