We were sitting in a dimly illuminated Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, having dinner with the deputy publisher of Bantam Books, some months before the release of DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES—the first of the new
Dune novels, released in 1999, thirteen years after the passing of Frank Herbert. The deputy publisher was there to talk with us about the book, which was to be one of the lead titles of the year, but she didn’t seem to “get” the real significance of the
Dune universe.
Brian stressed that DUNE was more than just a big science fiction novel; it was a real landmark.
“Everybody’s read DUNE,” Kevin added.
To this, Brian said, “Well, almost everybody, it seems.”
Then, as the busboy walked up and set water glasses down in front of us, Kevin looked at him and said, “You’ve read DUNE, haven’t you?”
Without missing a beat, the busboy exclaimed, “Oh yeah—DUNE, DUNE MESSIAH, CHILDREN OF DUNE, and the other three. I’ve read them all!” After he left, we nodded to the astonished deputy publisher, and asked if she now understood the significance of this novel.
Several months later, Brian and Kevin were speaking to an audience at a bookstore in San Francisco.
An elderly gentleman sat on one side, listening to the presentation of the authors. When it came time for questions, the man asked, “I’ve never read DUNE or any of the sequels or prequels. Why should I bother to read any of them?”
To this, Brian said, “I’m not going to twist your arm to read anything, but I will tell you this: If you don’t at least read DUNE, you’re missing an important part of our culture. It is a huge and very important story, on many levels.”
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