28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

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D Pope
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28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

Post by D Pope »

http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/anderson.html


Bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson wrote his first novel, "The Injection," on three pages of pink scrap paper at
the age of 8. Since then, he has written dozens of science fiction novels, including Climbing Olympus,
Resurrection, Inc. (nominated for the Bram Stoker Award), and Blindfold (a 1996 preliminary Nebula nominee).
Anderson has also written several novels and comics set in the Star Wars and X-Files universes.

--Michele Rosen



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is it like to work on the prequel to a book you read when you were 10?
I learned a great deal about plotting from Frank Herbert's books. To me he was everything science fiction could be.
My own work has been inspired by Frank Herbert. I had always wanted to write books like Dune because that's as
much as I thought you could aspire to.

Looking at Frank Herbert's original notes from Dune, it's like a religious experience. You're looking at relics of
things that were so important. We've got one page where he's writing down names and crossing them out until
he came out with the name of Harkonnen. It's amazing in a historical sense but it's also amazing to see how
many ideas he wrote down that he never got around to using.

This is something that I'm putting so much effort in - and Brian is too - because, let's face it, to have the
audacity to write a book with 'Dune' on the cover, you have to deliver something good.




How is it different to write a book in an established universe,
like Star Wars, X-Files or Dune, compared to creating your own settings?

I only work in a universe that I already really love and enjoy. Dune is an order of magnitude more difficult to work
in because I hold the books in so much awe.

Once I've got the universe firmly embedded in my mind, there's no real difference between writing in that and the
world I live in, or a historical "real" place.

With an established world like the Dune books, I have so much to draw on already, I don't have to make it up.
The flip side is that I have to be absolutely true to all the established information that's there. Especially with
Star Wars or Dune, there are so many details and the fans are so voracious that you dare not slip up.




How did you and Brian decide what time period to focus on?
We discussed it and we realize that we're picking up the ball after it's been sitting there for 15 years.
The Butlerian Jihad, while it would be fascinating to Dune fans, doesn't have any Dune in it--you wouldn't
have all the ingredients that fans came to love.

What we decided was if we did an immediate prequel, all of these things would be very familiar to Dune
fans and would go right to the core of everything fans loved about the original novel.




Did you try to match the tone of the original series?
From the very first we said we weren't going to try to imitate Herbert's writing style. But we felt it was crucial
that we were able to pick up the "look and feel" of the Dune books, and that's what we tried to match--with the
complexity and the political intrigues and the detailed environment it was set in.




How much of the prequel is based on Frank Herbert's notes?
A lot of the ideas were original, but some were taken from the existing material. We knew some of the major
points to go to but we didn't know the exact route to take.

It was like a treasure trove for us to find all those notes. We're drawing on scenes and notes and quotes that
have never been published. Especially now that we have the outline for the last Dune novel he intended to write,
he ties the last story together with the first one and ties up a lot of little loose threads.




Do you plan to work together on completing Dune 7?
We do have plans but they're not crystallized. We have plans and notes for probably 10 more books.
What exact order we write those in or whether we even write them at all--that will be decided on a book by book basis.
The Butlerian Jihad will probably be the next.

By doing this original prequel trilogy, we're hoping to reawaken interest in all of Frank Herbert's Dune novels.
There are so many things we need to set up in the Butlerian Jihad timeframe--things that tie directly into Dune 7.

In true Frank Herbert fashion, we are looking at a genuine long term plan. Because all of this is about a giant saga,
it's good for us to be thinking about all of this, so maybe we'll be planting seeds.




How do you think readers will respond to the new book?
The readers will have to decide. We're aware that some of them have to be skeptical as to how we can put on
such giant shoes, but between Brian and I we're sticking two feet into each one. I'm thrilled for the opportunity
to write a book in my favorite science fiction universe. I hope to be able to play in the sandbox for a while longer.




...
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
D Pope
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

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There are so many things we need to set up in the Butlerian Jihad timeframe--things that tie directly into Dune 7.
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

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This is something that I'm putting so much effort in - and Brian is too - because, let's face it, to have the audacity to write a book with 'Dune' on the cover, you have to deliver something good.
May his cock cleave to the roof of his mouth! :evil:
D Pope
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

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...but it's also amazing to see how many ideas he wrote down that he never got around to using.
Doesn't this quote seem to support the idea that they've been working from the reject pile?
It was like a treasure trove for us to find all those notes.
Who doubts that Franks 'bad' ideas were better that any KJH came up with?
We're drawing on scenes and notes and quotes that have never been published.
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

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Looking at Frank Herbert's original notes from Dune, it's like a religious experience. You're looking at relics of things that were so important. We've got one page where he's writing down names and crossing them out until he came out with the name of Harkonnen. It's amazing in a historical sense
so is Spanky talking about the Dune notes @Fullerton, or notes in the waterlogged cardboard box in Brian's garage ?

if he's talking about the ones Brian had tossed in a corner and forgotten for 10 years, and uses words like "relics" and "historical",
doesn't he realize these notes should be @Fullerton and open for study ?

and notice the Frank ass-sucking from ten years ago ... Keith doesn't talk with this kind of reverence about Frank anymore ...
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

Post by SandChigger »

Why the hell should he? Soon he'll have written TWICE as many "DUNE" books as FH!

:cry:
"Chancho...sometimes when you are a man...you wear stretchy pants...in your room...alone."

"Politics is never simple, like the sand chigger of Arrakis, one is rarely truly free of its bite."

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Hunchback Jack
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

Post by Hunchback Jack »

SandRider wrote:and notice the Frank ass-sucking from ten years ago ... Keith doesn't talk with this kind of reverence about Frank anymore ...
Yeah, no kidding. I guess he was still reeling from the shock of actually getting the gig. Now, though, he's had ten years of listening to the Rot/Gorge publicists tell everyone what a great writer he is.

Edited to add:
It was like a treasure trove for us to find all those notes. We're drawing on scenes and notes and quotes that have never been published. Especially now that we have the outline for the last Dune novel he intended to write, he ties the last story together with the first one and ties up a lot of little loose threads.
What do you think this means???

HBJ
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SandChigger
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

Post by SandChigger »

Hunchback Jack wrote:What do you think this means???
His mouth was on autopilot and no one knew how to stop it. Him. Whatever. ;)
"Chancho...sometimes when you are a man...you wear stretchy pants...in your room...alone."

"Politics is never simple, like the sand chigger of Arrakis, one is rarely truly free of its bite."

Arrakeen is an unawakened ghola.
D Pope
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Re: 28 July 1999, space.com, KJA

Post by D Pope »

It looks like another link has gone bad. Dammit!
When a brand knew urinal puck showed up in the bathroom of my studio, I knew what I had to do.
-AToE
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