I had read Brian’s and Kevin’s “prequel” trilogies when they came out, years after I had put down the complete Dune series. Their writing was so different from what I had remembered about Frank’s that I had no trouble compartmentalizing the shallowness of the new stuff just to have a taste of the rich back story Frank Herbert repeatedly had alluded to. It wasn’t so bad for me, that part. When I learned that the pair were to publish a conclusion to the palpably unfinished original series, I actually got excited. In retrospect, I can’t say why, other than I suppose I had made an entertainment decision to suspend disbelief. Maybe I thought they would treat it more religiously.

Well, I wanted to wait until they were done before I read them, and I wanted to re-read the entire original series before I did. And, of course, I didn’t want to read any spoilers, so I avoided reviews. So I just sat in the past couple months and read the original Dune; Dune Messiah; Children of Dune; God Emperor of Dune; Heretics of Dune; and Chapterhouse: Dune. I was entranced as I read them for the second time, decades after my first reading, with unspeakable life lessons and wisdom built up within my philosophical mind. I truly saw Frank Herbert for the first time as much more than just a visionary author, but as a true visionary, from whose perceptions little would be hidden. Layer upon layer of depth, into which even the deepest intellect may find space to dwell.

The most thrilling part, I thought, of Frank’s original work was that human beings in some regards had learned to overcome their basest parts in order to achieve higher levels of consciousness and potential. Humanity was evolving into superhumanity, moving forward, becoming less animalistic. There were the grandest of ideas at work in his novels.

So it was jarring to an extreme to find myself reaching page 520 at the end of that book by that other Herbert, Hunters of Dune (by Herbert/Anderson–can’t we just call them Herbertson?), only to have detected not a hint that these characters were anything more evolved than the characters of prime-time dramas and soaps. It felt exactly as if I had been reading college literature and then suddenly found myself trying to find some hint of layers of meaning in See Spot Run. I am not really exaggerating all that much, and that’s what is so unbelievable. And the gore is just… disgusting. My head hurts.

I have Sandworms of Dune, as I had checked them both out simultaneously along with the last two Dune books of Frank Herbert. I don’t know that I can bear to read it. Do I really have to know? And whence come these doubts in me about the authenticity of the fortuitous cache of unknown notes?

It’s good to see people talking about this. I used to have a kind of respect for the son that was granted by the aura of the father, but oftentimes a willingness to give unearned trust results in seriously misplaced trust.

sigh

David, have you been following the funfest since Paul of Dune? The Winds of Dune (they changed the title from Jessica of Dune just a few months before the release) was even more boring and inconsistency-filled than Paul.

We’re waiting now for an “important announcement” from KJA or the Herberts regarding the last two books of the “Heroes” series. It appears that they’re going to table them temporarily (if not cancel them outright?) in favor of the first book of the “Great Schools of Dune” series they’ve made noises about doing after the “Heroes”.

As an author yourself and someone familiar with the industry, what does a decision like that say to you? What would it have taken to convince (or even just prompt) you, for instance, to cancel your recent trilogy after just two books and begin a completely new series?

Anyone remember The Dune Encyclopedia?

The “book” was filled with information that was not exactly in line with the novels, and was written in the idea that as people look back at history, ideas are muddled and changed. It is still valid as a method of storytelling, but the facts are not exactly as you know them to be.

Perhaps we should give the current authors the benefit of a doubt, since they are telling the history of the original series, which is very often colored by the viewpoint of the person telling said history.

One last comment about the amount of “gore” in the novels. When the books were first written, society was less used to graphic violence than we are currently. I am not claiming it is the best way for a society to exist, but with all of his thoughts on society as a whole, there might have been some understanding of the changes made in the newer novels. It especially comes to mind his rather graphic sex scene in one of the last novels, which might have been more at home in a romance novel than a science fiction novel.

That Frank Herbert was one smart, well-read dude.