Hunters of Dune
by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
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Book Reviews of Hunters of Dune
Book Review: Would it have been better if this book hadn't been written?
Summary: 2 Stars
The urge to read Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's continuation of Frank Herbert's Dune series is a bit like the urge to purchase a lottery ticket. Buying the ticket makes sense because what you're gaining is the thrill of anticipation. What makes very little sense is checking your numbers as your chance of being disappointed is infinitely greater than your chance of actually winning. Checking your numbers is frankly a complete waste of time.
Almost.
Frank Herbert died in 1986, one year after his sixth novel in the outstanding Dune series, Chapterhouse Dune, was published. Chapterhouse ends with a cliff hanger - it's clearly not intended as the end of the series but death has a way of stuffing up good intentions. Twenty years later Herbert Jnr and Anderson's Hunters of Dune picks up where Herbert Snr left off.
In the Authors' Note to Hunters of Dune we're told that in 1997 Brian and Kevin had discussed writing the fabled Dune 7 but that with no extant notes by Frank they would need to base the work solely on their own imaginations. For a number of reasons they decided to write a three book prequel to the series - House Atreides, House Harkonnen and House Corinno. Somewhere along the way, we're told, they made the serendipitous discovery of two safe-deposit boxes containing notes by Frank Herbert for Dune 7. And thus from the master's notes we have Hunters of Dune and its companion Sandworms of Dune (due out in August 2007).
I doubt whether Tor's marketing division could come up with a better idea than the serendipitous discovery of the note books, an implausible (but not impossible) story: in an infinite universe I'm sure there are several good reasons why an author would keep the notes for what was presumably a work in progress in a safe-deposit box with not even a single copy around the house in case he had a desire to do some writing.
Hmmm.
Hunters of Dune was released in August 2006 and for several reasons it's taken me almost a year to get around to reading it. For a start I hadn't read the Dune series for more than a decade and I was keen to read the whole thing from beginning to end. And the verdict: the whole series stands up extremely well. Dune itself really does deserve its ranking as the greatest SF novel of all time.
That was one reason it took me a while to pick up Hunters of Dune.
Another is that I'd already been burned reading House Atreides, the writing duo's first offering and one that I'd read with great anticipation on its release in 1999. And the verdict: I haven't been game to read House Harkonnen and House Corinno or, until now, anything else the duo has done in the Dune universe. To be fair to Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, it's a tough task to pick up where the master left off, particularly as there are so many devotees of the master's work. Expectations are high and perhaps unrealisable even if you do a good job.
Unfortunately they don't even do a good job. Their writing is often poor and the complexity of plot, of ideas and of character that typified Frank Herbert's work and made the reading experience so satisfying is, frankly, absent. This is not the criticism of a Dune purist or conservative fan, jealous of Frank Herbert's legacy: if the new works were good, I'd be delighted.
My hope was that after honing their skills on six prequels (the three in the Prelude to Dune series and three others in the Legends of Dune series) Brian and Kevin would have improved enough to produce a worthy conclusion to the series. And there is definite improvement but in the end there really is only one thing to recommend Hunters of Dune and its companion Sandworms of Dune. I'll get to that one thing in a moment. In Hunters of Dune the prose is often flat, frequently reading like a stilted report about the protagonists. We're not invited to get inside these characters, and in any case they'd need to have an inside first: these characters might have the same names as they had in Chapterhouse, but they've lost the immense depth that Frank Herbert had bequeathed them and there's only surface left.
Also lost is any complexity and intellectual sophistication. Take this example of a discussion between mentat Miles Teg (a human computer) and Garimi, a Bene Gesserit. They've discovered a planet formerly belonging to the Honoured Matres, devoid of life although the infrastructure of civilisation is untouched (except by time). It's known that the Honoured Matres who invaded the Old Empire were fleeing something and that they wanted knowledge from the Bene Gesserit about how to manipulate and control their immune functions. So we have a planet with no living people but no obvious signs of destruction and a people seeking to control their immune functions as the Bene Gesserit do in order to overcome any pathogen:
Garimi held up one finger. "The whores came to the Bene gesserit demanding to know how we control our bodies. They were frantic to understand how Reverend Mothers can manipulate our immune functions, cell by cell. Of course!"
"Speak clearly, Garimi. What do you mean?" Teg's voice was abrupt, the hardened battle commander.
"She tuned a sour look on him. "You are a Mentat. Make a prime projection!"
Teg did not bristle at the scolding. Instead, his eyes became glazed for just a moment, and then his expression returned. "Ahh. If the whores wanted to learn how to control immune responses, then perhaps the Enemy attacked them using a biological agent..."
Frank Herbert's Miles Teg was a genius. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's Miles Teg is a moron. A Sinclair ZX81 (circa 1981 with a huge 1K of memory!!) could have pulled that one out of the box.
