As readers of the mailing list and the blog entries earlier this week know, we’re doing a Summer Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Bundle Giveaway.

One of the books I felt compelled to pitch — and which is in the giveaway — is Frank Herbert’s Dune. I confess, I first encountered Dune in the form of the hot mess that is the ’84 David Lynch movie. It was cut and crafted into a holiday blockbuster form that turned out to be just a bust, but it wasn’t for me when I first saw it in the theater. Amid the weirding modules and other embellishments, the distinct worldbuilding of Herbert came through for me.

Here we had a future that also felt ancient. People’s actions were dictated not only by what happened in the plot, but because of an array of factions scheming against one another (listeners of Rogue Tyger will definitely recognize the notion of “great houses”).

When I finally got around to reading the book some years later, I gained a whole new appreciation for the depth of the worldbuilding. Some of that is captured by the 2000 mini-series. I often think an ideal version would be the ’84 cast doing the 2000 script. Of course, next year, there will be a new version that I’m looking forward to given the director’s previous sci-fi efforts.

Of course, there’s still the book, which is part of the giveaway that runs until July 12th. More inspirations tomorrow.

— Bjorn Munson, Jabberwocky Audio Theater