Interesting Hari Kunzru piece on Dune at 50.

[hitmouse]

Dune, 50 years on: how a science fiction novel changed the world


http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jul/03/dune-50-years-on-science-fiction-novel-world

 

[Vince W]

Nice to see some recognition of Dune at 50 years. I'm surprised Tor hasn't done more to promote it. Actually I'd like to see a Chilton reprint. The Folio Society edition is great, but pricey.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

If The Lord of the Rings is about the rise of fascism and the trauma of the second world war,

Except it absolutely isn't!

Herbert, whose female characters are consistently strong and active, has also ditched the strict sexual divisions of actually existing Bedouin culture.

I always thought Tuareg inspired rather than the Bedouin. But spice = oil. Before the Oil Crisis. The Arab Oil crisis was inevitable given how things turned out after 1945.

Herbert knew he’d been ripped off, and thought he saw the ideas of other SF writers in Lucas’s money-spinning franchise. He and a number of colleagues formed a joke organisation called the We’re Too Big to Sue George Lucas Society.

Sure Star Wars borrows some ideas (Han Solo even smuggled spice), but it's a different story. There was court action which was lost. Who actually sued Lucas, I'm not sure. Certainly it's hard to believe that Lucas wasn't inspired by Dune.

I don't think this is an especially accurate article and I'm not sure it doesn't say anything that wasn't said 30 or 40 years ago.

Dune was I great book (I read it before I saw first release of Starwars in the Cinema). I'd deny it had a huge impact on SF (which I've been reading since late 1960s). I found for me, the rest of the series didn't live up to the promise of the excellent first volume. It all got a bit tedious.

We are still only entering the Age of Aquarius, that isn't a name for the 1960s!

 

[MWagner]

For a while in the 80s, Dune had as big a cultural footprint as Lord of the Rings. Every kid I knew who was remotely geeky read Dune. Usually more than once. It inspired boardgames, roleplaying games, satires, and videogames (the very first first-person-shooter was Dune). Then it kind of faded from popular consciousness, eclipsed by the behemoths of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Nice to see it getting some love.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

the very first first-person-shooter was Dune

Or perhaps Wolfenstien?* I never heard of a Dune FPS. Doom was shortly after Wolfenstien.
I did have a Dune franchise computer game, but it wasn't an FPS. I still have it somewhere. It had video excerpts of the Princess Irulian's head talking in a low resolution effect. It wasn't very playable.

Certainly Dune deserves some recognition and a better article.


[* Though I always believed Wolfenstien was first FPS, I checked
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter#Origins:_1970s_to_late_1980s
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=128
Any date and publisher for a Dune FPS?]

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I'm not sure Dune changed the world, but it's certainly one of the most important novels in all SF.

 

[MWagner]

Or perhaps Wolfenstien?* I never heard of a Dune FPS. Doom was shortly after Wolfenstien.
I did have a Dune franchise computer game, but it wasn't an FPS. I still have it somewhere. It had video excerpts of the Princess Irulian's head talking in a low resolution effect. It wasn't very playable.

Certainly Dune deserves some recognition and a better article.


[* Though I always believed Wolfenstien was first FPS, I checked
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter#Origins:_1970s_to_late_1980s
http://www.freeinfosociety.com/article.php?id=128
Any date and publisher for a Dune FPS?]

Sorry, I meant first real-time strategy game (RTS).

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I meant first real-time strategy game (RTS)

I'm pretty sure it wasn't that either
But I'm no expert on gaming, and few games caught my attention between 1969* and today.
The Dune game I had/have looked nice.

(* Poker dice on a teletype running on a mainframe).

 

[MWagner]

Dune II (1992)

While not necessarily the first real-time strategy (RTS) game (elements of which previously appeared in Stonkers, The Ancient Art of War, Command HQ, and particularly Herzog Zwei), Dune II established the format that would be followed for years to come.[1][2] As such, Dune II was the archetypal "real-time strategy" game. Striking a balance between complexity and innovation, it was a huge success and laid the foundation for Command & Conquer, Warcraft, StarCraft, and many other RTS games that followed...
Some key elements that first appeared in Dune II and later appear in many other RTS games include:

• A world map from which the next mission is chosen
• Resource-gathering to fund unit construction
• Simple base and unit construction
• Building construction dependencies (technology tree)
• Mobile units that can be deployed as buildings
• Different sides/factions (the Houses), each with unique unit-types and super weapons
• A context-sensitive mouse cursor to issue commands

 

[Ray McCarthy]

While not necessarily the first real-time strategy (RTS) game

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_strategy#Original_RTS
5 to 10 years later than other RTS, depending how you define them.
I've never seen Dune II though. How does it compare with Warcraft?

Some of the early RPGs may qualify as RTS.
There were a number of games in the late 1980s and early 1990s that didn't neatly fit in a single genre.


I still think we need a better (and more accurate) 50 year review of Dune than the Guardian article, it doesn't do it justice.

 

[Vince W]

I still think we need a better (and more accurate) 50 year review of Dune than the Guardian article, it doesn't do it justice.

Agreed, just so long as they don't let either of the hacks near it. I'd like to see a cross section of SF authors give their impressions of Dune.

 

[Connavar]

I agree too that we need better article than the Guardian one and i say that as not a fan but someone who has read only the first Dune novel. I can see it was an important novel in the genre specially in the more modern Sciance fantasy story type, the interesting themes, blend of religion,politics etc

It should stand on its own as a important popular SFF novel that doesnt need a silly hollywood film series for it to be important for the book genre....

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I think, all in all, it is a much loved and admired novel. It has already stood the test of time.