Hairy Ticks of Dune

There's only room enough in this stillsuit for one of us! ... Wait, come back!

Saturday, April 28, 2007

May 2007: Sand Chigger "PerNoWriMo"

I keep getting this "Maybe you should write a book?" message from people as diverse as Ganymede/Omar to Kevin's wife, Rebecca Modesta. So maybe I'll do just that.

I made a half-hearted attempt at participating in last fall's NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Over four days during the first six days of November, I managed to write a total of 3,674 words...completely unimpressive and woefully short of the 50,000 needed by the end of the month to be able to say that one had completed the contest. On average that works out to about a thousand words a day for the days I actually wrote something. In actual fact, the volume of my output ranged from a minimum of 107 words on the first day to a maximum of 2,065 words on the third. (970 on the second day and 532 on the fourth, in case anyone was wondering.) From about the 6th I let work and other commitments get in the way and by the time I came back to the thing, I was so far behind my projected schedule that I just gave up.

Like I've said many times now, I don't have any REAL interest in becoming a fiction author. I think it was Hugh Prather who wrote something to the effect that "if the desire to write is not accompanied by writing, then the desire is not to write." In my case, since the writing is not accompanied by a desire to write...there's probably a Shrödinger Box somewhere containing a really bizarre chicken and egg hybrid.

Nevertheless, for the next 30 days I will hold my own "Personal Novel Writing Month". Don't worry, I won't inflict any actual excerpts on the public—I've been far too nasty to far too many people to have the "Chigger Nuggets" for that!—but I may post observations on the process and experience.

Who knows...this could become the source of a new respect for all writers and the empathy needed to cut them some slack, regardless of how bad I find their work!

Nah. Let's not get carried away!

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Thursday, April 26, 2007

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

Tleilax Master B asks in a comment on the last post.

ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO PAY CLOSE TO 200 BUCKS FOR THIS! You must elaborate; what on earth has made you decide to do this?

Nah. Fortunately I came to my senses after an after-dinner nap and someone outbid me again. Somehow I just couldn't bring myself to type "185.00" in the little box.

I mean, if I really want to get my hands on a pile of shit that badly, all I have to do is walk into the toilet and drop 'em in front of ole Mary and start grunting: I can have crap to my heart's content for FREE.

I let it get personal, imagining how funny it would be if it were known in certain quarters that I had a copy months in advance of the actual release, the mayhem I could cause....

But Freak is right. Stirring it up just gives them free publicity. Rather than ranting and raving, our reaction should be more like the one given someone who has farted loudly at a formal dinner party: embarrassed silence and a quick change of topic.

If they are sincere and not just putting on a show while milking the money cow and laughing all the way to the bank...then I really feel sorry for them. I'm starting to wonder if all the defensiveness isn't a manifestation of a realization that what they have produced really is shit, no matter how well it sells and how many people eat it up. THAT would be a hard thing to live with, as Secher Nbiw pointed out. Who knows.

I'm kinda beyond caring at the moment.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

SANDWORMS OF DUNE!

DUNE

On eBay NOW!

(And guess who has the winning bid at the moment!)

Addendum:

I really don't know what all the fuss is about an animated gif banner. I mean, with the right software, you can put one together in about five to ten minutes....

Shit happens

See what I mean?

Answers Received

This is what I found waiting in the email this morning:

Q. Many fans of the original Dune novels have criticised your collaborative efforts as being inconsistent with the original novels by Frank Herbert. While some points are debatable at best, others seem to be clear inconsistencies, such as:

While I'll get to specifics in a moment, I have indeed heard some of the criticisms and so-called "inconsistencies" and yet most of them are clearly explained in the novels themselves upon a careful reading, or at the very least with a little bit of imagination -- and Dune fans should be well-versed in using their imaginations. I have yet to see any fan, even our harshest critics, point out a significant inconsistency. Considering the more than 8000 pages of published Dune fiction, Brian and I believe we have done a creditable job. For the few fans who continue to quibble, we appreciate your dedication and enthusiasm, and we understand why you want to hold us to the highest standards. However, there are significant errors and inconsistencies in the original Dune novels as well, and I'm certain that the careful readers have spotted plenty of them. Such things do not at all diminish *my* appreciation of Frank Herbert's literary greatness, but I wonder how such highly critical fans can stand it? Or is there a double standard at work here?

