children of the dunesThe third book in author Frank Herbert's Dune series, this book explores the lives of Leto and Ghanima Atreides, the twin children of Paul Atreides, the protagonist of the first novel.TV writer andrea kyle I was impressed by this book's thoughtful consideration of complex ideas.
“This is a very philosophical book. dunes '' Kyle said in episode 559. A geek's guide to the galaxy Podcast. “I was just blown away by the amount of historical and philosophical references that were included.”
Science fiction author Matthew Cressel agrees: children of the dunes is a wise and well-researched book. “I was trying to understand all the religious references,” he says. “I have references to Buddhism, Hinduism, obviously Christianity, Judaism, ancient Egypt. There's also Jungian psychology. I mean, there's a lot of stuff there.”
children of the dunes It's good in terms of ideas and world-building, but the pacing and characterization can feel a little dated. Science fiction author Rajan Khanna warns that the book can be pointless and vague. “A lot of things are revealed right before they become important, but they could have been woven a little better throughout,” he says. “And there's a lot of play that I tend to play with the reader. 'Oh, I'm going to talk about this thing that no one knows about,' and that bothered me. ”
A geek's guide to the galaxy Host David Barr Kirtley praises ambition and vision children of the dunes But it wasn't always an enjoyable read. “It seemed like an intellectual exercise,” he says. “It didn't seem that way. [Herbert] That means I was interested in the characters. He had all these ideas that he wanted to explore and it was like he was trying out moves with the characters. That's how I read it. Because that idea was what he was really interested in. ”
Listen to the full interview with Andrea Kyle, Matthew Cressel, and Rajan Khanna on episode 559 of . A geek's guide to the galaxy (On top of that). See discussion highlights below.
Matthew Cressel talks about worldbuilding:
Sometimes I just marvel at how deeply resonant and powerful the ideas are, the depth of thought Herbert put into this work, all the plot threads and how they fit together; I find myself looking back and reviewing how Herbert fits in. I had to plan it from the beginning and just think about the philosophical underpinnings of it. …I feel like Herbert himself sees the future of humanity with some spice. This book feels authentic. It's like a living world. When you read this book, you experience it with the characters, and it's so vivid in my mind and so real. I think it's just as good as the first book.
David Barr Kirtley on character motivations:
My biggest problem with this book is that I always get frustrated because I don't know which side this person is on. What do they actually want? Are they double agents? Are they telling the truth in this scene or are they hiding something? It's okay to have some characters whose purpose you don't know, but I felt like there was no one here that I could empathize with and relate to emotionally. The character has a plan, and the throwaway line to explain his motivations often appears 100 pages before, 100 pages after, or not at all.
Andrea Kyle talks about Jessica Atreides:
Jessica is a villain. She's incredibly selfish. Her selfishness in giving birth to her son when she should have given birth to her daughter is the cause of everything. She is selfish to drink the water of life while pregnant. She knows what it does and she does it anyway. She sacrifices her daughter to save her son. And so she flies out, taking her two-year-old daughter with her and instead of staying in the dunes and being the guide she needs, she leaves her daughter there to deal with the consequences of her own actions alone. I did. Aria's downfall was specifically because of Jessica, and I came out of the situation appalled at what a terrible person Jessica was.
Rajan Khanna talks about Leto Atreides:
The second thing I hated about this book was Leto, who is like a super-powered bug. Because he just starts throwing doors, punching bugs, and jumping off cliffs. “How can something like that happen just by wearing a sand trout on your body?” How does this supposedly extremely primitive creature endow itself with super strength? ” If he wanted to slide through the desert, I guess he was designed to do that, but why is he super strong at that? I do not understand. …I love superhero comics and movies and everything, but it felt like a comic book hero suddenly jumped into the Dune novel I was reading and it was jarring.
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