‘I hated Dune so much’: Lord of the Rings author disliked Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel

JRR Tolkien, Frank Herbert: these are two names that speak volumes. but Lord of the Rings defined the 20th century fantasy genre, Dune It did the same on the science fiction side.

And all was well until author Oronzo Chili published it The Tolkien Library: An Annotated Catalogue 2019, featuring Tolkien’s old letters that reveal his thoughts on other books of his time. Yes, it involves work Frank Herbert Which is currently getting a lot of buzz (in a good way) with the release of Dune: Part Two. But if society won, the least we can say is that Tolkien was not there at all!

Restrained, elegant, but categorical opinion

From Alien to Blade Runner, and of course Star Wars, Dune Since his birth in 1965, he has influenced many works, whether literary or cinematic.

But the author of the influential epic saga featuring Frodo and his companions just didn’t like it! In a letter he wrote to John Bush in 1966, a year after its publication Dune So, he wrote (via Espinoff):

“Thank you for sending me a copy of Dune. I received one last year from Lanier, so I already know a few things about the book. It is impossible for an author who is still writing to be fair to another author working in the same direction. At least I think so. In fact, I strongly disliked Dune, and in this unfortunate case, it is best and only fair to the other author to shut up and decline to comment.“

Reasons why he didn’t like it Dune That’s why it remains a secret. Many believe that Tolkien, being a devout Catholic, was partly influenced by CS Lewis, the author of the saga. Narnia’s chroniclesto revise his views on Christianity – and thus perhaps contradict Herbert’s much more cynical work.

• No, Timothée Chalamet is not the hero of Dune! Like Anakin in Star Wars, Paul Atreides has a (very) dark side

Tolkien himself described his Lord of the Rings as “A fundamentally religious and Catholic work“, is rich in Christian symbolism. in turn Dune Experiments with and distorts the Abrahamic religions, subverting myth-making with a more cynical version of heroes and the concept of religion in general.

Whether for this supposed reason, density or something else, who knows, the reality is that both franchises continue to define popular culture, with Amazon’s million-dollar series The Rings of Power on the one hand, and The Rings of Power on the other. Adaptation of the last film DuneReviewed by Denis Villeneuve – the second installment of which is currently breaking box office records, in addition to great and rave reviews.

• Duna 2: If you do not understand these words Shai-Hulud, Muad’dib, we will explain them to you!

In any case, science fiction and fantasy go on without their “original creators” – and it is absolutely not forbidden to love both!

Dune: Part Two is currently available at your nearest cinema. The first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available on Prime Video, as is Peter Jackson’s iconic trilogy.