Ah...I'm glad you brought up sequels. My brother, who has always been a far more prolific reader than I, said that he didn't enjoy anything after the first book. I have always remembered that, but since getting into the first book, I didn't want to believe it was the only good one. I'm glad to see you like those two sequels. I'll check them out when I finish this one. What do you think of the Anderson/Herbert prequels? And Asterisk, I know what you mean. It is a novel of subtlety and people, not of action and gadgets. The science fiction elements provide an interesting setting, but the characters as individuals and societies actually drive the story.

While we are on the topic of the movies, though not on topic of the thread, I easily could see a good epic film as well. Lawrence of Arabia is an excellent analogy. I recently downloaded the Alternative Edit made by Spicediver from FE.org. I didn't want to watch to much to prevent spoiling the story (since it's been so long since I saw the original 1984 that I don't remember the story anyway). But even with his editing skills, I can't help but dislike what was originally filmed. The Baron was already an obviously sick man in the novel, but the movie takes that to a ridiculous extreme. I recently checked out the miniseries from our library, and I hope to watch it soon, if I can possibly get the chance.