Any Thoughts On Dune Prophecy ?

[BAYLOR]

An Upcoming series set 10,000 before the Paul Atrides.

 

[Rodders]

Isn't that time frame now?

I've not hear of Dune: Prophecy, but i can't say that i'm keen on the idea. Sounds a little too Kevin J. Anderson's Dune to me and could really damage the reputation of the movies. (and please don't get me wrong, the KJA Dune prequels are something of a guilty pleasure of mine, but they cannot compare to Dune.)

 

[Biskit]

Well I've clearly been living under a rock, or a lot of sand, because I'd not even noticed all these prequels and sequels. The last one I read was Chapterhouse, probably when it first came out.

 

[Robert Zwilling]

I drifted away from Dune after 5 or 6 books. I never thought about Earthers being in Dune, having seen movies and series that only cover the traditional Dune, or what I thought was the traditional Dune. "I'm shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here," err, I mean that 23 Dune books have been published. I had a vague idea there were a few more Dune like stories published.

Legendary Entertainment bought the Dune rights and started the movie and the tv series basically at the same time. Two different mediums, two different time periods. This gives them 10,000 years to play with, to find what interests audiences the most. Perhaps an attempt to eclipse the Marvel World. Tom Hanks, who never had a Marvel roll, recently said it might be time for stories to become part of movies again. Maybe they are so far apart that if the tv series bombs out no one will connect the two.

I published two books, one near future, the other 200 years back, thinking 200 years would give me plenty of time to add additional stories. I've had plenty of time but nothing has come of it. 10,000 years is an entirely different concept. Its an encyclopedia of time not a series.

For what I would call traditional Dune, there is no Earth in it, its a park parked somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. Now we have Earth, back to being the center of the universe. Two women with super powers fighting evil. I guess there will be People against machines. Not clear on that timeline, yet. Maybe its an attempt to rebrand super human heroes.

Legendary has an interesting track record. They gave us Expanse, set in very familiar territory, which zeroed in on single characters then pulled back again to feature the really big picture. Then we have Carnival Row. Seems like it first premiered 10 years ago but it was only 5 years ago. That was a good one that went up in smoke, apparently never to be heard from again. But I see Legendary recently created a second series, its billed as the final series, which is only season 2. I might have to check that out or maybe leave it as the reviews aren't encouraging, it might just be an attempt close out the books and forget it ever happened.

 

[Elckerlyc]

Isn't that time frame now?

10,000 years before Paul Atreides would place it around the time of the Butlerian Jihad, well into our future.

Anything not written by Frank Herbert himself is non-canon, as far as I am concerned. I once started one of Kevin's Prequels (or sequel, I don't remember) and binned it after reading chapter one.
However, the beginning of a stretch of time 10,000 years long is so immensely far removed from it endings that it would be difficult to see it as something wholly connected. To call it Dune is like calling the first human settlement by hunters and gatherers the precursor of the ISS.
But is TV. As you see it as something standing on its own it could be watchable.

That was a good one that went up in smoke, apparently never to be heard from again. But I see Legendary recently created a second series, its billed as the final series, which is only season 2. I might have to check that out or maybe leave it as the reviews aren't encouraging, it might just be an attempt close out the books and forget it ever happened.

I enjoyed season One, but let it drop after watching the first 3 episodes of season Two. Considering the drop in quality and lack of consistency I wondered if they had switched script-writers.

 

[Rodders]

I wonder what the budget is proposed. Science Fiction is prohibitively expensive.

 

[Toby Frost]

One of the big problems with the Dune world is that a lot of its feel has been borrowed by other franchises, especially Star Wars and Warhammer. It's quite difficult to find anything particularly new or striking to latch onto. I've also heard that the prequels are very generic sci-fi.

 

[Elckerlyc]

I watched the first episode on HBO. It has currently a 7.7/10 score on IMDB, which I personally find a bit overrated. If I am being generous it would be 6/10.

Spoiler: You want to know why?

[Disclaimer: this post may be coloured by a feeling of overwhelming disappointment.]

The series is set approx. 150 years after the Butlerian Jihad, 10,000+ years before Paul Atreides. In a 5 minute long prologue, narrated by main character Valya Harkonnen, sister of the (yet nameless) Sisterhood, we are told why Valya joined the sisterhood. After that we are dumped into a world that is basically Dune was we know it. As if 150 years after banning all computers the world has completely overcome the massive setback and has found alternative ways to run the galaxy. We have spacetravel, a Corrino on the throne, a (beginning of a ) feud between Atreides and Harkonnen, a Sisterhood already on the manipulative breeder road, thruthsayers, secret finger-speak, a planet Arrakis with rebellious Freman, etc, etc. As if after those 150 years of fabulous progress a 10,000 year long period of utter stagnation ruled the galaxy.
So many, many oppurtunities of building the Dune-world as we know it went straight into the bin. So many paths unexplored, untold, discarded.
The story that follows is very generic, just the sisters being maipuative, without explaining how they became truthsayers and managed to find their way into the courts of the Great Houses (yes, all established already).
Nothing exciting, nothing original, nothing engaging. The dialogs are blend, the acting good but not outstanding.
It did remind me why I didn't liked the books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. (That thought was curiously comforting.)

 

[Vladd67]

One of the big problems with the Dune world is that a lot of its feel has been borrowed by other franchises, especially Star Wars and Warhammer. It's quite difficult to find anything particularly new or striking to latch onto. I've also heard that the prequels are very generic sci-fi.

I have seen other people say this about Dune, which is sad given that it came first. I will always remember the year my parents bought me Dune and Lord of the Rings for Christmas. I think I resurfaced around New year. I have only read the first three Dune books, I found the sequels to get increasingly worse and so stopped after book 3.