- There is only a single line in the original series that indicates the possibility that No-technology results in invisibility to the naked eye (For brief moments when they disgorged troops, no-ships were visible and vulnerable. [Chapterhouse]), yet there are numerous lines that indicate the ships are visible to the naked eye, perhaps the most prominent being
"The no-ship sat there creaking, a glistening steely ball whose presence could be detected by the eyes and ears but not by any prescient or long-range instrument. Teg's doubled vision made him confident that no unwanted eyes saw his arrival" in HERETICS. Why was the decision made in the Prequels to present all no-technology as truly invisible to the naked eye? (re: the secret attack in the Guildship made to look like an Atreides attack) (Tleilax Master B)


The technology developed by the Richesian inventor Chobyn in the HOUSE books took place thousands of years before no-field technology was introduced to the reader in HERETICS. Chobyn was killed and all records of his work were destroyed, and the technology was lost. There is nothing to suggest that these two are the exactly same technologies.


In HUNTERS...

- It is revealed to us in HUNTERS that Scytale's body is failing prematurely. Yet in HERETICS it is indicated that Mirlat is very old based on the heavy cartilage build up in the jaw line. (For reference: Mirlat no doubt aspired to Abdl and Mahai. / Waff focused on the councillor's wide jaws where the cartilage had grown over the centuries as a visible mark of his current body's great age.) Based on this, it does not appear that this shortened life span occurred in serial ghola Masters in the original series. Where did this come from? Was this in Frank's notes or was this an original creation? (Tleilax Master B)


Just because one Tleilaxu Master is said to be old does not mean they all live to such a great age. My father-in-law is 82 years old; does that mean every human will live to 82? Frank Herbert also describes the Tleilaxu as being small-statured gnomish men, and yet Duncan Idaho (in CHAPTERHOUSE) disguises himself as a Tleilaxu man, so either Duncan suddenly shrunk, or there are some tall Tleilaxu, too. You can't take one data point and extend it to an entire race.

****

I can't answer the other questions about details in HUNTERS now because the other half of the story has not yet been published. It's like walking out in the middle of a movie and suggesting that all the plot threads weren't tied up.

- It is stated or implied several times that worms are the source of the spice on the no-ship even though this contradicts the main source of information on the worm life-cycle, the Ecology appendix to DUNE (spice comes from dried pre-spice mass exposed after spice-blows). What passage(s) from the original books do you base this interpretation on? Or is this from the notes?

In the original books Frank Herbert quite clearly makes the distinction that the worms spawned from Leto II's body are different creatures from the original worms on Arrakis. Pointing to details in the Appendix to DUNE is comparing apples and oranges.

Q. Is there anything in Frank Herbert's notes indicating that he planned to develop the character of Norma Cenva into the "super hero" we see in the Legends books and HUNTERS?

Q. You've stated that Mohiam being Jessica's mother was a Frank Herbert idea but that other aspects of the surrounding story were created by you and Brian. Were the rape scene and Mohiam giving the Baron the fattening disease in revenge based on anything in Frank Herbert's notes?

Q. What were the inspirations for the following two characters: Kailea Vernius and Mephistus Cru? (Chanilover)

Q. How much (and if so what parts) of the books came from Brian's personal conversations with his father. It has been stated that Frank and Brian discussed writing something on the Butlerian Jihad together; what ideas came from those conversations, and what did you and Brian add to those ideas. (Omphalos)


I'm not going to go into specific details on which ideas, or which part of an idea, came from Frank Herbert conversations, or his notes, or from me, or from Brian. In my opinion, that would only become an endless spiral. They are all DUNE books, they are all canon, and the authors are clearly listed on the cover, so readers know who typed the actual words.

Q. How do you and Brian check for consistency before you publish? Who checks the facts? How are those people cross-checked? With something as huge and complex as the Duniverse, have you ever considered some form of peer review? If so, why did you decide against it? (Omphalos)

Indeed, the Duniverse is very intricate and complex (8000 pages so far, as I mentioned above). Brian and I read each manuscript from 10-14 times through, and the manuscripts are also checked by four test readers, two editors (one of them an original editor of Frank Herbert's Dune novels), a PhD Dune scholar, an English professor, two copy editors, and two proofreaders, all of whom are familiar with the Dune novels. That constitutes quite a rigorous review, and far more than virtually any other published novel receives.

Q. What is your view on "canon" in a fiction series? Is it simply a matter of copyright ownership, or is there more to it? The HLP has explicitly stated that the new Dune novels are canon. One could argue that only the original author can have a right to say what is canon and what is not. Do you think the HLP should govern what is canon, and do you think that one of the authors also being a member of the HLP represents a conflict of interest? (Schu)

Gene Roddenberry created the original STAR TREK, and he died sometime during the third season of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. I don't believe anyone has ever suggested that the episodes of NEXT GENERATION produced after his death, or DEEP SPACE NINE, or VOYAGER, or the last four STAR TREK films are *not canon* just because the original creator was no longer around.

