Comments on: Tim O'Reilly

Tim O'Reilly

swift — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 08:47:08 -0800

Tim O'Reilly has written, among other things, a book on Frank Herbert which is freely available on the web.

By: rodii

rodii — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 10:18:13 -0800

This is a terrific book which, among other things, has lots and lots of great non-fanboyish exposition and interpretation of the first three Dune novels. Great link, swift, thanks.

By: bjgeiger

bjgeiger — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 12:11:18 -0800

Have not finished reading yet, but wanted to thank swift for the link.

By: Tacodog

Tacodog — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 13:18:44 -0800

Gonna post a me-too on this one. Not done yet but DAMN this is one fine read. Thanks!

By: th3ph17

th3ph17 — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 15:14:26 -0800

this is definately a great link, its going to take a long time to read, so---we can meet back here when we have had more time?

By: nedrichards

nedrichards — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 16:43:07 -0800

Agree. Just posting this to keep it up in the (sort by last post) thingy. This is great. I *heart* swift.

By: hipstertrash

hipstertrash — Fri, 05 Oct 2001 19:24:50 -0800

O'Reilly is great; his grasp of Herbert is a welcome relief from the fawning scifi fanatics who miss the point entirely. Herbert was a philosopher, though a subtle one. I have strong disagreements with his take on Children of Dune but in 81, O'Reilly couldn't see what would come in the next three books. And whatever small quibbles, I can't really say anything bad about the man who put together Maker of Dune. It is a shame that Herbert's son, even with a team of heavy hitters to rewrite his drivel, does not seem to have inherited any of his father's depth. House Atredies was a decent stab at epic space fiction, which is to say a failure and embarrasment as part of his father's world. I doubt that I'll read any of the others. And I think that I might start making death threats if he decides to pick up the manuscript fior the seventh book. Not only because he lacks the talent and understanding to touch anything Dune related, but because I have this sneaking suspicion that the next book would have blown things wide open, completely silenced the critics who came down on the second trilogy. Which begs an interesting, if completely fruitless and speculative, question. Where do you think Herbert was going to go in the seventh book?

By: bjgeiger

bjgeiger — Sat, 06 Oct 2001 10:32:18 -0800

Okay, finished. Wow, what a great read! The beauty of writing about someone that is still around to be interviewed. O'Reilly does a great job showing the progression of Herbert's wittings from beginning to end. There are some of his articles and others stories I have not read, this makes me want to. Gee, hipstertrash, you want me to think, don't you? I may have to contemplate that one for awhile.