"Sand in my Shoes" Interview
Moderators: Freakzilla, ᴶᵛᵀᴬ, Omphalos
- Tleilax Master B
- Posts: 674
- Joined: 11 Feb 2008 10:54
- Location: Desert of New Mexico
"Sand in my Shoes" Interview
Sand in my Shoes Interview:
Frank Herbert's Dune universe is currently expanding under the careful eye of Herbert's son Brian. Working with fellow author Kevin J. Anderson, they've both been exploring the early worlds of Dune -- first in their Prelude series and now in their Legends of Dune series, starting with The Butlerian Jihad, and currently in their latest release The Machine Crusade. Writing in an existing universe requires a detailed knowledge of the underlying topography to avoid mistakes and Herbert and Anderson understand this fully.
"With The Legends of Dune, we were constrained by the appendix of Dune," Herbert said. "Frank Herbert laid out in general what had occurred in The Butlerian Jihad -- how there was a human child killed by a Thinking Machine; how this provoked an outpouring of emotion; and the humans rose up to defeat their Thinking Machine masters."
The Holy War started by this event is the driving force of the plot through out the Legends of Dune series and the authors have successfully captured the overall Dune atmosphere.
Herbert said, "I did a huge concordance of the six Dune books, so I know all the references to the Butlerian Jihad and what page number they're on, so we included all that information too. I'd also spent five years writing Dad's biography, Dreamer of Dune -- rereading everything he wrote and putting it together with the things he said to me. I hear his voice as I write in his marvelous universe now. And Kevin was inspired by Frank Herbert too and although they never met, Kevin still knows him as far as is possible."
Herbert and Anderson share a comfortable writing partnership and they spend many hours brainstorming plot and characters for each book.
"Sometimes we have a story idea and have to create a character to fit the actions," said Anderson. "Other times we have a vivid character who naturally goes in certain directions. We talk out the books in detail and when we divide the chapters, we can usually determine which of us is best suited to write a character or scene. For example, with The Machine Crusade, I fell in love with Selim Wormrider and therefore wrote the first draft of most of those chapters; Brian was particularly fond of Norma Cenva, the scientist, so he took that storyline. But by the time we're done, we've each gone over each other's chapters so many times we own them all jointly."
Herbert continued, "I usually write the first draft of the Erasmus character. Kevin came up with a character -- a Thinking Machine who was researching what it was like to be human -- and I said let's add (the Nazi medical researcher) Dr Mengele to him and make him really dark and strange. Then Kevin laughed and said, 'Boy Brian, I don't know if I can write that, you'd better do it!' He wasn't saying that couldn't write it -- it was just a little dig that only my twisted mind could write that character. So we have a lot of fun. We riff off each other, like a musical performance."
Their next book will be the long awaited Dune 7 story, following on from ChapterHouse: Dune.
Herbert said, "We've been brainstorming this one during our Machine Crusade tour. For example, I was talking with Kevin in front of a large audience one night and I suddenly had an epiphany, an idea I thought should be in Dune 7. So I bounced it off Kevin right there in front of the audience and we did some brainstorming. The idea was that even though Frank Herbert referred to the destruction of Dune in Heretics and ChapterHouse, it was never written. So I said to Kevin: why don't we open the first of the Dune 7 books with a dramatic destruction of Dune scene? We started kicking it around and we now agree that it is a good place to start."
Herbert is keeping some of the Dune 7 details quiet though.
"We found some of Dad's notes in a safe deposit box that had been locked for eleven years and we've been using them for Dune 7," he said. "We have an advantage over other science fiction series because we can always bring a character back from the dead, as a ghola, because the Tlulaxa can breed human beings out of dead cells."
So who will be back from the dead in Dune 7?
"Oh that's a closely guarded secret, you'll have to wait and see!"
Frank Herbert's Dune universe is currently expanding under the careful eye of Herbert's son Brian. Working with fellow author Kevin J. Anderson, they've both been exploring the early worlds of Dune -- first in their Prelude series and now in their Legends of Dune series, starting with The Butlerian Jihad, and currently in their latest release The Machine Crusade. Writing in an existing universe requires a detailed knowledge of the underlying topography to avoid mistakes and Herbert and Anderson understand this fully.