Frank Herbert was always a great supporter of Brian's writing, assisting him with his solo novels (SUDANNA, SUDANNA, THE RACE FOR GOD, etc.). Frank Herbert's last published novel, MAN OF TWO WORLDS, was a collaboration with Brian, and because he enjoyed the experience of working with his son, he suggested that the two of them consider writing further DUNE novels together, "passing the torch" as it were (much as Anne McCaffrey has recently brought in her son Todd to continue writing "Pern" books). The first project they talked about doing together was to tell the story of the Butlerian Jihad. When Frank was diagnosed with a very aggressive pancreatic cancer, his time was far shorter than anyone expected. It is my understanding that he spent much of his last months finalizing the story for THE ASCENSION FACTOR with Bill Ransom. The last work he wrote was an article on writing for the Writers of the Future contest, from his hospital bed at the University Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.

There is simply no question that Frank Herbert approved of Brian's desire to work in the Dune universe, and the ten members his literary estate also wholeheartedly support the decision. The heirs of Frank Herbert are the only ones who decide canon or what is best for the Dune legacy. There can be no "conflict of interest" with yourself.

Even our harshest detractors must admit that the publication of the new Dune novels has been an overwhelmingly good thing for Dune -- the sales of Frank Herbert's original Dune novels have increased more than 300% since the publication of HOUSE ATREIDES, bringing millions of new readers to the universe. Six of Frank's long out-of-print works have finally been rereleased (the most recent, HELLSTROM'S HIVE, just out last month). SOUL CATCHER has just been optioned by a film maker, and there is other new interest in Frank Herbert properties. None of these things were possible before the renewed prominence of the Dune chronicles.

Q. Are you still convinced that writing and publishing "Dune 7" after the House and Legends books was the right decision? (Sunnypuck)

Absolutely.

Re: You (Questions of a more personal nature)

Q. What specific goals or motivations did you have in taking on the task of writing stories in the Duniverse? (Crysknife)


First and foremost, as a Dune fan, I wanted to see the completion of the story that Frank Herbert had obviously left unfinished. This was before finding any of the notes or outlines. Seeing so many other potential stories just waiting to be told, Brian and I also wanted to bring more of the Dune universe to many readers, both old fans and new ones. Personally speaking, I am very pleased to have brought Frank Herbert's great work into renewed prominence not only in the science fiction community but in the overall publishing world as well.

Q. You've mentioned listening to music while you work on your blog. Could you explain a bit more about how music influences your writing? (Poey)

I love many different types of music, and I have always been inspired by the imaginative visions, particularly of progressive rock (Rush, Kansas, Dream Theater, and more recently Tool, Coheed & Cambria, Frameshift) -- much of that music is itself inspired by science fiction and fantasy. I also listen to movie soundtracks, which evoke certain moods while I'm writing. In particular for Dune work, I've found Brian Tyler's soundtrack for "Children of Dune" to be excellent, and the Toto soundtrack for the David Lynch "Dune" as well as the work of James Horner and Hans Zimmer.

Q. Have you been to the UK and did you like it? (Chanilover)

I've been five times, I think, and I liked it very much. I've done a couple of book-signing tours in England and Scotland, and my "Seven Suns" novels do very well over there. My wife and I are spending the month of September on a signing tour in Australia, too.

Comments...in the comments.

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Tuesday, April 24, 2007

TJDGI

You'll probably be seeing this acronym from me quite a bit from now on, so I thought I'd better give y'all (three of you?) a heads-up on what it means:

They Just Don't Get It.

If that needs further elucidation, just let me know.

I'd be more than happy to rant a bit at the moment.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Email Interview with Kevin J. Anderson

Kevin,

You made it clear yesterday that further exchanges would be a waste of both your time and mine, but I am going ahead and sending these questions along since the thing had already achieved some momentum on the BBS. You can ignore them or answer at your leisure, as you choose. (I have indicated the source for questions not my own, and have edited as I saw fit.)

-SC


Re: The new Dune novels

Q. Many fans of the original Dune novels have criticised your collaborative efforts as being inconsistent with the original novels by Frank Herbert. While some points are debatable at best, others seem to be clear inconsistencies, such as:

- There is only a single line in the original series that indicates the possibility that No-technology results in invisibility to the naked eye (For brief moments when they disgorged troops, no-ships were visible and vulnerable. [Chapterhouse]), yet there are numerous lines that indicate the ships are visible to the naked eye, perhaps the most prominent being
"The no-ship sat there creaking, a glistening steely ball whose presence could be detected by the eyes and ears but not by any prescient or long-range instrument. Teg's doubled vision made him confident that no unwanted eyes saw his arrival"
in HERETICS. Why was the decision made in the Prequels to present all no-technology as truly invisible to the naked eye? (re: the secret attack in the Guildship made to look like an Atreides attack) (Tleilax Master B)

In HUNTERS...

