The Nominees Mindbridge by Joe Haldeman Children of Dune by Frank Herbert Man Plus by Frederik Pohl Shadrach in the Furnace by Robert Silverberg Where Late the Sweet Birds Sing by Kate Wilhelm The Actual Results How I Would Have Voted Explanation It’s interesting to see which of these books hold up after nearly fifty… Continue reading How I would vote now: 1977 Hugo Award (Best Novel)
Tag: Frank Herbert
Third Dune Trailer is out!
I am so incredibly stoked to see this movie. Dune is, in my opinion, the most perfect science fiction novel ever written, and Dune: Part 1 was perhaps the most perfect adaptation of the novel that could have been made, let alone the best adaptation. And this trailer is one of the best that I’ve… Continue reading Third Dune Trailer is out!
An interesting personal discovery
I just made a very interesting personal discovery, gleaned from the data on my reading of the Hugo and Nebula winning books. Of the 110 novels that have won either award, I have now read all but 16 of them, which is enough data to get some reprentative results. One of the best predictors that… Continue reading An interesting personal discovery
DUNE!
So Mrs. Vasicek and I saw the new Dune movie in theaters last weekend, and let me just say, it was awesome in every sense of the word! Speaking as someone who’s read the novel three times and fervently believes it to be the most perfect science fiction book ever written, this movie did not… Continue reading DUNE!
2020-02-20 Newsletter Author’s Note: Thoughts on the History and Future of Science Fiction (Part 1)
This author’s note originally appeared in the February 20th edition of my newsletter. To sign up for my author newsletter, click here. One of the projects I hope to get to someday is to make a podcast on the history of science fiction. I’m a huge fan of podcasts, and subscribe to almost 100 of… Continue reading 2020-02-20 Newsletter Author’s Note: Thoughts on the History and Future of Science Fiction (Part 1)
2020-01-16 Newsletter Author’s Note
This author’s note originally appeared in the January 16th edition of my email newsletter. To sign up for my newsletter, click here. For my birthday last year, Mrs. Vasicek got me the first three books in the Dune series by Frank Herbert. I looove the new cover art, which is mostly why I wanted them,… Continue reading 2020-01-16 Newsletter Author’s Note
Extra Sci-Fi S3E8: Dune – Maud’dib
I thought this was a really good episode, though I’m not convinced that it’s better (or even possible) to lead through ideas rather than charisma. You need both, and I would argue that principles are more fundamental to human society than ideas. But still. The part about the Harkonnens ruling through decadence and indulgence was… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E8: Dune – Maud’dib
Extra Sci-Fi S3E7: Dune – Wandering in the Desert
So the problem I have with most “ecological science fiction” is that it draws almost exclusively on the ideas of Malthusian economics—essentially, the argument that Thanos was right. The problem with this is that Malthusian theory has been disproven by every generation of humans to live on this planet for the last 150 years. It’s… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E7: Dune – Wandering in the Desert
Extra Sci-Fi S3E6: Dune – Plots and Plans
In Future Mrs. Vasicek’s writing group, we were talking about plotting and I remarked that plotting didn’t seem to be one of Frank Herbert’s strengths in Dune. Looking back on it, though, I think that the plot was pretty solid, but he chose to focus on other things instead—such as all of the machinations and… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E6: Dune – Plots and Plans
Extra Sci-Fi S3E5: Dune – Origins
It’s always fascinating to learn how the big name authors got their start. As a fan, it pulls back the mystique a bit and makes those authors more relatable, and as a writer, it’s enormously encouraging to learn that even the big names had to pay their dues too. I wonder what Dune would have… Continue reading Extra Sci-Fi S3E5: Dune – Origins