xerxes

An advice from Frank Herbert, JRR Tolkein and Isaac Asimov fanatic:

ditch anything written either by Brian Herbert and his best pal, KJA. Read only the original six Dunes:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Dune: Chapterhouse

I have read the original many times. Awesome work.

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If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon

xerxes

Kanas, I understand what you are saying in regards to Russia. Though, I have a hardtime believing that Russia had something to do with AQ. and not because Russians cannot do evilism , but more because the subject of supporting fundementalist that they themselves (along with the American) greatly feared after the conclusion of Soviet-Afghan War. Perhapes, you are right sense AQ fundementalism would have been more localized unlike what they were facing at the end of Soviet-Afghan War, ideologically speaking. Also, in regards to the "deaths of certain people" are you talking about Ahmad Shah Massoud on 9/10-11?

execrable

I can say the same, I would never ever read any of the sequels to Dune even if my life depended upon it.

gunnut

I have a question. A lot of the accounts of the Greko-Persian war were from Histories by Herodotus. How accurate was his work? Do we have other verifiable accounts of the events depicted in his work to corroborate with his story?

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"Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

xerxes

I did read of some those awefull 600-page worthless books, and i wish i didnt.

gunnut

I can't stand Dune and the Foundation series for the same reason I can't stand Tolkien's work. They are just too long and boring. I'm trained as an engineer. We get to the point as quickly as possible. We are here to solve problems rather than participate in human drama.

Perfect example: in LOTR, the hobbits were on a question to destroy the ring, which can only be done in the fire which forged it in the first place. The objective is to throw the ring into the lava of the mountain.

My friends and I came up with a way to do this in less than 30 min of movie time.

You tie the ring on a new born, which cannot be corrupted by the rings power. Carry the new born on the back of those big birds. Have a full squadron of them to account for attrition. Launch a land offensive like what they have done as a feint to distract the orcs. Fly the big birds, at low altitude, to the mountain. Fly over the mountain and drop the ring along with the baby into the lava. Done. No need for the long quest on short legs.

It's not humane, but it's a very simple and direct solution to a very nasty problem. In the end, it probably would save more lives than fighting a protracted war against the orcs.

leib10

Sure that would've worked, but for most people much less interesting.

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"The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world. So wake up, Mr. Freeman. Wake up and smell the ashes." G-Man

xerxes

I think the subject of using the Gwiner the Windlord and bis brothers to drop the Ring was touched by Tolkein critics back when he was alive, and I think he gave the same reaction as Leib10 gave

@SmilingAssasssin

did u see BSG finale? what did you think???

gunnut

Interesting. That means there are people who dislike the Lord of the Ring series for the same reason that I don't like it.

xerxes

Also, Tolkein litterature work of LOTR was extremely unconventional in terms of writing and he got a lot of critizim in that as well. I mean at one point you had Gandalf relating a story to the Council of Elrond, and that story itself was few pages long within the actual story. But for me, it is an all time classic.

Jan

Seen it.

Sort of a cross between an arcade game and a comic strip. They supposedly wrapped up filming in 60 days and it shows.

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"Just another brick in the wall."

Wraith601

That's because 300 is a virtually shot by shot remake of a graphic novel, something mentioned several times in this thread alone.

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"We always have been, we are, and I hope that we always shall be, detested in France."
-Sir Arthur Wellesley

Wraith601

One of the finest hours of television I've ever seen. 2008 can't come soon enough.

Kansas Bear

Really. What's up with that anyway? 2008?? Don't these people realize it's late March 2007, for god's sake??

dalem

1) 300. Saw it, loved it - it's a hoot. I wanted to see guys stabbing each other in creative ways and I got that in spades.

2) BSG. Hate the show, haven't watched it since partway through Season 1. Accidentally caught the last 2 episodes while working in my basement. More of the same - X-files-deppresso-dramatic soap opera about a bunch of whiney jerks. 2008? Great way to keep an audience too.

3) Lord of the Rings. Love it. Favorite book. Re-read it about once every 2 years or so, same with the Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

-dale