"With The Legends of Dune, we were constrained by the appendix of Dune," Herbert said. "Frank Herbert laid out in general what had occurred in The Butlerian Jihad -- how there was a human child killed by a Thinking Machine; how this provoked an outpouring of emotion; and the humans rose up to defeat their Thinking Machine masters."
The Holy War started by this event is the driving force of the plot through out the Legends of Dune series and the authors have successfully captured the overall Dune atmosphere.
Herbert said, "I did a huge concordance of the six Dune books, so I know all the references to the Butlerian Jihad and what page number they're on, so we included all that information too. I'd also spent five years writing Dad's biography, Dreamer of Dune -- rereading everything he wrote and putting it together with the things he said to me. I hear his voice as I write in his marvelous universe now. And Kevin was inspired by Frank Herbert too and although they never met, Kevin still knows him as far as is possible."
Herbert and Anderson share a comfortable writing partnership and they spend many hours brainstorming plot and characters for each book.
"Sometimes we have a story idea and have to create a character to fit the actions," said Anderson. "Other times we have a vivid character who naturally goes in certain directions. We talk out the books in detail and when we divide the chapters, we can usually determine which of us is best suited to write a character or scene. For example, with The Machine Crusade, I fell in love with Selim Wormrider and therefore wrote the first draft of most of those chapters; Brian was particularly fond of Norma Cenva, the scientist, so he took that storyline. But by the time we're done, we've each gone over each other's chapters so many times we own them all jointly."
Herbert continued, "I usually write the first draft of the Erasmus character. Kevin came up with a character -- a Thinking Machine who was researching what it was like to be human -- and I said let's add (the Nazi medical researcher) Dr Mengele to him and make him really dark and strange. Then Kevin laughed and said, 'Boy Brian, I don't know if I can write that, you'd better do it!' He wasn't saying that couldn't write it -- it was just a little dig that only my twisted mind could write that character. So we have a lot of fun. We riff off each other, like a musical performance."
Their next book will be the long awaited Dune 7 story, following on from ChapterHouse: Dune.
Herbert said, "We've been brainstorming this one during our Machine Crusade tour. For example, I was talking with Kevin in front of a large audience one night and I suddenly had an epiphany, an idea I thought should be in Dune 7. So I bounced it off Kevin right there in front of the audience and we did some brainstorming. The idea was that even though Frank Herbert referred to the destruction of Dune in Heretics and ChapterHouse, it was never written. So I said to Kevin: why don't we open the first of the Dune 7 books with a dramatic destruction of Dune scene? We started kicking it around and we now agree that it is a good place to start."
Herbert is keeping some of the Dune 7 details quiet though.
"We found some of Dad's notes in a safe deposit box that had been locked for eleven years and we've been using them for Dune 7," he said. "We have an advantage over other science fiction series because we can always bring a character back from the dead, as a ghola, because the Tlulaxa can breed human beings out of dead cells."
So who will be back from the dead in Dune 7?
"Oh that's a closely guarded secret, you'll have to wait and see!"
- Tleilax Master B
- Posts: 674
- Joined: 11 Feb 2008 10:54
- Location: Desert of New Mexico
- Omphalos
- Inglorious Bastard
- Posts: 6677
- Joined: 05 Feb 2008 11:07
- Location: The Mighty Central Valley of California
- Contact:
- Tleilax Master B
- Posts: 674
- Joined: 11 Feb 2008 10:54
- Location: Desert of New Mexico
http://www.sfsite.com/07a/sabh203.htmOmphalos wrote:Where is this from? Could you please post a source, B? Thanks.
Says it originally appeared on Sci Fi Europe.
- Freakzilla
- Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
- Posts: 18454
- Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Contact:
- orald
- Posts: 3010
- Joined: 28 Feb 2008 14:48
- Location: Maximum Security Mental Hospital
Re: "Sand in my Shoes" Interview
Writing in an existing universe requires a detailed knowledge of the underlying topography to avoid mistakes and Herbert and Anderson understand this fully.
They also seem to ignore this...fully.
"And that's why we ignored it.""With The Legends of Dune, we were constrained by the appendix of Dune," Herbert said.
"Frank Herbert laid out in general what had occurred in The Butlerian Jihad -- how there was a human child killed by a Thinking Machine; how this provoked an outpouring of emotion; and the humans rose up to defeat their Thinking Machine masters."