- Teg's ability to slow down time seems to be a secret, whereas in CHAPTERHOUSE DUNE, both Sheanna and Duncan observed it and Duncan, Odrade and others discussed it with Teg afterwards. (Schu)

- It is revealed to us in HUNTERS that Scytale's body is failing prematurely. Yet in HERETICS it is indicated that Mirlat is very old based on the heavy cartilage build up in the jaw line. (For reference:
Mirlat no doubt aspired to Abdl and Mahai.
Waff focused on the councillor's wide jaws where the cartilage had grown over the centuries as a visible mark of his current body's great age.)
Based on this, it does not appear that this shortened life span occurred in serial ghola Masters in the original series. Where did this come from? Was this in Frank's notes or was this an original creation? (Tleilax Master B)

- It is stated or implied several times that worms are the source of the spice on the no-ship even though this contradicts the main source of information on the worm life-cycle, the Ecology appendix to DUNE (spice comes from dried pre-spice mass exposed after spice-blows). What passage(s) from the original books do you base this interpretation on? Or is this from the notes?

- It is revealed that Daniel and Marty are in fact Omnius and Erasmus. You and Brian have stated that Frank's notes reveal that the old couple's "origins" date back to the Butlerian Jihad. In the last chapter of CHAPTERHOUSE, M and D are having a discussion (Note: alone...Duncan is not looking in on them at this point). In that chapter there are countless references to the role the Tleilaxu Masters played in the development of their "ability" to absorb personas and that this eventually led to their "independence". Any explanation that does not include the role of the Masters in their ability seems contradictory to that chapter. How do you explain this discrepancy? For reference:

"They had a Tleilaxu Master, too," Marty said.
"I saw him when they went under the net. I would have so liked to study another Master."
"Don't see why. Always whistling at us, always making it necessary to stomp them down. I don't like treating Masters that way and you know it! If it weren't for them . . ."
"They're not gods, Daniel."
"Neither are we."

"What would you have said to the Master, anyway?" Daniel asked.
"I was going to joke when he asked who we were. They always ask that. I was going to say: 'What did you expect, God Himself with a flowing beard?'"
Daniel chuckled. "That would've been funny. They have such a hard time accepting that Face Dancers can be independent of them."
"I don't see why. It's a natural consequence. They gave us the power to absorb the memories and experiences of other people. Gather enough of those and . . .")

(Tleilax Master B)

How do you respond to criticisms such as the above?

Q. How much (and if so what parts) of the books came from Brian's personal conversations with his father. It has been stated that Frank and Brian discussed writing something on the Butlerian Jihad together; what ideas came from those conversations, and what did you and Brian add to those ideas. (Omphalos)

Q. Is there anything in Frank Herbert's notes indicating that he planned to develop the character of Norma Cenva into the "super hero" we see in the Legends books and HUNTERS?

Q. You've stated that Mohiam being Jessica's mother was a Frank Herbert idea but that other aspects of the surrounding story were created by you and Brian. Were the rape scene and Mohiam giving the Baron the fattening disease in revenge based on anything in Frank Herbert's notes?

Q. What were the inspirations for the following two characters: Kailea Vernius and Mephistus Cru? (Chanilover)

Q. How do you and Brian check for consistency before you publish? Who checks the facts? How are those people cross-checked? With something as huge and complex as the Duniverse, have you ever considered some form of peer review? If so, why did you decide against it? (Omphalos)

Q. What is your view on "canon" in a fiction series? Is it simply a matter of copyright ownership, or is there more to it? The HLP has explicitly stated that the new Dune novels are canon. One could argue that only the original author can have a right to say what is canon and what is not. Do you think the HLP should govern what is canon, and do you think that one of the authors also being a member of the HLP represents a conflict of interest? (Schu)

Q. Are you still convinced that writing and publishing "Dune 7" after the House and Legends books was the right decision? (Sunnypuck)


Re: You (Questions of a more personal nature)

Q. What specific goals or motivations did you have in taking on the task of writing stories in the Duniverse? (Crysknife)

Q. You've mentioned listening to music while you work on your blog. Could you explain a bit more about how music influences your writing? (Poey)

Q. Have you been to the UK and did you like it? (Chanilover)

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Analog Book Reviewer Apparently Selling ARCs on eBay

Analog Science Fiction and Fact book reviewer and Thomas College professor Thomas A. Easton is apparently selling his Advance Reader Copies (books sent to him gratis for review) on eBay.

And if the current bidding price ($102.50) for his Sandworms of Dune ARC is any indication, turning a pretty profit at it.

The eBay user offering the ARC is "daprof23", whose "About me" user profile page contains the following:

Who Is Tom Easton?

