Quote:
That's funny, I think the opposite. Brian Herbert did okay ending the original series, but when he wrote the prequels (with help I believe?) It was as though he wrote a huge outline, fleshed it out a little with narrative and said, "done". No heart in the books at all I think, I really didn't care what happened to any of the characters.
But I will say the original Dune by Frank Herbert was great.
And getting back to the question of "what is science fiction?" Essentially, anything that builds on science, technology, etc then takes it farther than we currently have today (or in the past for those pre-20th century types of stories). Fantasy is the off-shoot where magic becomes involved. Not to be confused with science fiction where technology is so advanced it "seems like magic."
I'm reading Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson now. DH is reading his latest, Anathem. These are more "cyber punk" and take a sort of "mind shift" to get into the rhythm.
BTW for the Simmons fans, Illium and Olympos are great, especially if you like Homer's original stories.!