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Dune House Atreides / Comments on Dune: The Butlerian Jihad / Just finished it last night

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Julia User ID: 8917553	Nov 17th 10:05 AM Whenever there is a colaboration of.. well... anything... usually one party is dominant over the other. This is especially true with writting. The Butlerian Jihad is written in quite a different tone of voice. I would venture a guess that KJA took the reins on this one. Seriously...If I had to choose the best of the prequels, this would be the one. I just seemed like whoever wrote it had a lot of experience writting this sort of thing. But then again.. I'm not as much of a purist as some out there *L* Baron Mortiani, if you're out there.. drop me a line.. There's something I wish to discuss with you. *s* julia@chateauwhisper.com
dogsolitude_uk	Nov 23rd 8:40 AM Yeah, I agree Julia. Far better than the others, and hopefully they will continue to improve at this rate! Dog;)
Feyd	Nov 23rd 10:56 AM Agreed. It’s my favourite so far. Feyd
Cairon	Nov 29th 4:23 PM ...far better but still mediocre...
kane2026	Nov 30th 1:32 PM Actually i quite liked House atreides (it has a david lynch touch), but there is hardly any IQ movement. So i gues this is what tbj is good at.
Nora FJ	Dec 1st 3:59 PM I'm re-reading the prequels...House Atreides really isn't that bad if you re-read it..just my opinion though. Did like the Jihad. Nora FJ
Anniscousin	Dec 2nd 8:15 PM Haven't been around in a long time. The Jihad is the best of the prequels by far simply because the writers have more of a universe to expand into. they're not set within a defined three decades. How much of history gets lost and remember this is ten thousand years before the originals? That's why this one is one of prequels I can't wait to re-read and re-read again. Anniscousin
dogsolitude_uk	Dec 4th 3:04 PM S'funny. I've been reading a load of other stuff lately - especially Moorcock's Elric books and a few old Gothic novels, and to be honest BH and KJA aren't especially *bad* as such in comparison. Compared with the dire unreadable crud that Horace Walpole, a very highly regarded Gothic writer, concoted, BH and KJA are up there with Shakespeare. Moorcock's Elric books are written in an even simpler style than Pinky and The Brain (those nicknames still make me laugh), and are still very highly praised today. The Hobbit wasn't exactly Sartre or Borges come to think of it, and Arthur C Clarke and Asimov may have been hot on the science, but two-dimensional doesn't even begin to describe the hollowness of the characterisation.. I think we've been a bit spoilt with FH's work, and the fact that BH and KJA are reasonably average authors with the odd nice moment (and indeed the odd howler as we've already discussed) means that jumping on the Dunewagon is gonna make anyone look a bit rough 'cos we're expecting Uncle Frank's style, thought and narrative. Alaister Reynolds could've done it beautifully, tho, and I take comfort in that fact that somewhere in the multiverse AR has written Dune 7, and I designed the cover artwork in between dates with Selma Hayek and Liz Hurley. Moorcock, however, is v. cunning. He *revises* what he writes. I think all authors should be encouraged to do this, and it's conceivable that with a few tweaks here, there etc. the prequels could be damned fine. It'd just be a matter of cutting bits out to add to the mystery and depth - we didn't really need (or want) lengthy expos on Tleilax culture and eating habits for example. Anyway, Nora, I'm gonna give HA another crack on your recommendation!!! HC will be good second time round... Definitely going back to the BJ. Definitely. Flipped through it t'other day and it still made me happy. Oh dear. Just written *another* essay on this site!!! Gotta be more succinct in future - sorry folks! I'm supposed to be revising for a Marketing exam and this is a 'displacement activity', if you catch my drift... Dog;)
Julia User ID: 1425064	Dec 5th 9:42 AM I think you're right. We did get spoiled. There are definetely worse writers out there.
dogsolitude_uk	Dec 5th 2:04 PM *L* Yeah! Tom Wolfe's 'Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test' is one other that springs to mind... Ummm... Anyone else think of any famous books that are worse than the prequels? Dog;)
Nora FJ	Dec 5th 3:10 PM I can think of a lot of books that are worse Dog, because I'm seeing the prequels in a different light now for some reason. Anyway, I'm about 3/4 done with HA, and enjoying it- noticing little tidbits I missed before, etc. I plan on re-reading all 3 of the prequels. Nora FJ
dogsolitude_uk	Dec 6th 10:59 AM That's cool... I remember hating God Emperor with a vengeance when I first read it, and then hating Heretics and Chapterhouse even more!!! I even remember legging it downstairs, saying to my housemate: "Right, that's it! Finished reading all that chod... I'm off down the pub to recover... God they were awful, those books..." Funny how stuff changes, eh? Dog;)
Nora FJ	Dec 7th 7:52 PM Lol! Stuff changes all the time, example, my opinion of the prequels. Done with House Atreides now, man, it gets suspenseful in the end. Poor Leto! I refreshed my memory about skeet-drones, Dog. It's mentioned in the end, right before the no-ship attack. It sounds like fun to me. Sorry about the Dec. 5th post. I was in a crappy mood! Nora FJ
dogsolitude_uk	Dec 8th 5:31 AM No need to apologise Nora! You should've seen (?) the mood I was in when I wrote that little anti-Xmas rant on one of the other posts... Dog;)
Nora FJ	Dec 8th 2:15 PM Thanks. I understand, since I always have mood swings. Mostly though, I'm pretty happy! Did you start House Atreides yet?? I started House Harkonnen. Nora FJ
Moneo User ID: 8109723	Jan 13th 4:24 AM Hey peepz, just half thru BJ - like it very much, but well, I liked all the prequels so far. Speaking of bad books, Norman Spinrad's "Greenhouse Summer" (German Title: "Das Tropische Millenium") That was boring as hell. If you don't want to now as much detail as Tleilaxian eating habits, don't touch that book. It's so full of stereotypes and unnessecary descriptions of details... bah. ;) - Moneo
Taqwa! User ID: 9627953	Feb 11th 10:43 PM I think I won't read The Butlerian Jihad. I'd rather keep the ideas I've already got in my mind, and not have them spoiled by BH and KJA. And I definately won't read any sequel.
ozzy0 User ID: 6876843	Mar 17th 5:00 PM hi all id just like to say that i`m tired of all the whining about the way these books were written.what do you expect sadly FRANK is gone and i think these boys are doing an excellent job.ALL the books are very entertaining and informative.my friend complains about short chapters "to bad for him".i remember the firs time i tried to read god emperor,read 100 pages and put it down for 8 months it was just too heavy.just read the whole collection again that kept me busy for a couple weeks.if you don`t read jihad its definatly your loss,enjoy everybody.
Nora FJ	Mar 17th 6:52 PM I agree with ya ozzyO--come on people, you gotta read the Jihad, or at least try it! It's really not that bad! Nora FJ
ozzy0 User ID: 6876843	Mar 18th 5:30 PM thanks nora,imagine if they didn`t give us any thing new.then tere would be o lot more whining i bet.just enjoy the ride even with a few bumps in the road.my only complaint is having to wait a year for each book,seems to me the first set came out faster.does that mean 4 or 5 years for book 7.i recomend reading stephen kings dark tower series while you wait its the only thing that compares to franks universe.peace all ozz

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