Mostly joking, but there’s an interesting conversation to be had about the differences between how Frank and Brian interpret the Thinking Machines and Butlerian Jihad. I think it betrays a quite shallow understanding (on the part of Herbert the Younger) of the abstract concepts that drove the “psychedelic” feel of the original Dune works.

I, personally, am a subscriber to the Frank-puritan read of there were not necessarilly robots, there were not necessarilly cyborgs, but there were people who decided to allow computers to do thinking for them leading to a civlization of people voluntarily enslaved by their dependence on this technology and the inhuman machine-logic (The Algorithm ™)that runs it.

Both are interesting tales with a bit of prescient social commentary to them; I just find the inferred Frank take to be more compelling. I also don’t think it helps that with Kevin J. Anderson in the mix all of the ummmmm supplemental material just read like Star Wars EU novels to me.

E) but I’m uhhh not trying to litigate anything here. I wasn’t joking about the minutes days part.