Book reviewer, writer, professor!
Find out all about me at my home page.

About himself Easton writes on one of the pages on his website:

I'm partly a college professor, partly a science textbook author, partly a science fiction book reviewer, partly a science fiction writer, partly a poet, and entirely a pursuer of what is known in the science fiction world as "sense of wonder."

I guess shameless profiteer didn't fit in as well with the rest there.

An examination of recent sales by "daprof23" reveals a large number of ARCs and actual books with "publicity sheets"...no doubt review copies.

I don't see any indication that the proceeds from these sales are being donated to a worthy cause. (If it were me, I'd probably donate anything I didn't want to keep to the library at my workplace or local town or county public library.)

Kinda sad, really.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Duniverse Cosmology

Just as our real universe is believed to be doing, the Duniverse continues to expand. And as in the real world, this expansion is being accompanied by a decrease in density; less substance per volume, in other words.

Unlike the real universe, whose rate of expansion is thought to be decreasing, the Duniverse continues to expand at a rate of one volume per year.

Some theorize that in the real universe there occurs some spontaneous creation of a few new hydrogen atoms; such new matter would increase the content of the universe and decrease somewhat the rate of the decrease in density. In the Duniverse, however, each new creation simply furthers the decline in substance.

Aren't analogies fun?

Monday, April 16, 2007

You state these things as if we did not know them: Hunters I.6

Epigraph

I'm stuck for a word to describe this one. Or rather...stuck between two words. Which would you choose to use, "insipid" or "vapid"? I've already used the latter, so let's go with the first, yawn, and move on. (A moving target is always harder to hit. Dur forbid we get a bead on ourselves!)

Text

At around 2,600 words, this section can actually claim to be worthy of being called a "chapter". But only just. And that's probably the nicest thing I'll have to say about it. Let's begin, shall we?

After executing the defiant Honored Matre, Murbella was in no hurry to meet the Guild delegation. She wanted to make sure all traces of the disturbance were cleaned up before any outsiders were allowed into the Keep's main chamber.

Um...what traces? Think back to the scene in which Murbella stabbed Annine: "Annine hadn't even made a mess on the floor." Someone has made a mess here, to be sure, but I don't think it was any of the characters. And if "all traces" is meant more broadly, the use of "cleaned up" is decidedly odd.

This is followed by two wrought paragraphs on why it's hard to be Murbella, Mother Commander, and the reason why she cares (and by extension, we should). Then we get another painfully odd simile (Each step of the overall plan hummed past like connected cars on a maglev train.) before the main event. The cast of characters gathers...and just as it ain't over until she sings, the thing isn't properly begun until the fat lady...shuffles. To the foot of the dais upon which sits Murbella's soostone throne. But soft...she speaks:

"Mother Commander, the Guild delegation grows impatient—as you intended. I believe they are ripe for your meeting."

They are ripe for your meeting? WhoTF talks like that?

And just in case you missed it earlier, we are told again that Bellonda is a balloon (Murbella regarded the obese woman.) and treated to a (another) recap of BG abilities at somatic control and Murbella's speculations as to why Bell has let herself go. No explanation, however, as to why Bell has bloomed after apparently starting to thin in Chapterhouse. (Brian must have left that out of the "Concordance"?) Blubber aside, Bellonda also seems to be suffering from the same dumbing down that afflicts everone else in the Duniverse:

"Bring me spice coffee. I must be at my sharpest. Those Guildsmen will no doubt attempt to manipulate me."

"Shall I send them in now?"

"My coffee first, then the Guild. And summon Doria as well. I want both of you beside me."

If someone asks for a drink, especially a stimulant, after a bit of the nasty and before an important meeting, do you have to be a genius to realize the person probably wants a few minutes to collect themself? This is just stupid. But what can you expect from a cow like Bell? Especially one that "lumber[s] away" with a "knowing smile" on her fat face.

(I sometimes have to stop and ask myself why I am bothering with this drivel.)

OK, let's pick up the pace a bit. We're told (not shown) that Murbella knows how to look intimidating; after she finishes her coffee, Bell (we're now reminded that she's OLD) has the Guild delegation brought in. Enter Doria, the new "whip-thin" foil for Bell, with her backstory. And recap about BG-Guild relations. There's a loose use of "human" (Their highest human administrative official) which could lead the unwary to conclude that Navigators are no longer human in more than just appearance, a conclusion I reject for reasons I won't go into now. Bell and Doria begin to scowl and bicker until Murbella verbally smacks their behinds. (Both advisors fell silent as if a gate had slammed shut across their mouths. Never let it be said that Brian and Kevin are not inventive in their use of language!)

