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Comment by wglb | Hacker News Reader

According to Frank Herbert in "Maker of Dune", The plot line of Star Wars is based on Dune. Apparently they considered suing, but decided not to.

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I remember being at the 1983(or about) World Science Fiction Convention where Isaac Asimov was asked if he was upset that Lucas had ripped off so much of the Foundation Trilogy. Asimov replied he was a flattered. And in any case, Asimov said he used Edward Gibbon's "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" as source material for Foundation

I didn't read "Maker of Dune", but Starts Wars plot as litle in common with Dune, i think the similarities with Akira Kurosawa films is right on. By the way the Dune movie from 1984 is a much better plot than Star Wars, it's really a shame that didn't come to fruition it got lost on the directors cut, it should have been cut in 2 or 3 movies.

A chosen (by fate), mystically empowered son on a desert planet becomes a core player in the revolt against a galactic empire.

Sounds like the New Testament. Which is probably why they didn't sue Lucas. You need more than a similar plot to win a lawsuit.

The story of a Saviour born in a shitty place to free it's people from oppression is a recurring model on human history.

"I didn't read "Maker of Dune""

I highly recommend the book. It was quite good. I am not a fan of the latter Dune books, but this biography was a very interesting and illuminating one.

I'm sure a Dune remake is in our near future.

The Sci-Fi channel miniseries was not terrible. At least it matched up with what I imagined when I was reading the book, unlike the movie.

Seriously, weirding modules? What the hell was that?

I've also not read "Maker of Dune," so this is the first time I've heard that. I can understand where he was coming from with regards to Luke vs Paul, but the common story they share is generic enough that I'm not convinced any court would find in Herbert's favor.

It does make me wonder if Biggs Darklighter is the Duncan Idaho parallel. Could you imagine an endless clone army of Biggs? Is Biggs the perfect man?

I cannot locate my book, but the article therein listed about 14 similarities in the plot.

I searched "dune star wars plot similarities" and got back plenty of hits, and the articles look pretty long-winded at a glance. You can probably find something convincing in those results.

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