So, the one thing to recommend these books: they are a continuation of Herbert's work, purportedly based on his notes and the loose ends will therefore be tied up. And sadly, that's sufficient reason to read them.
Although some (Leto II for instance) might argue that the uncertainty of non closure is preferable.
(This review first appeared on www.sffmedia.com)
Book Review: The Enemy Plot Advances
Summary: 4 Stars
Hunters of Dune (2006) is the first SF novel in the sequels to the original Dune cycle, following Chapterhouse Dune. This duology is based on an outline and notes written by Frank Herbert.
In the previous volume, the Reverend Mother Murbella became the Great Honored Matre by killing her predecessor. Then she became the Bene Gesserit Mother Superior when Darwi Ordade died at the hands of an Honored Matre. As the Mother Commander, supreme leader of both orders, Murbella is determined to merge the two.
As Murbella began her task, Sheeana, Duncan Idaho and the others on the no-ship voted with their feet, fleeing from Chapterhouse into the void. As they departed, the Old Man tried to snare the no-ship within his net, but Duncan twisted the ship out of its coils into another universe.
In this novel, three years after their escape, the ghola of Duncan Idaho still monitors instruments on the navigation bridge of the no-ship Ithaca, as he has done many times before. Suddenly, the main instrument panel starts blinking more erratically, while the stabilizing engines surge up and down. The no-ship has encountered a "rough patch". Then he hears a voice in his head claiming to be the Oracle of Time. Duncan fires the fold-space engines and the no-ship tumbles back into the normal universe.
The ghola of Miles Teg studies the life of his predecessor, especially the last days on Rakis. When his memories were forced, he remembered everything in the three hundred year career of his predecessor, up to the last days on Rakis before the cell samples were taken for his ghola. Still, his last days were preserved only in the few records saved from the destruction of the planet.
Sheeana and Garimi -- her aide -- observe the seven stunted sandworms in the miniature desert within the Ithaca's main hold. These worms will determine their destiny if they can ever find a world unknown to their pursuers. Some passengers are beginning to tire of their seemingly endless voyage.
The Rabbi is a survivor of the Honored Matres attack on Gemmu. A former Suk doctor, he leads the other Jewish survivors on the Ithaca. The wild Reverend Mother Rebecca is part of his congregation. She had been partly responsible for gaining them a place with the Bene Gesserit, for Reverend Mother Lucilla had shared the memories of millions of Sisters on Lampadas with Rebecca.
The Lampadas memories had long ago been shared with other Bene Gesserit Sisters, but these memories still remain within Rebecca. Now she sees Jewish history through both the scholarly records of the Rabbi and the memories of persons who had lived those experiences. The Rabbi is not comfortable with her shared memories, but it gives her a deeper appreciation of the past.
Scytale is the last surviving Tleilaxu Master. The Face Dancers of the Lost Tleilaxu had killed all the others for the Honored Matres. Now Scytale is faced with his own mortality. He needs a ghola of himself to pass on his secrets. He is willing to share his final secret to get this ghola.
When Scytale tells Sheeana about the nullentropy capsule within his chest, containing cells of historical personages of importance to the Bene Gesserit, the news fires off the first confrontation between the followers of Sheeana and the ultra-conservatives who follow Garimi. The decision to make gholas of these personages (and one for Scytale) is only the first hurtle. They also need the axlotl tanks to gestate the gholas.
In this story, Mother Commander Murbella weeds out the wild Honored Matres, and a few rebellious Bene Gesserit, from her ranks. She builds up her forces and conquers the remaining pockets of rebellious Honored Matres. She makes deals with the Guild and the Richese, but the Guild also makes deals with the Honored Matres on Tleilax. They will do anything for melange.
Murbella also does something no other has done: she discovers the origins of the Honored Matres. She shares this information with her Sisters and they propagate it to the rebellious Honor Matres. She also discovers that the Honored Matre ranks have been infiltrated with Face Dancers and shares that information.
The Face Dancer Khrone continues his plotting to infiltrate every significant group in the Million Planets. He has planted Face Dancers in the Guild, Tleilax, and the Honored Matre. However, he has problems planting infiltrators among the Bene Gesserit, for the Reverend Mothers can do things that are impossible for his Face Dancers.
The Futars on the Ithaca want to find their Handlers. Sheeana promises them that she will try. Then the Ithaca finds a planet inhabited by Handlers.
This story repeats various tales from Chapterhouse Dune, but also adds new material. The origins of the Honored Matres is exposed in this volume, but never really followed up in the plot. The Great Enemy is unexpected, but not unreasonable. Overall, this volume is obviously building momentum toward the concluding novel. Enjoyable, but only half the story.
Recommended for Dune fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of large empires, interstellar intrigue, and intestine wars.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Book Review: The last chapter of Chapterhouse Dune, clearly explains that Marty & Daniel are Face Dancers.
