Thanks.

(June 16, 2023 at 3:46 pm)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: Thanks.

You’re welcome.

As much as I enjoyed (most of) the books, I think Herbert missed a trick by not including Tolkien-length appendices.

Boru

The Baron Harkonnen is well-known for using suspensors* to help him float and move about. The hunter-seeker that tries to kill Paul was "slick on the bottom due to the suspensor field." But they need a "carry-all" to get them out of worm trouble?

Wardrobe must have had a hissy fit about the "uniforms" seen during the first on-screen battle. The Harkonnen guards wear protective gear that has a lot of extraneous material and they're not seen after that. Curse of the Previsualization?

*He's under an curse from a Bene Gesserit "witch" that causes him to suffer health problems and gain weight, a lot of weight. His suspensors are surgically implanted.

(June 19, 2023 at 7:58 am)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: The Baron Harkonnen is well-known for using suspensors* to help him float and move about. The hunter-seeker that tries to kill Paul was "slick on the bottom due to the suspensor field." But they need a "carry-all" to get them out of worm trouble?

Wardrobe must have had a hissy fit about the "uniforms" seen during the first on-screen battle. The Harkonnen guards wear protective gear that has a lot of extraneous material and they're not seen after that. Curse of the Previsualization?

*He's under curse from a Bene Gesserit "witch" that causes him to suffer health problems and gain weight, a lot of weight. His suspensors are surgically implanted.

My guess (and that’s all it is) is that Holtzman generators eventually reach a point of diminishing returns. The fields are strong enough to support an assassin’s dart or a fat man, but would be too expensive to lift something like a spice harvester - remember that the Atreides were strapped for cash when they first arrived on Arrakis.

Possibly the only group that could afford really massive Holtzman generators was the Spacing Guild (they used the field to warp space). Which may also explain their exorbitant shipping fees.

Boru

A possibility. An alternative is it would have rendered the dangers of the worms moot.

(June 19, 2023 at 3:23 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Possibly the only group that could afford really massive Holtzman generators was the Spacing Guild (they used the field to warp space). Which may also explain their exorbitant shipping fees.

Boru

The Atreides sea carriers and vehicles smaller used suspension.

Well, Herbert isn't answering his cielagos so we'll just have to deal with it.

(June 19, 2023 at 4:22 pm)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote:

(June 19, 2023 at 3:23 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: Possibly the only group that could afford really massive Holtzman generators was the Spacing Guild (they used the field to warp space). Which may also explain their exorbitant shipping fees.

Boru

The Atreides sea carriers and vehicles smaller used suspension.

Well, Herbert isn't answering his cielagos so we'll just have to deal with it.

Another thought: the novels explicitly mention that shields can’t be used in the desert, as they attract sand worms. Since the same energy field (Holtzman effect) that powers shields also makes suspensors work, equipping spice-mining equipment with suspensors would make spice harvesting impossible.

Boru

Well then!

Thanks.

Finished the Dune book again, except the appendices. No surprises for me. I half expected to find tribbles in it again. (I miss acid.)

(June 19, 2023 at 6:02 pm)Gawdzilla Sama Wrote: Finished the Dune book again, except the appendices. No surprises for me. I half expected to find tribbles in it again. (I miss acid.)

Hard to imagine a novel that wouldn’t be improved by the addition of tribbles. I include ‘Lady Chatterly’s Lover’ and ‘The Iliad’.

Boru