io9: Dune

"Better Book Titles" has been rocking the hell out of science fiction classics lately

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:40:00 PST

The "Better Book Titles" blog is one of the internet's great treasures — and if you haven't checked it out lately, you've missed some total gems. The blog is just what it sounds like — people post their versions of books with more appropriate titles. More »

What Frank Herbert's Dune Can Teach Us About the Power of Positive Thinking

Maria Konnikova - Scientific American — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:00:00 PST

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You probably know that Frank Herbert's Dune teaches that "fear is the mind-killer." But what else can you learn from Dune about the power of using your mind and avoiding negative thoughts? Psychologist Maria Konnikova delves into the real-life neuroscience that Paul Atreides taps into. More »

10 Pieces of Advice from Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies That Can Transform Your Life

Esther Inglis-Arkell — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 10:05:35 PST

Some people look to religion or well-thought-out systems of ethics when choosing the rules to live their life by — and some people are more comfortable relating to pop culture. Science fiction and fantasy movies provide plenty of wise mentors, who tell the heroes exactly what they needed to know. More »

Science Fictional Families That Are More Evil Than Yours

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:21:48 PST

Today or tomorrow, most of us are journeying back to our ancestral lands, to confront an ancient evil: our families. But it could be much worse. As dreadful as your relatives are, you could be a member of the Harkonnen family. Or the Duras family. Or the Family of Blood. More »

Take a vacation to Arrakis with Dune travel posters

Cyriaque Lamar — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:45:00 PDT

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DrFaustusAU — who you may remember from the Cthulhu children's book — has now drafted vintage travel placards for destinations in Frank Herbert's Dune series. Tan with the Shai Hulud on Arrakis, shop for the finest whale fur on Caladan, and have a pugnacious day on Giedi Prime.

This Dune cover art just sold for $26,000

Keith Veronese — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 11:06:25 PDT

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The beautiful 11 x 15 inch watercolor painting by John Schoenherr, used for the ACE paperback first edition of Dune, just sold for a little over $26,000 at Heritage Auction Galleries, shattering the $10,000 to $15,000 pre-auction estimate. Internet bidders pushed the price to just over $19,000 prior to the live segment of the auction, which saw the bidding for the painting reach $26,290. The painting was also used for the 25th Anniversary paperback edition of the Frank Herbert classic that created an enduring sci-fi universe. More »

Could David Lynch's Dune be improved with no dialogue?

Cyriaque Lamar — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 19:45:05 PDT

Does David Lynch's Dune — replete with its wing bikinis and Toto soundtrack and weird coloring books — benefit from having any and all conversation excised? More »

The story of Dune, recreated with Gummi worms

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 16:46:26 PDT

Remember the great moment in the Dune series when Paul Atreides rides the giant sandworm and everybody says he's the chosen leader of the Fremen? So do the Gummi-lovers behind this stirring tableau of far-future astropolitics. Yes, it's Dune in Gummi. What's the saying? The gelatin must flow? More »

Alejandro Jodorowsky's never-made adaptation of Dune is getting a documentary

Cyriaque Lamar — Sun, 15 May 2011 08:55:02 PDT

While we're on the topic of Dalí, news has come out of the Cannes Festival that director Frank Pavich is making a documentary titled Jodorowsky's Dune that delves into the history of Alejandro Jodorowsky's doomed adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel. More »

10 Most Awesome Fake Martial Arts

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:00:00 PDT

Anybody can vaporize you with a disintegrator gun or blow up your planet with an ultimate weapon — but it takes a real badass to thrash you with a fictional martial art. Especially a discipline designed for many-armed aliens. More »

Paramount gives up on the Dune remake

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:30:00 PDT

We've been waiting for news on Hollywood's Dune reboot, ever since director Peter Berg left the project. Sadly, there's more bad news. Paramount is surrendering the rights to Dune. Basically, the new Dune is dead. More »

10 Most Awesome Ultimate Weapons

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:00:00 PST

War is hell. But an ultimate weapon is hella cool. More »

The kid-unfriendly coloring books of Dune

Lauren Davis — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 10:00:38 PST

Earlier this week, we introduced you to the parody children's book Goodnight Dune. But that's not half as bizarre as the real coloring and activity books released with the Dune film. Enjoy coloring those dead bodies, kids! More »

