Any "Dune" fans out there?

[Outlander]

When I was younger I read every Heinlein and Asimov book I could get hands on. I did very poorly in school during this period as I couldn't stop reading them.A lot of movies have been made from books by both of these authors. Ah Bilbo where are you now!

[charvelguy]

The worms fear Sammy Hagar.

I thought the first was a great read, and I read it quite a few times while on the road. Thank goodness for the glossary. The 2nd, 3rd I read, but I started to lose the 'draw in' and keepin interested about half way thru the 3rd.

[VitaminG]

I was, and still am, a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien. And I still say that Potter is a direct ripoff, without bothering to give credit to the master. Rowling makes me sick. I wouldn't feel that way if she just would give some credit, but I've not heard, or seen it. At least Tolkien showed me where he got his ideas. Bitch.

I avoided reading Tolkien for years, possibly because my sister started with The Hobbit back in school, read the Trilogy, and then highly recommended that I read the books. If my little sister was recommending it, it can't be cool, can it?

So when the first movie came out & I'd quite enjoyed it (hobbit-erotic subtext and all), I figured it was time to give the books a shot. Couldn't get through the first one.

Now, let me just state that I am a keen reader, and appreciate a skillfully crafted work. Enjoy the classics too. I'm no book snob though, and also still enjoy a rollicking good non-literary barnstormer, if it's well told. So I'm as at home reading Homer, Dickens, Twain, Rushdie, Orwell, Shakespeare, Wells, Asimov or even good old Alistair MacLean. But I just couldn't stomach Lord of the Rings. Talk about hard going! It wasn't that the vocab or the concepts were beyond my grasp - it was just a badly told story in a badly written book. The embossed cover was really cool though.

I can't stand Rowling either. Actually I can't say that. I've never read more than a few pages of any of her books. But it does seem that she can construct a sentence and effectively convey an idea. Never did understand all these adults reading her children's books on the train to work of a morning though.... although it wasn't too long before they'd all traded in their copies of Hairy Pothead and the Stoned Philosopher for a shiny new Da Vinci Code

[Cygnus X1]

I recommend skipping the Hobbit. Read it after the Trilogy, to get some historical references. It is a completely different style from the Trilogy.
Heinlen and Asimov were my mainstays, also.

[Bandersnatch]

Orson Scott Card is my favourite author. At the moment anyway, thats likley to change.

[MOSHWITZ]

my favorite movie,,I have to watch it every time i see it on the dish...just ask my wife,,, she hates it


MOSH ON
DAVE

[sonicsamurai]

how is it your fave movie please explain ???? *puzzled* the movie is quite poor compared to other sci fis of the era and the direction is quite poor in places...i mean its an alright film, but compared to other enterprises like star trek and star wars, it rather pales in comaprison....

[DrDoug]

Tad Williams is a newer author that I also like. He wrote a four book series called 'Otherworld' that I would love to see made into a movie, and another book was 'Tailchaser's Song'. Otherworld was just wild to read, once I started on it I had to finish it. Not too complex, but a hell of a lot of twists and turns that you would not expect. The first book starts out a little dry, but you understand why after you read the series. I would recommend it to anyone who likes good sci-fi stuff.

Asimov had that book of sci-fi short stories that kicked ass. Alan Dean Foster is another sci-fi writer I enjoy reading.

[TexasRocks]

Tad Williams has an earlier series than Otherworld. Can't remember what it is called, but it will be on amazon. He is also 2 books into his latest series, Shadow something or other.

[VitaminG]

Asimov had that book of sci-fi short stories that kicked ass.

I, Robot?

[DrDoug]

I, Robot?

I had to look it up to remember what it was! It was called 50 Short Science Fiction Tales, Edited by Isaac Asimov & Geoff Conklin. It was works of theirs and other writers that was compiled in 1963, and the stories in it were short but really excellent. A few of them were so good that it pissed me off that they left off where they did...lol! If you can find it I would highly recommend it. I still have my copy, but it is stored now.

I, Robot was excellent too!

I know of Tad Williams other works, I have not read them yet. Note to self, drop hints to wife about his other books for Christmas.

[sonicsamurai]

yeah i robot was incredibly good actually...i should read books more, but meh any other good cult sci fi books /films i should read/watch?

[Spivonious]

I recommend skipping the Hobbit. Read it after the Trilogy, to get some historical references. It is a completely different style from the Trilogy.
Heinlen and Asimov were my mainstays, also.

Different, yes. Skip it? Hell no! The style it's written is is great and the story is a lot of fun. LOTR was one I had to wade through the first book until it picked up a bit in Two Towers. I finished the Hobbit in a week (and that's saying a lot for me.)

[Tetsuo]

how is it your fave movie please explain ???? *puzzled* the movie is quite poor compared to other sci fis of the era and the direction is quite poor in places...i mean its an alright film, but compared to other enterprises like star trek and star wars, it rather pales in comaprison....

I am a huge huge huge lynch fan and I like the dune storyline and I find it intolerable to watch.

[Cygnus X1]

Different, yes. Skip it? Hell no! The style it's written is is great and the story is a lot of fun. LOTR was one I had to wade through the first book until it picked up a bit in Two Towers. I finished the Hobbit in a week (and that's saying a lot for me.)

I have found too many times, people start into the Hobbit, which was written as a children's tale, and think that's all there is to his style. The Hobbit was a diversion, to crank something out while Tolkien labored away with the real story. So I always recommend reading the trilogy first, and then , if still interested, read the Hobbit. Then, if truly fanatical (like me), the Silmarillion <sp>, and Lost Tales, etc.
I actually picked up the Trilogy, accidentally at the "Two Towers", that my sister had left at the house. Then I got about halfway through before she came back, and gave me the first book. So, I guess I had a strange false start. The "Fellowship" is indeed mostly setup.
And to return to the original thread, I sometimes wonder what my Ballentine Box set is worth, as it had what I think is Tolkien's sketches for the covers.
I also have a large paperback edition, all in one, which is the one I read.