Then enter the Dwarves! I mean, Guildsmen...squat, bald, with "faces slightly malformed and wrong." Odd...I don't remember any mention of the non-Navigator Guildsmen being that different from the human norm. The authors seem to have foreseen such objections and explain: The Guild did not breed with an eye to physical perfection or attractiveness; they focused on maximizing the potential of the human mind. But they're not ALL like that: their leader, Nasi Goreng (OK...not really, but it's almost as bad) is a tall man, bald "as polished marble" except for "a white braid that dangled from the base of his skull like a long electrical cord." A long electric cord? Can anyone find another reference to electrical cords in the Dune books? Here we see another one of what I consider a New Dune hallmark: the anachronous use of contemporary references. (The "maglev train" above comes pretty close as well, IMO.)

OK, tall and well-dressed though oddly coiffured as he may be, the Administrator has "milky eyes" but still seems able to see perfectly well. It's not made clear why this detail is introduced. It certainly plays no role that I could find in Hunters. Maybe it will become significant in Sandworms.

Enter the Navigator, Edrik. We're supposed to think him fishlike, a point reinforced by his travelling in a "great armored aquarium". (There's no mention of how this giant floating container moves, by the way.) And told that he's mostly all brain, his body some sort of residual afterthought. (Who does that remind you of?)

Murbella rose from her throne as a sign that she looked down upon this delegation, not as a gesture of respect.

I'm glad they told us that (in lieu of showing it in the Guildsmen's reactions), otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it. In the cultures I'm familiar with, remaining sitting is the way to show one's perception of a disparity in power.

Introductions are made, blah blah blah, and then we get to the primary goal of this section, rewriting canon:

Murbella knew that most Navigators were so isolated and obscure they could barely communicate with normal humans. With brains as folded as the fabric of space, they could not utter a comprehensible sentence and communed instead with their even more bizarre and exotic Oracle of Time. Some Navigators, however, clung to shreds of their genetic past, intentionally "stunting themselves" so they could act as liaisons with mere humans.

I needn't mention that Frank Herbert never once mentioned any "Oracle of Time" in any of his Dune publications. This is a B&K special, or a misinterpretation of something they found in FH's papers.

More blah blah and recap of the current spice situation and its origins and then we get to the title line:

Murbella curled her own lips downward in a frown. She remained on her feet. "You state these things as if we did not know them."

This could almost read as an accusation from a real fan to the current authors. A bit ironic, no?

More recap and description of the current situation (Chapterhouse desert growing, spice blows have occurred and "stunted sandworms" have appeared) and then this:

In contrast, the Spacing Guild—assuming the days of scarce melange were long over and the market was strong—did not make preparations for a possible shortage.

I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like the Guild I was told about in earlier books. They were always stockpiling the spice, no?

They go back and forth until we get to the next bit of "canon rewriting": the new fallibility of the formerly perfectly functional Ixian navigational machines, now dismissed as "inferior substitutes" for a real Guild Navigator. (There's also a bit before this about Guild guilt in revealing the "landscape" of the Old Empire to the invading Honored Matres—a transgression used by Murbella to deprive them of further spice allotments from the BG. I haven't gone back through Old Canon yet to find corroboration for this. If you know of something, could you mention it in a comment?) We're told that the Guild never really relied on the Ixian devices. All of which is a clear contradiction of canon established in Heretics and Chapterhouse.

Think about it this way: if the Ixian and Scattering navigation systems weren't reliable, weren't Duncan and Sheeana taking a terrible risk (with no only their own lives but those of many others) in escaping from Chapterhouse in a ship equipped only with such systems? Sorry, but this just doesn't hold together.

But Brian and Kevin aren't through with canon yet:

Murbella had her own deceptions. The extravagant use of melange on Chapterhouse was mainly for show, a bluff. So far, the worms in the desert belt provided only a trickle of spice, but the Bene Gesserit kept the market open by freely selling melange from their copious stockpiles, implying that it came from the newborn worms in the arid belt.

I've already posted about this on both the Dune Novels BBS and my blog on MySpace. It's just plain WRONG. Worms do not produce any spice. Spice is produced from pre-spice mass which is exposed to air and sunlight on the surface following a spice blow. I know of nothing in any of the original Dune novels which specifically states otherwise. If you do, then please let me know.

Before the long night of the Honored Matres, Mother Superior Odrade had dispersed groups of Sisters in unguided no-ships across uncharted space.

Unguided by Guild Navigators, but hardly "shots in the dark". (This is all more recap, by the way.) There is also, by the way, no published source for the Odrade quote ("Remove the single point of failure"). The scene continues with more chit-chat until Gorus (the Administrator) gets froggy and threatens Guild action against the New Sisterhood in a recap straight out of Dune:

Trembling, Gorus said, "Can your New Sisterhood survive without the Guild? We could bring a huge force of Heighliners and take the spice from you."