Err, I'm no great Dune researcher, but where the bloody hell is THAT mentioned?
...the authors have successfully captured the overall Dune atmosphere.
Oh yes, giant metal insects FTW.
You don't even seem to know who's Jessica's mother, among other things, so...Herbert said, "I did a huge concordance of the six Dune books, so I know all the references to the Butlerian Jihad and what page number they're on, so we included all that information too.
Yes, it's called "rolling in the grave". Though AFAIK FH was cremated, his ashes are surely rolling as I speak.I hear his voice as I write in his marvelous universe now.
And Kevin was inspired by Frank Herbert too and although they never met, Kevin still knows him as far as is possible."
Pity they never did meet...FH's would've probably taken his water on sight.
That and change existing characters completely."Sometimes we have a story idea and have to create a character to fit the actions," said Anderson.
"...so naturally we turn it 180 degrees so it can walk the way we want.""Other times we have a vivid character who naturally goes in certain directions.
Which would explain why you're childless, but hey, I like guys too.For example, with The Machine Crusade, I fell in love with Selim Wormrider
So you're saying only your(BH) twisted mind can fathom how Dr. Mengele thought? Why is that not surprising?Herbert continued, "I usually write the first draft of the Erasmus character. Kevin came up with a character -- a Thinking Machine who was researching what it was like to be human -- and I said let's add (the Nazi medical researcher) Dr Mengele to him and make him really dark and strange. Then Kevin laughed and said, 'Boy Brian, I don't know if I can write that, you'd better do it!' He wasn't saying that couldn't write it -- it was just a little dig that only my twisted mind could write that character.
Of course, the much heard of notes that no one has ever seen or heard of until the Dune 7 idea was suddenly brought up.Herbert is keeping some of the Dune 7 details quiet though.
"We found some of Dad's notes in a safe deposit box that had been locked for eleven years and we've been using them for Dune 7," he said.
Advantage over other sci-fi="we have it easy because we can just mess around and put characters out of place"."We have an advantage over other science fiction series because we can always bring a character back from the dead, as a ghola, because the Tlulaxa can breed human beings out of dead cells."
So who will be back from the dead in Dune 7?
I would've said "hopefully not P&B, they'll remain dead and burn in hell", but it's a bit too late for that.
In memory of Perach, who suffered and died needlessly.
I wish I could have been with you that one last time.
I wish I could have been with you that one last time.
- Freakzilla
- Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
- Posts: 18454
- Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Contact:
- SandChigger
- KJASF Ground Zero
- Posts: 14492
- Joined: 08 Feb 2008 22:29
- Location: A continuing state of irritation
- Contact:
Brian Herbert drafted the Norma Cenva scenes? Norma Cenva, the SCIENTIST?
Having seen a bit of Brian's scientific prowess in his Timeweb recently, it all makes a LOT of sense.
NONsense, I mean.
Let's see, how does it go again? Butt-fugly midget bint gets tortured by nasty Transformer Jans-in-pans, her mood-ring necklace rock melts and she dissolves into a cloud of energy until she reforms herself and sees the back of her head across the universe? Was that the highlights?
Dune become best-selling science fantasy. Hallelujah! Praise the Benjamins!
(I note that the copyright date on this thing is 2005. That's a year after they finished BoC, but TMC is mentioned as the "latest release", so that pushes this back to 2003, no? It's sad to see that Brian isn't handling interviews any better recently than then. Has anyone listened to the ones linked to from the new MySpace page?)
Having seen a bit of Brian's scientific prowess in his Timeweb recently, it all makes a LOT of sense.
NONsense, I mean.
Let's see, how does it go again? Butt-fugly midget bint gets tortured by nasty Transformer Jans-in-pans, her mood-ring necklace rock melts and she dissolves into a cloud of energy until she reforms herself and sees the back of her head across the universe? Was that the highlights?
Dune become best-selling science fantasy. Hallelujah! Praise the Benjamins!
(I note that the copyright date on this thing is 2005. That's a year after they finished BoC, but TMC is mentioned as the "latest release", so that pushes this back to 2003, no? It's sad to see that Brian isn't handling interviews any better recently than then. Has anyone listened to the ones linked to from the new MySpace page?)
"Let the dead give water to the dead. As for me, it's NO MORE FUCKING TEARS!"
