Apologies; I’m continuously getting it wrong.
Already pointed out that there’s more than rocks and mice there.
I’m not sure that it’s much more incredible than that whales can live on plankton. Admittedly we know what feeds the plankton, and there isn’t a documented plankton cycle in Dune. (Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, just that it isn’t spelled out in detail.)
It’s fiction. It’s allowed a few unreasonable base assumptions in order to explore what they might give rise to. I don’t think Herbert’s intention was ever to write a complete ecosystem, and I don’t think anyone has ever claimed that he did – only that it was a book in which ecosystem issues (however they arose) loomed large and that this was unusual at the time. Criticizing it for not having done that with complete rigor is like criticizing 50’s SF for not having gotten rocketry completely right even by the knowledge of the time; you’re correct, but you’re judging it by the wrong criteria.
If you can’t maintain the suspension of disbelief and the book fails for you, that’s a valid statement. Doesn’t necessarily make the book a bad one, but explains why it didn’t work for you. Personally I think you set too high a hurdle for it and spoiled your enjoyment of what is, in the end, a ripping good bit of storytelling… but de gustibus; I’m sure there are books I couldn’t get into for similar reasons that you enjoyed.
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Whole countries were leveled. A continebt sank beneath the ocean.
Earthquakes. Volcanoes. Valinor stated put and the elves’ ships have to
magically fly to get there. You can conserve surface area but not curvature
in that tranaformation, or just add new land. Gravity is obviously not a
limit for the gods
Hard mode: figure out how the seasons work in Song of Ice and Fire.
You completely misread me. I love Dune. I just think it’s about as realistic as… well… Lord of the Rings.
G.R.R. M. has already publicly stated that the answer is “Magic.” And that it will be part of the last book (assuming he lives long enough to write it).
AFAIK, it’s also not clear of the multi-year season cycles are global or regional.
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