Murbella smiled to herself, knowing his threat had no teeth. "Accepting your ludicrous assertion for a moment, would you risk destroying the spice forever? We have installed explosives, cleverly rigged to annihilate the spice sands and flood them out with our water reserves if we detect even the slightest incursion from outside. The last sandworms would die."

And just in case you miss the reference, Edrik poles the point into the sand: "You're as bad as Paul Atreides," the Guildsman cried. "He made a similar threat against the Guild." Murbella is pleased and then launches into a rousing speech meant for the ears of both the Guildsmen and the assembled members of the New Sisterhood, finally ending this one.

* * * * *

The main purpose of this section should be clear: establishing Brian and Kevin's changes and additions as canon. No doubt a majority of the Prequelite new fans will blithely go along with this, faithfully accepting it all on the basis of the claims that everything is as Frank Herbert intended, as indicated in the notes he left behind.

But those of us who have dwelt longer in the Duniverse may feel compelled to echo Gorus when he questions Murbella's claims about a coming Enemy:

"We have all heard this, Mother Commander." The Administrator's voice dripped with skepticism. "We have seen no proof."

Dem bones, dem bones, gone awry! Hunters I.5

(AKA Duncan in the Labyrinth)

There's not a lot to say about the fifth section of Hunters. This was the last of the prereleases last year, so when I got the book and started reading, I didn't PostIt anything in this one. Nevertheless, upon careful rereading, some things have emerged.

Epigraph

Other than the typo in the attribution pointed out by someone else (Darwil Odrade? Way to go, editors & galley proofers!), there's not much to say about this one. I feel a bit of disconnect between the first and last sentences, but whatever. As "Superman" has recently informed me, these epigraphs are simply provided to help "setting the scene". To be certain, there's little gist for further philosophical speculation provided by those we're given in the new books...and Hunters seems to have reached a new high in vapidity. The image here of crawly things does in some way prepare us for what is to come, of course.

Think of this one as like the Russian's idea of foreplay in the old joke: "Brace yourself, Ludmilla!"

Text

"Old bones rising to the surface of a battlefield after a drenching rain"...now there's a word picture for you. Unfortunately, so far as I know, bones don't float. No doubt this poor simile is based on the same perceptual misconception and failure to think things through that leads people to report (and believe in) fingernails and hair that continue to grow after death. Duncan Idaho is a veteran soldier, so such allusions would come naturally to him, right? (Cough cough) The rest of the first paragraph is just recap of Heretics and Chapterhouse (and Hunters itself, since we are reminded that they have been fleeing for three years) and also provides an explanation for the prior non-discovery of what is to come (so much space, so few minds).

"...the main decks and compartments were equipped with surveillance imagers...." What exactly is a "surveillance imager"? To me, an imager would be something that displays an image, not something that collects light (or other electromagnetic radiation) and transmits one, as these things seem to be. Seems to me there was a word for those sorts of devices...what was it again? Oh, yeah! Cameras! Another example of a totally unnecessary neologisms used for the sake of exoticism.

Nevertheless, Duncan did not expect to discover a long-sealed death chamber on one of the rarely visited decks.

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SP...er, Honored Matre inquisitiveness! OMG! Send the children to bed! There's a death chamber coming! Wow. Um...This is called letting the cat out of the bag, no? We're no more than four paragraphs into the thing yet and already the rest is anti-climax.

Oh well. Onward! The ship conveniently taking the lift our intrepid Duncan Idaho is riding offline for maintenance may be intended to add some sort of nuance of Fate to what follows. (He was meant to find what he finds. We were meant to find that outline!) At the very least it adds 42 words of text. Notice, by the way, that we are never told why Duncan was in the lift tube or where he was headed before it "paused". Also, unless there was some danger of imminent failure that would prove dangerous to the occupant, why wouldn't a lift wait until after reaching its current destination to begin such "self-maintenance procedures"?

After further filler we're next treated to a rather trite analogy between what Duncan is doing in exploring unknown areas of the ship (his original goal? Was he just wandering around looking for adventure?) and folding space without navigational data: fumbling around in the dark.

Doors slid aside to reveal dim, empty rooms. From the dust and lack of furnishings, he guessed that no one had ever occupied them.

Um...unless the no-ship has a really shiteful atmospheric filtration system, if the rooms are sealed and have been never been occupied, there should be no dust: As I recall, most dust is composed of human skin, hair, fabric fuzz rubbed from clothing, etc.—all products of human presence and activity.

I have to wonder as well why the HMs would have located a torture room (cleverly disquised by having been labelled "Machinery Room", no less) so far removed from their other centers of activity on the ship. If they could eat in the same room, I doubt they're the sort as would have been disturbed by having the sounds and smells of such a chamber closer to their main living areas. Were they really the kind of person who could put off the good stuff long enough to thread they way down to this secluded place? Lacks a bit of coherence, methinks.

