3 ms·

Different tastes. Tolkien hated Dune, and I think LoTR is all style no substance.

jkoudys 3y ago
Probably why LotR translated so well into film, while Dune is very hard to capture in live action. The first book at least has some big battles and over the top villains to anchor the whole thing. Children of Dune is like 90% discussing religion and its appropriate role in government. Especially all the chosen-one tropes that are fun in a movie are pretty brutally deconstructed in Children.
CBarkleyU 3y ago
I have the same opinion on LoTR, but at the same time I found that Dune's prose is little better than fanfic (if that...) Every now and then I go for a reread, hit a passage talking about a magic sword and the book trying to rawdog convince me that this sword (dagger?) is super cool and awesome by... well outright saying '"this sword is super cool and awesome" (trust me, I'm the narrator) '
- orwin 3y ago
  > I found that Dune's prose is little better than fanfic I've read all dunes books 8n French, and the version I've read were old and weirdly written, I thought this was a bad translator. Fast forward 15 years, I mostly read books in English, and decide to give it a go again. I think it's worse. Probably my standards are way higher now for fantasy and anticipation (I do not thank you Sanderson). Still, I now understand Dune better and now think it's a fantastic story if you manage to endure the first ten chapters.
  - tstrimple 3y ago
    I've started measuring sci-fi and fantasy along multiple axis. Good writing, good characterization, good world building, good story. I find that I need at least three of them to be solid for it to reach into good book territory with a few exceptions. Dune is one of those exceptions. It's pretty weak on writing. Weak on characters. World building is good, but relatively narrow in scope given the size of the universe we're exploring. The overall story is very solid and for me makes up for weak characters and writing. I like Sanderson because he's consistently good at world building and the story itself. Sanderson is one of the best and most consistent world builders in fantasy writing. His magic systems are all interwoven into his societies and reflect the impact magic would have on every day life. His characters are still quite weak, especially women. His prose doesn't seem to be anything special but it's also not a distraction. His mix of world building and story telling more than make up for those weaknesses in most cases.
stodor89 3y ago
It's not my cup of tea either, but no substance? Come on, we gotta show classics some respect.

Probably why LotR translated so well into film, while Dune is very hard to capture in live action. The first book at least has some big battles and over the top villains to anchor the whole thing. Children of Dune is like 90% discussing religion and its appropriate role in government. Especially all the chosen-one tropes that are fun in a movie are pretty brutally deconstructed in Children.

CBarkleyU 3y ago

I have the same opinion on LoTR, but at the same time I found that Dune's prose is little better than fanfic (if that...) Every now and then I go for a reread, hit a passage talking about a magic sword and the book trying to rawdog convince me that this sword (dagger?) is super cool and awesome by... well outright saying '"this sword is super cool and awesome" (trust me, I'm the narrator) '

orwin 3y ago
> I found that Dune's prose is little better than fanfic I've read all dunes books 8n French, and the version I've read were old and weirdly written, I thought this was a bad translator. Fast forward 15 years, I mostly read books in English, and decide to give it a go again. I think it's worse. Probably my standards are way higher now for fantasy and anticipation (I do not thank you Sanderson). Still, I now understand Dune better and now think it's a fantastic story if you manage to endure the first ten chapters.
- tstrimple 3y ago
  I've started measuring sci-fi and fantasy along multiple axis. Good writing, good characterization, good world building, good story. I find that I need at least three of them to be solid for it to reach into good book territory with a few exceptions. Dune is one of those exceptions. It's pretty weak on writing. Weak on characters. World building is good, but relatively narrow in scope given the size of the universe we're exploring. The overall story is very solid and for me makes up for weak characters and writing. I like Sanderson because he's consistently good at world building and the story itself. Sanderson is one of the best and most consistent world builders in fantasy writing. His magic systems are all interwoven into his societies and reflect the impact magic would have on every day life. His characters are still quite weak, especially women. His prose doesn't seem to be anything special but it's also not a distraction. His mix of world building and story telling more than make up for those weaknesses in most cases.

stodor89 3y ago

It's not my cup of tea either, but no substance? Come on, we gotta show classics some respect.