The Lore Axe

We finalise our series on Frank Herbert's Dune series by reflecting on the release of Dune: Part Two -- Denis Villeneuve's take on the second half of the first Dune book. As hot takes fly around the internet in reaction to the film, and the themes it presents, we ask why people don't understand Villeneuve's intentions. Is this the reason the original Dune series had a foreward by Herbert himself, warning about demagoguery and the threat of hero worship?

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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Sources:

• Asher-Perrin, Emmet, (2019), “How to Handle the Baron Harkonnen in a Modern Dune Adaptation”, ReactorMag
• Austin, Nicola, (2021), “Dune and the Deconstruction of the Gendered Chosen One”, Girls on Tops
• Hall, Sophie, (2022), “Dune and the Trouble with Adapting Lady Jessica”, Videolibrarian
• Joe, Chloe, (2021), “Dune’s Bene Gesserit Kind of Suck. That’s a Good Thing”, Bustle
• Oliebos, Hannes, (2021), “The Deconstruction of the Masculine Norm and Structures of Patriarchy in Frank Herbert’s Dune Book Series”
• Soffer, Eyal, (2022), “The Dune Universe and Sexual Violence: An Ongoing Struggle”, Science Fiction Research Association
• Yuel, Bessie, (2023), “Frank Herbert’s Homophobia, Baron Harkonnen, and Queer Menace”, The Companion

Further Reading:

• Kennedy, Kara, Routledge, “Tracing Second-Wave Feminism Through Women in the Dune Series”, 2023

We close out our three-part series on the Dune universe by taking a critical look at the nature of power, feminism, gender, and sexual identity in Dune. From the Bene Gesserit to Baron Harkonnen, how does Herbert approach the nature of patriarchal society in a future scifi setting? And why do are there still questions about his treatment of the only openly queer character in the series?

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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Happy holiday season to all our listeners. We took a break from our regular schedule to record a special redux on Warhammer 40,000 and how it's dargged both Khalil and Alex back into the tabletop wargaming realm.

We talk factions, addictions, orgies, and decide which Imperial army we would play if we were forced into it.

Enjoy, and see you in 2024!

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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Corrections:

1. We repeatedly say Dune was written in the 50s. It was published in 1965. Maybe Herbert was researching it in the 50s but we don't know that. We meant 60s.
2. Alex says Herbert grew up on the Eastern seaboard of the US. It was actually the Western seaboard -- he was born in Washington state.

We continue our Dune series by tackling an aspect of the world that was probably viewed very differently in the 60s compared to the modern era. Herbert heavily based the idea of the Fremen, their language, and their religion, on the Middle East and North Africa.

Did he do it to enlighten his readers through the lens of SciFi, or utilise a mysterious foreign people and religion to prop up the otherness of the peoples in his novels? Is Dune ingerently orientalist?

"The Muslimness of Dune" by Haris Durrani on Tor.com

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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We're back on multi-part shows! This is the first episode in a series exploring the influencial roots of Dune -- Frank Herbert's world-renowned science fiction series responsible for inspiring a whole avalance of the most popular worlds in media. Think Warhammer 40,000, think Star Wars, think Babylon 5.

Our first episode highlights just how different Dune was when it was first published in 1965, how it flipped the relationship between science fiction and ecology, sociopolitics, and the role of religion and the individual.

Also featuring a guest appearance from Alex's cat.

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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Watch Khalil play D&D on Science and Sorcery!

The episode Khalil and Alex talk about the recently-released Dungeons & Dragons movie. Was it a by-the-numbers popcorn flick designed to have a surface-level good time, or a huge missed opportunity to explore an enourmous setting with so many intricate places, peoples, and themes?

Another of our more casual chats, expect some proper analysis episodes soon!

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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This episode Alex and Khalil take a break to do something a little more relaxed: talk about one of their favourite films: Dredd 3D -- the criminally underrated sci-fi film spearheaded by the enigmatic Karl Urban.

This is a shorter, bite-sized version of a mainline episode where we try to chat more casually.

Enjoy!

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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Corrections: We said David edits braindances, when he actually just sells bootlegs to his classmates.

This episode of the Lore Axe we're looking at Netflix's 2022 series Cyberpunk Edgerunners. A show designed to help sell a video game that turns out to be pretty damn good. We look at the setting, the themes, and (as usual) the inherant nature of capitalism embedded in this flashy anime-like show.

From hubris to sci-fi dystopia, from dual-weilding shotguns to comparing Khalil to the BBC, from smashing Adams to cockney girlfriends, this episode has it all.

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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This week on the Lore Axe we take a look at one of the late 70s most beloved cult classics: The Warriors.

Based on the 1965 book by Sol Yurick and inspired by Xenophon's Anabasis, is this campy action movie a poorly acted send-up of violence and gang culture, or a centrepiece of late 70s cinema and a looking glass through which to view urban life in New York City?

We'll get into all that and more as we come out to play and try not to get wrecked. Who are the Warriors? Listen and find out.

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

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This week's (smaller than usual) episode examines the world of Dark Souls and the central narrative it creates through the lens of existentialist and nihilistic thinkers.

In a world without codified moralities, what direction will you choose?

Intro music by QubeSounds from Pixabay.

Additional music by Universefield on Pixabay

Audio clips from Dark Souls by FromSoftware.

Sources and inspiration for this episode:

• Carroll, Nilsen; The Existential Hero: Dark Souls through Kierkegaard, Camus, and Sartre, The Artifice, 2014
• Smith, Jordan; A beginner’s guide to Kierkegaard, via Dark Souls 2, Killscreen, 2014
• Kersting, Eric; From Nietzsche to Hegel: Perspectives on Humanity in ‘Dark Souls’, Pop Matters, 2014

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