December 2000 Interview
Kevin J. Anderson answers questions from FED2k's Madhi.
1) It is rumoured that with Emperor: The battle for Dune, Westwood's license for producing Dune games expired. Is this true, and if so are they trying to renew their license or is anyone else trying to get it?
As far as we know, the license has not expired.
2) Throughout Mr. Herbert and Mr. Anderson's prequel novels, they have changed the way of warfare in the Duneiverse from Frank Herbert's world of knifes, swords, and shields, to using lasguns as the primary weapons. Why was this done?
You are not correct. HOUSE HARKONNEN talks about the Swordmaster training.
3) Have either Mr. Herbert or Mr. Anderson had any input in the new Dune miniseries by John Harrison? And if so, what have they dealt with?
Brian and I read the first draft of the miniseries, but other than that, we had no part in the production.
4) On of the biggest problems people have with the new prequel novels is the number of discrepancies between them and Frank Herbert's original novels. Now, this is not unexpected seeing as neither Mr. Anderson or Mr. Herbert wrote the original novels, and even Frank Herbert had many discrepancies from book to book (occasionally from chapter to chapter, eg. Muad'Dib's shape in a constellation then in a moon in the original) but there appear to be so many that a lot of people have even questioned if the authors read Frank Herbert's novels. Do you explain these discrepancies away with a "cannon duneiverse" like the Dune Encyclopedia, or are they just mistakes you overlooked, which is understandable? Or are you going to try to correct them in House Corrino like you tried to correct the mistake of having Mohaim be Jessica's mother in House Atreides?
We have followed Frank Herbert's original novels, as well as the thousands of pages of notes he left behind. We DID NOT follow the DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA.
5) Can you tell me anything about the plot line of House Corrino?
You will have to wait for the plot of HOUSE CORRINO. Hope you enjoy it.