Goodnight Dune, a children's book straight from Arrakis

Cyriaque Lamar — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 07:40:00 PST

Were you impressed by the science fiction children's books Caldwell Tanner created a few months back?Artist Julia Yu was, so she illustrated an entire book based on Tanner's Goodnight Dune . More »

10 Scifi and Fantasy Foods I'd Sink My Teeth Into

Esther Inglis-Arkell — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:00:00 PST

There are times when nothing looks good in the fridge. There are even times when nothing looks good in the store, or on the menu. Occasionally - at least for the fortunate people who live in the 'obesity is a problem' countries - all food looks boring and routine; like it's been served to you a million times before. It's then that you can turn to fiction. Scifi and fantasy is peppered with delicious and strange dishes to excite the taste buds, delight the palate, and probably confound the lower intestine. Here are a list of ten scifi and fantasy foods that I'd love to try. More »

Check out an excerpt from a never-published Dune RPG

Matthew Colville -- Squaremans — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:15:00 PST

Over a decade ago, Wizards of the Coast asked Matthew Colville of Squaremans to write an role-playing game based on Frank Herbert's Dune. The game never saw print, but here are some samples from the RPG. More »

Read the entire Marvel comic based on Dune

Annalee Newitz — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:55:28 PST

In the 1980s, Marvel put out a comic book from Ralph Macchio and Bill Sienkiewicz, based on the David Lynch film version of Dune. Now blogger Joe Bloke has scanned and posted it, so you can experience the awesomeness. More »

A gorgeous gallery of the places where our science fiction dreams (and nightmares) were born

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:30:00 PST

What's Tattooine look like nowadays? Can you walk around David Lynch's Dune? Is there any geographic logic to Vulcan? Salon.com has an amazing travelogue/gallery of real-life locations where classic science fiction films were shot. Photo: Shara Johnson. [Salon.com] More »

Your Favorite Science Fiction Yarns, Reinvented as Kids' Books

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 13:00:00 PST

If only these children's books, based on all-time classic science fiction stories, actually existed — they'd be the perfect way to get your kids into Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who. As it is, they're a hilarious tease. More »

40+ Lurid, Bizarre Science Fiction Dream Sequences

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 09:30:00 PST

Science fiction takes place in a world beyond our own reality, but sometimes you need to go just a bit further — into the realm of the crazy, surreal dream sequence. Here are 40 or so of our absolute favorites. More »

R.I.P. Legendary Producer Dino De Laurentiis

Meredith Woerner — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 11:30:00 PST

Dino De Laurentiis, producer of Barbarella, Army of Darkness, Dune and many other classics, passed away in Los Angeles Thursday morning. He was 91. More »

Another director quits Dune, as time runs out on for the project

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:40:00 PST

Pierre Morel (Taken) has reportedly quit as director of Frank Herbert's Dune, which Peter Berg was also on board to direct at one point. And unless Paramount can get the film up and running by spring, they'll lose the rights. More »

15 classic science fiction and fantasy novels that publishers rejected

Charlie Jane Anders and Michael Ann Dobbs — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 15:36:26 PDT

Science fiction's greatest authors have brilliant ideas, storytelling mojo... and plenty of stubbornness. Many of the field's greatest writers were buried in rejection slips, before they finally broke in. Here are 15 classic novels that publishers didn't want to touch. More »

Here's what happens when Dune influences high fashion

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 06:40:00 PDT

Baron Harkonen hits the runway in a bizarre series of fashion concept design pieces for people who control the Spice. More »

Do not underestimate the technological expertise of faeries

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 06:40:00 PDT

Generally it is believed that faerie society is pre-industrial, dealing in magic rather than engineering. Any amount of time spent among these creatures, however, will banish that idea from your mind. More »

Vintage ads from science fictional futures

Cyriaque Lamar — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 08:45:05 PDT

Marvellous Hairy author Mark A. Rayner is holding a Photoshop contest to create vintage advertisements for futures that don't exist yet. Here's a small sampling of these retrofuturistic print pieces from both the current and past contests. More »

