You really should bump that up on your list. Dune is a fantastic book and generally regarded as the best science fiction book of all time. DO NOT JUDGE IT BY THE SHIT-SUCKING MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES. I hope you have never seen them. If you haven't, DON'T.

Unfortunately, Herbert only hit it out of the park once. The series goes downhill fast. I have tried on occasion to get through the fourth installment many times over the past three decades, and have never been able to make it. The supplemental stories written by his son, Brian, based on his original notes, are generally entertaining, but none of them come close to the original masterwork.

Cool, man. Thanks for the review. I'll bump it up. I have not seen the movie or the series.

That movie is a crime against humanity. :# Don't ever watch it.

:)

I can't promise you that, unfortunately. I'm a massive David Lynch fan. And the only reason I haven't watched the movie is because I was waiting to read the book first. One of these days I'll have to see it, if only to complete the collection. So to speak.

You might not be a Lynch fan for long after you see what he did to one of the greatest books ever written.

Personally, I have never watched anything else he did after that. If the sonofabitch made a movie about me I wouldn't watch it.

ROFL

That was pretty much my assessment of the Dune series. Dune is probably my favorite sci-fi novel. The second one wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. I tried reading the third one but it just got way too weird. And from the synopses I've read of the rest of the series, it only gets weirder after that.

Oh, and they're remaking Dune AGAIN. Check it out:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1160419/

Ironically I made this post a few hours ago and apparently neglected to hit 'enter':

I think that you'll discover that, unlike Dune, the books remain relatively true to the original as you go forward in the series. I know that, at least for me, Herbert's books (while still good) grow increasingly difficult to read the further away from Dune you get. Although, unfortunately, as we've mentioned earlier in the thread, the threat of a Chapterhouse: Dune situation is possible, where the author dies before he can finish the series (on a massive cliffhanger to boot).

I hope he (Martin) is, at least, keeping notes or a writing journal or something. You would think HBO wouldn't have commited to the project unless they were confident that he'd finish, right?

I'm nearly 2/3rds of the way through now. Great book. Dune is a great comparison to this. Things look pretty bleak for Ned right now - he's definitely giving off Duke Leto vibes.

I'm doing the audio book version of this. The story has dramatically picked up; the sheer amount of backstory and character development drug on quite awhile, but it's getting good. Anyone else listened to the audio version?

[QUOTE=Bowser;6931360]I'm doing the audio book version of this. The story has dramatically picked up; the sheer amount of backstory and character development drug on quite awhile, but it's getting good. Anyone else listened to the audio version?[/QUOTE

I am guilty of listening to audiobooks quite a lot during my commute or working out. This series is pure literary crack on print.

Yes. Roy Dotrice does a great job. Unfortunately his health wouldn't allow him to do the fourth audiobook.

I'm about a third of the way through the second book. Wonderful story, although I do wish he wasn't quite so Stephen King-like with the minutiae.

Are you talking about the heraldry?