Is Dune the best SF series ever?

[Horus]

As title says, is the Dune series by Frank Herbert, and it's offshoots set earlier in the series the best science fiction novels of all time? I say yes.

The explination novels are great, too.

The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle for Corrin

House Atredies
House Harkonnen
House Corrino

Just great books.

 

[CFster]

I'd say the Dune series are among the best - up there with the Foundation trilogy...

The prequals written by his son suck though. Nothing more than fan fiction IMHO.

 

[DaveSimmons]

No. E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensmen series is.

The original Dune trilogy is certainly in the top 5 though, maybe even number 2.

Some others in the top 10:

Niven - Known Space series including Protector, Neutron Star/other short stories, Ringworld
Heinlein - Future History series including Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Lazarus Long books
Asimov - Robots stories and Foundation series

Card - Ender's Game series (thanks SithSolo1)
Brin - Uplift books

 

[ElFenix]

no. i pee on dune.

 

[SithSolo1]

I commit myself to the fire in order to protect a fellow ATOTer from humiliation.


Star Wars


My one good deed is done.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Not according to this.

 

[Bateluer]

I never got into Dune myself, always found it pretty dull.

 

[AaronB]

Same here. I never found it all that interesting.

 

[SofaKing]

uh

 

[Siddhartha]

The Dune series are some of the best written SF books I have read.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
I commit myself to the fire in order to protect a fellow ATOTer from humiliation.


Star Wars


My one good deed is done.

BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH!
The original Star Wars trilogy was great fun before Lucas screwed it up (Han Solo fired first!) but the greatest novels? Hah!

Aside from the books I listed above, Keith Laumer, James Schmitz, Edmond Hamilton, A.E. van Vogt all created much more imaginative space opera than the Lucas universe. Even Brian Daley bettered Lucas with his Hobart and Fitzhugh tilogy (Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds is the first).

Try reading some good space opera and see if your Lucas worship survives undiminished.

 

[SithSolo1]

I find that the best SW novels are those written by Timothy Zahn. And yes, Lucas has utterly destroyed the movies.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
I find that the best SW novels are those written by Timothy Zahn. And yes, Lucas has utterly destroyed the movies.

Zahn was good, very very good. Kevin J. Anderson was very good too, though his books lacked the same level of depth as Zahn's.

 

[magomago]

Yes. Thenagain I haven't read much Sci Fi...just foundation that I grabbed randomly one day three years ago. I raced through those books...the first was defnitely the best in the series as the other books were great, just didn't capture the essence that the original had.

But with Dune...through emproer of dune those three books were absoutely great. I still think the first was the best, but the 2nd and third books captured 98% of the spirit of the original. I don't know how many of them i read, I went through Heretics of Dune...so still have some to read but Dune defnitely is...

What i like about it though is that it was like just telling events that were going to happen...maybe just me but the book has a LOT of arabic references...a LOT. I mean even the name "Muad'dib" is an arabic word!!! So maybe I could read it on "another" level since a lot dealt with arabic words...but to me it felt like that life blood was oil, and that the misunderstood people be eventually became a part of are the Arabs(for example IIRC [read thse like two years ago so if i'm wrong don't shoot me ] they use the word like some evil force called "Shaytan"...that just means devil in Arabic). Atleast that is how I see it

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: SithSolo1
I find that the best SW novels are those written by Timothy Zahn. And yes, Lucas has utterly destroyed the movies.

Before he turned to the dark side, Zahn wrote some good short stories for the SF mags, including the Cobra military SF stories. If you haven't tried them already I recommend the "Cascade Point" collection and first Cobra book (the later ones are weaker).

Trust me on the Daley books -- you can get them used, dirt cheap via Amazon, well worth spending $10 (shipped) for the trilogy.

 

[SithSolo1]

I haven't read the whole series but Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card was also a great SF book.

 

[Wuffsunie]

I have to say no. Some of the earlier books were great, but it just really fell apart towards the end, IMO. I haven't even bothered with the new ones, too many mixed reviews, the majority of them negative.

magomago, as for the whole arab thing, that was a consious decision on Herbert's part. If you notice in Emperor, though, it's moved away from that to a more Egyptian culture, with the single god-like ruler. And of course all of that feel is lost by the 5th and 6th books.

For space opera I've found better reads to be Dan Simmons' Hyperion series, Alistair Reynold's Revelation Space, Niven's Known Space (in all it's myriad forms) with the absolute stand out best being The Exordium series by Sherwood Smith and Robert Trowbridge. The first book of that one is, to me, what Dune could have been without all the mythological stuff cluttering things up. I suppose that's why I'm not the biggest fan of Dune itself; I'm not one for mixing a heavy dose of fantasy in with my sci fi.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Not according to this.

I think I remember the chronicles of amber. Having that 3 slots above dune immediately negates the list's credibility

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Hossenfeffer

Originally posted by: SarcasticDwarf
Not according to this.

I think I remember the chronicles of amber. Having that 3 slots above dune immediately negates the list's credibility

The problem with those rankings is that the number of votes is so small on some of them...

 

[Pohemi]

George R.R. Martin, Orson Scott Card, and R.A. Salvatore are my favorite SciFi/Fantasy authors. I've always liked Kurt Vonnegut too. :thumbsup:

 

[DaveSimmons]

Amber was a good fantasy series for its time, though I'd rate Davidi Eddings, L E Modesitt Jr., Elzabeth Moon, Robert E. Howard and others higher.

 

[Yossarian]

the last couple of "real" Dune books were just terribly boring.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
the last couple of "real" Dune books were just terribly boring.

True enough. The first few were far and above the others

 

[nageov3t]

Orson Scott Card can suck it. preachy jerk :|

in terms of Science Fiction series... I'd rank the Dune series as the best, followed closely by the Hitchhiker's Guide series. but there are singular novels (Brave New World, Stranger in a Strange Land, War of the World, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea all spring to mind) that are better than the best singular Dune novel.

 

[SWScorch]

I love Dune, but the last few books written by Frank just got too weird for my tastes. I mean, Leto II and all that happened to him. It was just plain strange. Still, the whole universe is great, and he did a good job of making it seem alive. There is such subtlety in the books. Definitely my favorite series. I still have to read all the House books though.