Best and worst childbirth scenes in science fiction and fantasy

Charlie Jane Anders and Kelly Faircloth — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 12:20:00 PDT

There's still only one way to bring a new person into this universe. Many science fiction/fantasy stories have featured the drama of childbirth... and some have done it better than others. Here are the best and worst SF/fantasy childbirth scenes. More »

Sandworms and Fremen caves: concept art for the Dune movie that never was

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 14:00:00 PDT

2000 A.D.'s Jock created some amazing concept art for Peter Berg's Dune movie before Berg left the project. Now he's posted some of it on his site, giving us a tantalizing glimpse of an Arrakis that never reach our screens. More »

Lego Dune: If only these figures were for sale!

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:30:00 PDT

Don't you wish you owned Lego figures of Paul Atreides, Emperor Shaddam VI, and a host of other Dune characters? A few stalwart souls have been posting their own custom Dune Lego figures and mock-ups on Flickr. More »

Eat roasted chestburster at your next scifi cookout

Lauren Davis — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 08:20:00 PDT

Tired of the same old July 4th barbecue? Consider hosting a science fiction dinner party instead, where you can treat your guests to such cosmic delicacies as Soylent Green, Bachelor Chow, Spice beer, and piping hot xenomorph. More »

Every book publisher turned down Frank Herbert's Dune

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:30:00 PDT

Frederik Pohl's always fascinating blog features an article about his friendship with Frank Herbert and the genesis of Dune. Every book publisher turned down Herbert's manuscript, until a small press took a chance. Fascinating reading. More »

From here to paternity: Scifi's best and worst fathers

Marc Bernardin — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:00:00 PDT

As you get set to give dad another crappy tie or singing, wall-mounted bass, we're looking at the most caring — and the most callously destructive — father figures in movies, comics, and TV. More »

Exhibit A for concept art that's cooler than the finished product

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:00:00 PDT

When you look through Miles Teves' online concept art portfolio, it's hard not to feel sad about how cool Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation, plus a Dune movie, could have looked. And his design for Spider-Man's Goblin is clearly superior. More »

Leto Atreides II, H.P. Lovecraft and David Lynch are sitting for formal portraits

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 14:30:00 PDT

Freaks Of The Heartland artist Greg Ruth puts up a new image on his site every Monday, taking us inside his weird consciousness. Portraits of Dune's Leto Atreides II and David Lynch, plus surreal creatures, are flooding the internet. More »

Help Update David Lynch's Dune

Meredith Woerner — Fri, 07 May 2010 08:00:00 PDT

Sasha Burrow has been slowly but surely attempting to create a fan edit of David Lynch's '84 classic Dune with improved special effects. Check out his ideas for the Special Edition of Dune. More »

"Dune" Started As A Nonfiction Article About Oregon's Ecosystem

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 11:50:00 PDT

If you're fascinated by Frank Herbert's Dune novels, you'll definitely want to read Scott Timberg's latest article in the Los Angeles Times, chronicling the book's origins and legacy. Plus there's great commentary from Kim Stanley Robinson. More »

The Best of Last Night's Dune Commentary Twack

Marc Bernardin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 11:50:00 PDT

We launched our io9 Movie Mondays with a live-tweeting of David Lynch's Dune. If you weren't able to take part in the joy, fun, or seasons in the sun, here are the highlights of last night. More »

Join io9 Tonight For Our Inaugural Live Commentary Twack: Dune

Marc Bernardin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:30:00 PDT

Tonight, at 9:00 pm EST, we're picking a gem from the Netflix Watch Instantly library and tweeting the shit out of it. Our maiden voyage will take us to David Lynch's Dune. More »

In Dune, The Earth Lifts Up Humans Into Godhood

Josh Wimmer — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:00:00 PDT

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On the harsh desert planet Arrakis, a boy faces off against Destiny with a capital D, in Frank Herbert's 1966 Hugo winner Dune. The reason it's a classic is that Destiny doesn't quite win. More »

Have You Ever Hated A Book, Then Come Back To It Later And Loved It?

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 16:00:00 PDT

LibraryThing's science fiction group had a great discussion about "wrong book, wrong time" situations, where you hate a book, but much later, you rediscover it and fall in love. What books are you glad you gave a second chance to? More »