THE novel Dune, started out about as unpromisingly as a novel can -- published after many rejections, on a press specializing in auto manuals. But spoke to its own time as well as to ours, and it's still the best-selling sf novel ever.HERE is my LA Times story on the novel and its legacy in literature, ideas and film.There are of course all kinds of connections between Dune with Star Wars and … [Read more...]
Happy Birthday to Dune’s Frank Herbert
TODAY is would have been the 89th birthday of frank herbert, the west coast science fiction writer and journalist, best known for "dune," who died in 1986.when "dune" won the best sci-fi novel poll on my blog -- defeating heinlein's "stranger in a strange land," gibson's "neuromancer," and others -- i wrote a bit about the book, which you can find here. i recently reread herbert's novel and found … [Read more...]
"Dune" and Science Fiction
THIS blog's recent poll was taken by frank herbert's novel "dune," which was trailed closely by gibson's cyberpunk classic "neuromancer" and le guin's political novel-of-ideas "the dispossessed." it was, despite an obscure seeming topic, the most heavily voted of my polls so far. (interestingly, these top three all by west coast authors.)that "dune" is the winner is not much of a surprise: it's … [Read more...]