When you think of sandworms and science fiction, most people think of Dune. But, as a kid, I was more interested in scary Christopher Pike books and the Adventures of the Unicorn Queen. I hadn’t read Dune or even heard of it. My first impressions of sandworms came from two of the oddest movies.
Impression #1:
The 1988 movie Beetle Juice
Starring Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Michael Keaton, this movie sparked my imagination. I watched it over and over again singing the banana song as they danced around the table. A friend of mine boasted that she knew the girl in the beginning that looks out of the car and says one line: “They died.” I used to look for that line and see if I recognized the girl from any distant memories I could have had. Never did.
One thing Beetle Juice had was sandworms: striped sandworms to be exact. They had a head inside a head, and attacked any ghost that tried to leave their house. How utterly awesome is that?
In the end, Geena Davis punches one in the head. She’s not afraid anymore, and because of that, little Aubrie wasn’t either. J
Impression #2:
The 1990 movie Tremors
Starring Kevin Bacon and a cameo from Reba McEntire, this picture portrayed some scary, gigantic beasts. People died, and others starved on top of buildings, afraid to come down. One man thought he was safe on a tire, and got pulled underneath the sand in seconds. If anything put the idea of sandworm into my head, it was watching this movie.
In the end, when they run out of bombs, they outsmart the last worm, running it off a cliff. I always thought that last scene with the worm flying through the air and Kevin Bacon’s shocked face was the best.
When you hear “sandworm” what do you think of? The classic Dune worms, or the more contemporary, cinematic versions?
A New Dawn Book One by Aubrie Dionne
Title: Paradise 21
Author: Aubrie Dionne
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: August 2011
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-02-2
Mobi ISBN: Coming soon!
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-03-9
Ebook review copies available at NetGalley.com
Book Blurb:
Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.
But Aries has other plans.
When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.
The life of the man she loves.
Excerpt:
“Might as well stay here and make camp for the night.”
His casual tone stung her composure. How could he talk of such mundane things when they’d almost been captured, when she’d touched him so tenderly?
“We’ll let them get farther away,” Striker explained, reasonable as always. “We’re going in their direction tomorrow.”
The sting of rejection grew, burning a hole in her heart. “Why?”
“Why what?”
Her lips trembled. “Why not kiss me like you did before?”
“I can’t.” He shook his head, and the air cooled between them; so much so, Aries wondered if the desert had turned into deep space.
He’d teased her with such affection before, it was cruel to take it away. “I don’t understand,” she said, wishing she didn’t care, wishing she could stop all the emotions he’d started in her heart.
Aries caught a glimpse of pain etched in the wrinkles around his eyes. Striker turned away and started pulling supplies out of his backpack. “I can’t do this.”
“Do what?”
Striker shook his head and Aries prompted, “Can’t kiss me, can’t trust me? What?”
“I can’t allow myself to get tangled up with someone. Not again.”
The thoughts of Striker with another woman confused her. On the New Dawn, everyone had one lifemate and that was it. “You mean you loved someone before?”
Striker’s hand tightened on the backpack. “I trusted someone a long time ago, allowed myself to love, if you will. She hurt me so much I lost my entire life and ended up here. I can’t experience that kind of pain again.”
