[OT] Dune RE: Current Events

> I believe Herbert took allot of his Dune terminology from either Arabic

Making the references to Saddam Hussein's paramilitaries as the 'Fedayeen',
though I think an Arabic speaker pronounced it 'fedayu', all the more eerie.

World building in literature always starts with things you know, of course.
So often it's carbon copy-ing with a thin veneer of name changes. I know
I feel Frank Herbert's genius was to blow completely other worldly life into
the rise-of-Mohammed-thru-off-with-colonial-chains history that was his
obvious inspiration.

I must say that kind of 'make it your own' ethic seems mighty strong on this
list. People take historical names, states, and situations, and generally do a
fine job in adapting them to a believable interstellar future.

The_Beast