this post was submitted on 12 Jun 2023
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I've never been able to talk myself into tackling the Dune books. They've been around so long that they feel a bit like paleo-sci-fi.
That's a great term, haha. I guess I didn't think of it as a commitment, but a curiosity. I likely wouldn't have gotten so far into the first one if I hadn't seen the two movies. I wanted to see what was consistent or not. So far, beyond the trope outlined above, the most jarring aspect of the world is the contrast in name types. "Jessica" and "Paul" feel out of place even amongst other members of the same house Atreides. I may or may not keep with the series of books depending on how edgy the author finds himself needing to be to show how desperate and desolate the universe is. But I rarely listen to audiobooks as I get distracted, so I consider this a surprising success.
A while ago I circled back to the Martian Chronicles, a book I haven't read since grade school. I struggled with it, but finally had to put it down when one woman complained to another woman how, "You just can't find a good malt on Mars!"
I understand what Bradbury was going for with the book, but the entire thing felt like it couldn't help but be drenched in the terminology and mindset of when it was written.
Here is a paleo-sci-fi I strongly recommend Free on librevox https://librivox.app/book/9317
From 1909
"Plot summary. The story describes a world in which most of the human population has lost the ability to live on the surface of the Earth. Each individual now lives in isolation below ground in a standard room, with all bodily and spiritual needs met by the omnipotent, global Machine."