I’ve since evolved into other genres but I still remember my first taste of the fantastic. I now have favorite science fiction and fantasy novels residing in my library which are dog-eared, crumpled and not in salable condition, due to constant re-reading. A scant few of my fave authors are Mercedes Lackey (fantasy), Frank Herbert (sci-fi), Arthur C. Clarke (sc-fi), and Judith Tarr (fantasy).

I can absolutely see many of these novels making their way into the world of anime, and being a smashing success. One of these authors is already primed to hit a target audience: Yaoi fan girls. Mercedes Lackey is a very progressive author and has created many central characters who are openly gay. Yaoi and shonen-ai anime anyone?

Then there’s Frank Herbert. Some of his work is a mixture of uber-far-future sci-fi, fantasy and pseudo-religion. I’m referring especially to Dune. A Dune anime would be the absolute most daring task the medium has ever undertaken. Imagine:

A young Paul Atreides, bishie and strong; his adorable, strange yet powerful, quasi-loli sister; his powerful, hot mother who commands mystic powers of the Bene Gesserit sisterhood; giant worm creatures who are both friend and foe; a twisted fate intertwined with House Harrkonnen and the also bishie but sadistic, Feyd-Rautha; an intergalactic quest to gain control of spice; and a powerful plan by the Bene Gessrit to breed the ultimate warrior: the Kwisatz Haderach!

Hellllooo, giant studios, are the themes in the novel “anime” enough for you to make this thing? Do I need to list any other awesome plot points of this fantastic novel to convince someone, anyone, that this book has mass appeal to anime fans? And if Dune gets turned into an anime, the studios might finally get right what a full length live-action movie and mini series failed to do- tell the damn story like it is in the book!

Tatsunoko Production, the studio who did Karas, could do for Dune what it did for Karas; make it the hottest, best looking animated series to date.

I literally have dozens upon dozens of books and literally hundreds of reasons why each book could, nay, should be made into anime. I’ll list a few of my top ten:

• Dune, Frank Herbert- epic story, fantastic visuals
• Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke- a cautionary and humbling tale
• The Last Herald Mage, Mercedes Lackey- a dead sexy series of books filled with powerful magic
• The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkein- a revolutionary book which paved the way for modern fantasy literature
• The Man Who Fell to Earth, Walter Tevis- another humanistic, cautionary tale
• Foundation, Issac Asimov- epic and far-reaching story with impressive backdrops and technology

OK, that was more than a few, and I could go on and on, but enough about what I want to see made into anime, what about you? Is there a book that’s inspired you and helped define your current tastes which you’d love to see as an anime? Was there a series of books which you read and said, “Damned if that wouldn’t look good animated!”? Which Western novel would you like to see get the anime treatment?