Lost in the Dunes
For the past few months I’ve been reading the pre-Dune series of books by Frank Herbert’s son. I first read the novel when I was in High School. I immediately fell in love with its complexities and rich portrayals of a future that was starkly different from any other science fiction vehicle at the time. The Novels by Frank Herbert were astounding, impressive, masterful, and above all literature.
…Thank goodness I got them from the library…
They say that the apple does not fall far from the tree, however, in this case the apple caught a bad bounce, rolled down a hill and fell into a twenty thousand foot abyss. The offereings of Brian Herbert are in no way comparable to the mastery of his father. Characterizations are shallow, motives are obvious, plots are contrived. All that was fine and noble about the original series, is squandered in these endeavours.
They are instantly forgetable after completion, like a made for TV movie. In the books by Frank, we traveled the desert but our thirst was quenched, in these volumes we are parched from start to finish. Thank goodness I got them from the library and not the book store.
They are in chronological order;
The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin
House Atreides
House Harkonnen
House Corrino
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I never bothered with any of the new Dune books. Your review pretty much sums up everything that I have heard from other readers.
hey Ric —
I loved Dune, but haven’t read any of the others. If you have, will you write a quick post — or reply to this comment — listing the rest of Frank Herbert’s Dune books, and which ones you liked best? I’d like to read them in order.
But you still read all six books? Well at least, you are definitely able to give a general conclusion for the entire series. Loved the apple falling into the abyss.
FredCQ - you were lucky
Watson - It was like watching an accident. You wanted to look away, but you couldn’t.
Rachel - I will post the info shortly… My laptop(Frodo)died today and I’m trying to rebuild another old laptop to replace it and get back on line.
I have heard similar criticism of them.
Do you like Kevin Anderson’s writing then??? He is actually the writer of these books from what I understand & Brian Herbert just lent his techinical expertise of his father’s style….or something like that. I have heard mixed reviews of these books & thus will have to read them to form an opinion myself.
Rachel-
I like the name Frodo for your laptop. My PC is called “Steelbook.”
I’ve read them and I must respectfully disagree. I think the books were all wonderful. I enjoyed the new characters and felt fully immersed in this “new” side of Dune. I have read all of the prequel books and went right into Frank Herbert’s books from there. As I did with the Dune books (reading them several times) I will do the same with Brian’s.
TheBluesButterfly - I’ve never read any of his other work, just the additional Dune books. I think everyone shoud decide for themselves, so by all means read them.
Jayne - There’s always a different point of view and I can respect that. For me though, I’ll stick to the canon that Frank wrote.
For Rachel - Dune novels by Frank in order…
Dune. The original masterpiece
Dune Messiah . What happens when the revolution and religion go wrong. Very short book compared to the others.
Children of Dune. Setting things right again and the son Leto walks where the father wouldn’t go.
God Emperor of Dune. Centuries later, Leto is still ruling and a sacrifice needs to be made.
Heretics of Dune. Many years later. Dune is reborn as itself with new power.
Chapterhouse Dune. Dune is destroyed, and Dune is rebuilt.
A seventh Dune novel is in the works by Brian and company. They have a blog where you can get more information on it.