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The greatest science fiction author of all time

(5 posts)

  1. hkbajwa
    Member

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert

    I think my political leanings and perceptions of the things that drive human evolution are derived in great part from the themes he explores in his books.

    Some of his books have literally left me breathless

    Posted 2 years ago on 03 Mar 2010 15:02 #

  2. hkbajwa
    Member

    Just a few Frank Herbert quotes

    "If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master"

    "Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty."

    "To suspect your own mortality is to know the beginning of terror, to learn irrefutably that you are mortal is to know the end of terror."

    "It is a wise man that does know the contented man is never poor, whilst the discontented man is never rich"

    wattay writer yaar

    Posted 2 years ago on 03 Mar 2010 15:14 #

  3. jaypk
    Member

    @hk..some nice quotes there..!

    why is tht critiques say abt herbert tht most of his other novels reflect the dune pitch...and also tht his writign style wasnt the very best?? i havent read him..may be you have..so is tht true>?

    Posted 2 years ago on 03 Mar 2010 17:21 #

  4. nagatorpun
    Member

    My favorite is the isaac asimov. Here are some quotes by him.
    1) Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.

    2) The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.

    3) To surrender to ignorance and call it God has always been premature, and it remains premature today.

    4) Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

    ---------------------------------------------------
    Try his "Foundation" series it is one of the best. You can stick with other greats like robert heinlen and arthur c clarke.

    Posted 2 years ago on 03 Mar 2010 18:47 #

  5. hkbajwa
    Member

    well it's true that Frank Herbert isn't exactly "easy reading". In fact in most of his books i ahve never completely understood what the hell is going on until i read it the second time. And even at the 3rd or 4th reading i'm still finding new amazing detail.

    anyhow "Dune" is his most famous work and it is a true classic. But it's not until you read his other books that the genius of Dune realy becomes apparent and the genius of the themes he explores is understood.

    I like asimov and i've read the Foundation series, but i consider Foundation to basically explore the same themes as Herbert, but with easier language and less depth. the Dune series basically has the same premise as the Foundation series, but it's just a whole lot more detailed and intense.

    In fact there are books written by later sci-fi writers that basically recycle a theme or a twist from one of herbert's stories.

    Anyhow i'm a major sci-fi nut because i consider these writers to be the the true philosophers of our times.

    Not only do they imagine the science and technology of the future, but also the culture and perception of humans in the future based an their understanding of our world today.

    It is the only genre that is free of our history or of the "facts" of the present, giving them greater license to imagine the shape of humanity in the future.

    For instance in "Dune" Herbert portrays a human species with interstellar travel capability, still living in an interplanetary feudal system. How freakin cool is that?

    Posted 2 years ago on 04 Mar 2010 9:29 #

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