- Freakzilla
- Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
- Posts: 18454
- Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Contact:
- orald
- Posts: 3010
- Joined: 28 Feb 2008 14:48
- Location: Maximum Security Mental Hospital
- Freakzilla
- Lead Singer and Driver of the Winnebego
- Posts: 18454
- Joined: 05 Feb 2008 01:27
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
- Contact:
- Mr. Teg
- Moderator
- Posts: 708
- Joined: 11 Feb 2008 10:14
- Location: Chair
- Contact:
Re: "Sand in my Shoes" Interview
Constrained by the appendix of Dune!Tleilax Master B wrote:Sand in my Shoes Interview:
"With The Legends of Dune, we were constrained by the appendix of Dune," Herbert said. "Frank Herbert laid out in general what had occurred in The Butlerian Jihad -- how there was a human child killed by a Thinking Machine; how this provoked an outpouring of emotion; and the humans rose up to defeat their Thinking Machine masters."
Isn't this a direct contradiction that Legends was based on extensive notes and outlines they discovered?
CHOAM
Combine Herbert Ober Anderson Mercantile, Narf!
Brian, Kevin & Byron The HLP
Combine Herbert Ober Anderson Mercantile, Narf!
Brian, Kevin & Byron The HLP
- Rakis
- Posts: 1583
- Joined: 16 Feb 2008 00:00
- orald
- Posts: 3010
- Joined: 28 Feb 2008 14:48
- Location: Maximum Security Mental Hospital
- orald
- Posts: 3010
- Joined: 28 Feb 2008 14:48
- Location: Maximum Security Mental Hospital
- inhuien
- Posts: 3643
- Joined: 09 Feb 2008 05:03
- orald
- Posts: 3010
- Joined: 28 Feb 2008 14:48
- Location: Maximum Security Mental Hospital
Words of the master! All hail the messiah!inhuien wrote:And now for something completely different
*Now what was it he said about powerful leaders and messiahs? *
NEVER!!! Blasphemy! Idoltery! EVIL!!!fantomas wrote:I wonder if in 50 years from now would there be controversy still about the "new" vs. original 6 books of FH & how much acceptance the new books will gain & how many OH convert to the new stuff.
In memory of Perach, who suffered and died needlessly.
I wish I could have been with you that one last time.
I wish I could have been with you that one last time.
- inhuien
- Posts: 3643
- Joined: 09 Feb 2008 05:03
Looking at the set (what little you can see), and the clock graphic more so I'm inclined to think that it's an early interview for the BBC Breakfast show that started runnig 1983. Now I may be wrong but at one point you can hear the interviewer coughing or whatever and that almost sounds lke Frank Bough who presented the show from it's launch.Nekhrun wrote:Does anyone know what that interview is from? There must be more of it somewhere.
- Tleilax Master B
- Posts: 674
- Joined: 11 Feb 2008 10:54
- Location: Desert of New Mexico
Not a fucking one, I can just about guarantee it. What, are the new books suddenly going to shift around and become canon? I fail to see how the things that we OH hate are suddenly going to become things we accept.fantomas wrote:I wonder if in 50 years from now would there be controversy still about the "new" vs. original 6 books of FH & how much acceptance the new books will gain & how many OH convert to the new stuff.
Tell ya what, if Pinky and the Brain decide to go back and change things in the later editions to correct most of the inconsistencies, I might actually have a little more respect for them.... (Fat fucking chance).
- Nekhrun
- Icelandic Wiener
- Posts: 3298
- Joined: 10 Feb 2008 16:27
I think that they will be completely forgotten in 15-20 years and everyone will remember it as a The Sad Period. So, in response to your comment, in 50 years people will be laughing about how horrible that the new books were. That kind of trash, no matter what it is linked to will not survive.fantomas wrote:I wonder if in 50 years from now would there be controversy still about the "new" vs. original 6 books of FH & how much acceptance the new books will gain & how many OH convert to the new stuff.
- Tleilax Master B
- Posts: 674
- Joined: 11 Feb 2008 10:54
- Location: Desert of New Mexico
As a matter of fact, as time goes by, some of the most die hard Prequelites are starting to switch over--or at least no longer consider themselves prequelites. Take Tyrant for example. He used to fully support TAZ, and has now switched over. Perhaps the greatest prequelite of them all, Konman, is starting to admit he didn't like Hunters and Sandworms.....