Imagine a very fat man enriched by interstellar trade in spice. Add the questionable sf premise of an interstellar civilization with faster than light space travel. Who do I mean? Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. And Nicholas van Rijn also, of course. Despite the similar descriptions, two fictional characters could not possibly be more different. It would be a very rabid anti-capitalist who insisted that van Rijn was as bad as Harkonnen or even that van Rijn was worse because he
appeared to be benign.
In Harkonnen's case, the spice is necessary for the Spacing Guild Navigators' prescience and thus for interstellar travel. This spice has the role of oil in our current economy - and comes from a desert planet that launches a jihad. Poul Anderson has a desert planet nearly launching a jihad although later in his future history.
The Dune films are preparing the world for a Technic History film series.
8 comments:
From your mouth to the producer's ears...
Kaor, Paul!
And that "spice" from Arrakis/Dune also had medical uses, prolonging human life spans.
Yes, aside from being fat, Nicholas van Rijn and Baron Harkonnen could hardly have been more different from each other!
I hope SOMEBODY in the TV/movie industries is thinking of making accurate versions of the Technic stories.
Ad astra! Sean
Of course, the Padishah's empire is organized as feudal domains, hereditary in nature -- the opposite, pretty much, of the League in Technic history.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
True, and some TV/Movie people find the Commonwealth/Polesotechnic League less colorful and interesting than the Empire which arose after the Butlerian Jihad.
Ad astra! Sean
Oh, they're both great settings for adventure.
Which is someone else in deep **it, far away.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, despite some reservations I have about the first three DUNE books, they being the ones I've read.
Well, we can day dream about TV shows/movies being made about Nicholas van Rijn and Dominic Flandry.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: the first three are pretty good, but the first is the best. After #3, it goes downhill, IMHO.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree. I have little interest in the prequels and sequels to DUNE, DUNE MESSIAH, and CHILDREN OF DUNE. And of course DUNE was the best of those three.
Ad astra! Sean
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