I think that a longer version of Dune could be very well made now with the movie technology that was so obviously lacking from the original. Some of the scenes were very depressing to watch after having seen The Matrix the day before.
I don’t think the problems with the movie Dune was a lack of special effects. As I recall they were pretty state of the art for their time. The reason I feel Dune was, and is, unfilmable is because so much of the plot involves various economic, political, religious, and cultural conflict all of which is difficult to portray in film. In addition, Herbert’s story was set in a science fiction background, so it had few cultural references in common with its viewers. And finally, a lot of the plot and characterization occurred inside the characters’ heads which is easy to handle in print but came out clumsily (via voiceovers) on film. When you add up all these difficulties and are bound by the constraints of film production, you’ve pretty much created an impossible task.
Damn! I had the Dune Encyclopedia! It was a killer companion to the Dune novels. I traded it at a used book store for five Heinlein novels. Oh well, lost a hundred dollars, gained enlightenment. Fair trade.
“The world is not five hours old and evil has already entered it” - Aslan
The Magician’s Nephew
Dune, and the whole series is great. I have a serious problem that causes me to buy anything related to Dune. If anyone wants a copy of the encylopedia I have two copies and would be willing to part with one, if the price is right 
There is a new book and it is out now called Dune: House Atriedies (sp). It was written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. I’m about 1/4 through it and it is not bad (If you’ve read the new Foundation stuff, you know what bad is). D:HA is set about 40-50 years prior to Dune and is basically background information.
I was actually going to mention The White Plague when I said that not all of Herbert’s stuff is science fiction… great book. Have you read The Soul Catcher?
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I don’t think so. Description?
For those who aren’t aware, the prequel to The Jesus Incident and The Lazarus Effect is Destination: Void, where Ship is created.
I first read * Dune * over 15 years ago. I thought it was good, but not earth shattering. I’ll have to re-read it now! I’m still in the middle of * Mists of Avalon * after 14 months…just can’t seem to finish it.
Hmm… An American Indian kidnaps a boy from a summer camp to make the white race “pay” for what they have done. It sounds lame from my description, but it is really psychologically interesting. It’s a very short book, too.
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