The lights in the dim chamber came up, as if in eager anticipation.

OK...ignoring the unilluminating anthropomorphism of the illumination, we're told the room is dark (and by the way, how many qualities of darkness are you able to distinguish? Oh, they mean the smell of the air—further evidence against active ventilation, no?—something I always associate with visibility. Could one of the authors be a synesthete?), yet he can discern the "discordant...jarring" color of the walls? That's certainly one super pair of eyes he has there. But then he's been noted for his eyes since the Hayt days, what?

OK, I'm getting bored. Let's see: HMs are sloppy housekeepers, leaving dirty dishes and dead BG strewn all over the place. No, wait, they did have the Suzy Homemaker sense to place all the dead RMs but one into the garbage bin (which was "clearplaz"...and they were in black robes [Ever heard of aba? You can dance, you can dance!], no doubt explaining why The Big D walked past it without noticing in the dark when he first came in. Or he could have been distracted by the wall treatment whose garishness only he could see.

What else? I got nuttin'. Already mentioned The Reverend Mummies; besides, we all know what tough old birds they are—even before dessication—so the bits about how they would have withstood the HM interrogation and even the information they would have been tortured for (BG body control, location of Chapterhouse) is all so much shallowly disguised recap.

Duncan pondered his discovery in silence. Words did not seem adequate. Best to tell Sheeana about this terrible room. As a Reverend Mother, she would know what to do.

Words seemed inadequate. Um...like, who was he going to talk to there at that moment anyway? And if words do not seem adequate, how is he going to tell Mama Sheeana—who will prove wiser than a multi-lifed ghola Mentat—about it? Pantomime? I'd love to be a fly on the properly painted wall for that!

So, really, what purpose does this "chapter" serve? We know the HMs were a nasty lot; did we really need this extra scene to emphasize the point? Or is this all just to set up the funeral (oh so pivotal in itself) to come?

Stay tuned for the answers...which will be negative.

Damn! Could somebody catch that cat?!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Superman grows a pair!

The only question is, are they real (regrown in a Tleilaxu tank, perhaps? Know anything about that, Mastah B?) or borrowed?

(Now if he would only get a brain to go with them!)

Here for details.

I rather liked being called a "wet rag". Could do with one right about now, actually: been kinda hot and humid today. I would use the towel that The Almighty Zeus threw in a few months back, but it's all moldy and smells sompthin' fierce!

Nothing much has changed, I note. Same ole same ole.

Kinda reassuring sometimes, ain't it?

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Dayton blogger takes note of HK

That's Harriet Klausner, mind you, not Hong Kong or Howard King, Larry's lesser known twin brother.

Dayton Daily News blogger Vick Mickunas has posted twice (here and here) about everyone's favorite review mill/publisher shill.

Some of the comments are worth the wade-thru. Note in particular the appearance of a few "Cluster FoKs" (Friends of Klausner).

(Ole Harriet is up to 13,688 reviews now, btw. Formidable!)

I considered asking Kevin over on his MySpace blog whether Harriet was one of the reviewers TOR will be sending a copy of Sandworms to, but considering the reception my comments have been getting lately, decided not to. After all, she gives everything, no matter how bad, a 4 or 5 out of 5 rating. (Caveat: To be fair, I haven't read the book in question; I thought about getting it but read the other comments and decided against.)(And by the way, if you want to see something crazy, check out the reseller offerings: someone in the UK is trying to offload a copy for sixty bucks. ... Huh?!)

Back to business...

I hope to get back to the business at hand and the dissection of Hunters of Dune with the next post in the series, sometime tomorrow (er...considering it's already 1:41 AM, make that later today).

Omphalos's comment in one of his recent reviews about not wasting time on books that don't really deserve it seemed a verbal expression of a visceral decision I must made some time back. The "spice from worms" thing has helped to recharge my batteries in a way, though, and strengthened my resolve to proceed. If somebody doesn't point these things out, it seems the fanboys and girls are incapable of noticing them on their own.

Sandworms of Dune is scheduled for release (according to Amazon) on August 7th. Including today, that leaves 114 days for me to finish with Hunters...probably requiring a rate of about a chapter a day?

Well, if Harriet Klausner can read and review 456+ books in that period of time, I should be able to handle slagging off one, right?

Friday, April 06, 2007

¡Hola, Omar! ¿Qué tal?

Sorry I wasn't in when you dropped by! Come back again soon now, y'hear.

I mean, I'd love to continue our discussions of literary analysis and all, away from the restrictions of the board...you ballless little shit.

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