/lit/ - Literature

Personally, I think that Dune is the most important piece of fictional literature produced in the 20th century, except for Tolkien's bibliography. Herbert ties together Archaic Fantasy and Sci-Fi with considerable mastery. His diction is distinctly direct and masculine, and for this reason many literary minds dislike his work. All things considered, I think that the ending of the book is an even better example of Eu-catastrophe than the ending of Tolkien's Return of the King. Despite my praise for Herbert's writing, there is one critique that I have:

Considering the essential nature of the Spice and the Giant worms on Arrakis, why were the Fremen trying to terra-form the planet into a green paradise? If they would have succeeded in their goals, the habitat of the worms would be destroyed, and the precious spice along with it.

Again it is a minor plothole, and when I wrote my own film adaptation for Dune and Dune Messiah, I accounted for this mistake by making some minor changes to the character of Liet Keynes, and his mission as a planetologist. As we enter the space age, I think that many of Herbert's Ecological ideas embedded into Dune will likely develop into a serious scientific field that loosely mimics his notion of "Planetology".

All this being said, I imagine that I will feel much like Jodorowsky if should lower myself to watch the upcoming Dune adaptation.