Subj : SF Novel: Dune To : Angus Mcleod From : Grymmjack Date : Thu Jun 09 2005 07:29 am > First there was 'Dune'. Then came 'Dune Messiah', followed by 'Children > of Dune'. After this came three other works, for a total of six books. > After Frank Herbert's death, his son (Brian?) in collaboration with at > least one other author, sought/seeks to capitalize on the success of the > series by extending it with additional books. Herein is my opinion, > which will no doubt introduce some controvacy: thanks for your detailed sharing. i will definitely read the first one going with your recommendation, as i believe it was you or one of you dovenetters who recommended stranger in a strange land, my first heinlein read, and i loved it. > There are also the machinations of the Bene Gesserit. We are left to > believe that *all* religions (including the worm-worship of the desert > Fremen) were ENGINEERED by the Bene Gesserit, to benefit their own selves > and their breeding-program. By means of planted legends, carefully > crafted "scriptures". etc, the religious engineers of the Bene Gesserit > are implied to have visited all places of human habitation in the ancient > past, and fabricated the local religious sects now found there. An > interesting idea! is it true that while writing the author lost his mind in one of the books? not the primary but the ones that followed or another series? i don't remember but my friend, who is also an avid reader, and lover of sci-fi, read them all and said that during one of the books you could clearly tell the author was losing his mind as he wrote and he didn't mean it in any cute way, but literally... or maybe he said anne rice (is she the one that wrote the vampire le stat books?) ... i can't remember.. - grymmjack .