The Beer Must Flow!
National Lampoon's Doon (just Doon for short), by Ellis Weiner, is a (fairly) Affectionate Parody of Frank Herbert's sci-fi epic Dune. It was first published in 1984 under the banner of National Lampoon, who were originally a spin-off of The Harvard Lampoon, the creators of the earlier Bored of the Rings. The two books are thematically linked, being parodies of doorstep-sized genre novels with modern cult status.
Doon also follows the lead of Bored of the Rings in its approach to its subject, which comes down to two things: (a) A meticulous and probably affectionate recreation of the target novel's style, and (b) Cramming in as many American brand names as possible as pun versions of names from the target.
Tropes featured in Doon include:
- And I'm the Queen of Sheba: In F&SF fandom you may hear "Oh yeah — and I'm the Kumquat Haagen-Dasz!" from people who don't even know where it came from.
- As You Know: Dune is notoriously laden with as-you-know dialogue; Doon parodies this, a lot."Come, come , Peter," the Baron chid. "Surely there is no flaw in my plan. Review it for the benefit of this lad, Filp-Rotha, my nephew — I being, in fact, his uncle, the Baron Vladimir Hardchargin, who is who I, myself, am."
- Encyclopedia Exposita: Princess Serutan is as prolific an author as Princess Irulan, and her works serve the same purpose.
- Fun with Acronyms: The Dune series has a company called CHOAM (Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles). Doon changes this to N.O.A.M.C.H.O.M.S.K.Y. (Neutralis Organizational Abba Mercantile Condominium Havatampa Orthonovum Minehaha Shostakovitch Kategorical Imperative.) In the German translation, it is called MAFEA (Merkantile Allianz für Fortschritt und Entwicklung im All, literally "Mercantile Alliance for Progress and Development in Space").
- I Know You Know I Know: In best Herbertian style, two characters have a half-hour long conversation without either knowing what the other is talking about.
- Kaiju: The sugars of Arruckus are populated by a dangerous species of gigantic pretzel.
- Kick the Dog: Frank Herbert made sure to depict the Harkonnens in Dune as utterly horrible and prone to kicking every dog in sight. Doon's Hardchargins are just as bad.He was a repulsive man, vile and obese, and he stood strangling a kitten in the shadows of an office decorated in poor taste.
- The Mafia: The planet Arruckus comes out looking a lot like Las Vegas in the days when the mob ran the place, at least once Pall Agamemnides takes charge.
- Parody Names: As noted above, endemic.
- Serious Business: In the Doon version of the Dune universe, business replaces dynastic conflict, with the restaurant and lounge business being the most cutthroat of them all, and cooking skill stands in for fighting ability. Beer stands in place of Dune's Spice, and leads to just as much bloodshed and political maneuvering.
- Space Trucker: The Guild, who handle all space travel, are written as parodies of every stereotype associated with Earth truckers — which explains their addiction to the beer which comes from Arruckus.
- Trash Talk: Replacing the knife duelling from the original is "Rank Out", a duel of insults where the loser risks suffering a fatal blow to his ego.
- Uninstallment: In later editions, the back page advertises non-existent sequels and spin-offs, echoing the continuing growth of the Dune franchise: Doon Meshugganah; Men, Women, Children, Pets of Doon; Lord God Help Us, Another Sequel to Doon; The Doon Reference Book, Atlas, and Rhyming Dictionary; and The Doon Catalogue of Quality Menswear for Dad 'n' Lad.
- Watering Down: The Guild eventually support Pall because they believe that his opponents have been watering down the beer of Arruckus — an unforgivable sin in their (bloodshot) eyes.
