SLCLS Genre Study discussion

At the planning meeting for the sci fi presentation, we discovered that many of us had chosen Dune as an example of our different SF subgenres. So, how would you classify Dune? What do you think about that?

"I know nothing comparable to [Dune] except Lord of the Rings ." - Arthur C. Clarke

I think Dune is pretty much just Dune. There's a joke that it's an example of the Spice Opera subgenre.

While searching for the Clarke quote to make sure I got it right, I learned that Dune was first published by Chilton's. It doesn't seem to be an auto repair manual, though.

I think it's a political science fiction.

The characters all wear uniforms, like through the entire story. How could it not be military science fiction?!

I have another subgenre question for you. Is Star Wars: A New Hope (IV) military science fiction? I ran into this when it was a top search result for "space warfare" in Polaris but isn't on any of the recommended "military science fiction" reading lists on goodreads or novelist.

I definitely think Star Wars is a space opera yes there is the military aspect and warfare aspect to it but it's more space opera. Think about it the main villain is the hero's father. Where else would you get that besides s.o.?

I loved the training today! I took so many notes that I felt like I was back in college!

Dune's a little bit of everything. It's kind of like Outlander in that way (except Outlander is romance, sci-fi, fantasy - so maybe that's a bad example). If someone wants to read Dune, that's pretty much what they're going to ask for. Then again, if someone wants a Dune read-alike - The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is similar, though it is fantasy. Bujold Vorkosigan Saga has similar elements as well. I think when people read Dune, they're looking for that epic, door-stopper sci-fi/fantasy novel that they can really immerse themselves in. At least, that's been my experience with it.

Tina wrote: "The characters all wear uniforms, like through the entire story. How could it not be military science fiction?!"
I get that you were probably joking (well, I think...), but I just wanted to add I think that military sci-fi is one of the few sub-genres I wouldn't classify Dune as. Herbert makes some broad-stroke statements about war, but doesn't go into detail on many battle scenes. Not much advanced weaponry is depicted either, since most of the fighting is done with knives and atomic bombs are still the most destructive force available.

I think Dune is hard to peg down because it's one of the softest science fiction novels, but does have a little bit of everything. Well, except aliens and time travel.

Chrissy wrote: "Then again, if someone wants a Dune read-alike - The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is similar, though it is fantasy."
Funny you should mention that, I was recently reading Wheel of Time (up through book 4) and noticed a few parallels to Dune that seemed very similar (*POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING*):

- A secretive society of "witches" who are mostly distrusted by others but generally have good intentions, as they influence politics from behind the scenes (Aes Sedai and Bene Gesserit)
- A culturally unique desert people known for being some of the fiercest fighters (Aiel and Fremen) with their own secret version of the above-mentioned witches (Wise Ones and Sayyadina), and with a prophecy that an outsider will come to unite and lead them into the battle at the end of the world/universe
- Rand al'Thor and Paul Atriedes get their abilities from being almost unheard-of male versions of the above-mentioned witches. They also both go a bit crazy.

I'm not accusing Robert Jordan of plagiarism or anything, since there are plenty of major differences with WoT and there are archetypal themes involved here, but a few specific things struck me.