Summary: 1 Stars
Brian & KJA got out from their feverish imagination that they are the thinking machines: "Omnius" & "Erasmus":
From Chapterhouse Dune:
"You deliberately let them get away, Daniel!"
The old woman rubbed her hands down the stained front of her garden apron. It was a summer morning around her, flowers blooming, birds calling from nearby trees. There was a misty look to the sky, a yellow radiance near the horizon.
"Now, Marty, it was not deliberate," Daniel said. He took off his porkpie hat and rubbed the bushy stubble of gray hair before replacing the hat. "He surprised me. I knew he saw us but I didn't suspect he saw the net."
"And I had such a nice planet picked out for them," Marty said. "One of the best. A real test of their abilities."
"No use moaning about it," Daniel said. "They're where we can't touch them now. He was spread so thin, though, I expected to catch him easy."
"They had a Tleilaxu Master, too," Marty said. "I saw him when they went under the net. I would have so liked to study another Master."
"Don't see why. Always whistling at us, always making it necessary to stomp them down. I don't like treating Masters that way and you know it! If it weren't for them . . ."
"They're not gods, Daniel."
"Neither are we."
"I still think you let them escape. You're so anxious to prune your roses!"
"What would you have said to the Master, anyway?" Daniel asked.
"I was going to joke when he asked who we were. They always ask that. I was going to say: 'What did you expect, God Himself with a flowing beard?' "
Daniel chuckled. "That would've been funny. They have such a hard time accepting that Face Dancers can be independent of them."
"I don't see why. It's a natural consequence. They gave us the power to absorb the memories and experiences of other people. Gather enough of those and . . ."
"It's personas we take, Marty."
"Whatever. The Masters should've known we would gather enough of them one day to make our own decisions about our own future."
"And theirs?"
"Oh, I'd have apologized to him after putting him in his place. You can do just so much managing of others, isn't that right, Daniel?"
"When you get that look on your face, Marty, I go prune my roses." He went back to a line of bushes with verdant leaves and black blooms as large as his head.
Marty called after him: "Gather up enough people and you get a big ball of knowledge, Daniel! That's what I'd have told him. And those Bene Gesserit in that ship! I'd have told them how many of them I have. Ever notice how alienated they feel when we peek at them?"
Daniel bent to his black roses.
She stared after him, hands on her hips.
"Not to mention Mentats," he said. "There were two of them on that ship-both gholas. You want to play with them?"
"The Masters always try to control them, too," she said.
"That Master is going to have trouble if he tries to mess with that big one," Daniel said, snipping off a ground shoot from the root stock of his roses. "My, this is a pretty one."
"Mentats, too!" Marty called. "I'd have told them. Dime a dozen, they are."
"Dimes? I don't think they'd have understood that, Marty. The Reverend Mothers, yes, but not that big Mentat. He didn't thin out that far back."
"You know what you let get away, Daniel?" she demanded, coming up beside him. "That Master had a nullentropy tube in his chest. Full of ghola cells, too!"
"I saw it."
"That's why you let them get away!"
"Didn't let them." His pruning shears went snick-snick. "Gholas. He's welcome to them."
Book Review: Hunters of Dune: Spicy
Summary: 4 Stars
Title: Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
Pages: 520.
Time spent on the "to read" shelf: 6 months.
Days spent reading it: 3 days.
Why I read it: Nearly 10 years ago now, I started and finished the original Dune series by Frank Herbert. I have long considered Dune (the original novel that kicked off the franchise) and Chapterhouse: Dune (Book 6 of the series) two of my favorite novels. I loved the complex story telling, inter-weaved with innovative (and strange) ideas about science, religion, politics and technology. But most of all, one of the last chapters in Chapterhouse is one of my favorite chapters in a book of all time. It was not expected and simply blew my mind away. The possibilities were endless. Frank Herbert had left a door so wide open my mind raced with the different scenarios of what happened after the book ended.
Frank Herbert was supposed to write a final 7th Dune novel, but sadly he died before this could happen. Then his son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson found some outlines for the last novel and started writing. The result has been 2 trilogies of prequels to the Dune series and now the final 7th novel (which became 2 novels). I waited patiently for the 2nd of the two novels to be released and then preceeded to read books 7 and 8 in the Dune saga.
Brief review: I enjoy the Dune universe. I think Frank Herbert had a very creative mind that was both full of intrigue and subtlety. He was nuanced in his writing. It is truly sad that he could not be the one to complete his grand epic. Instead his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have picked up the mantle.
There are pros and cons to this situation.
Con--Brian and Kevin are no Frank Herbert. Frank's thoughts were dense and his overall vision broad. He was a visionary and a creative genius. Brian and Kevin, not so much.
Pro--Brian and Kevin are MUCH MUCH easier to read. I cruised through these two rather large books (each over 500 pages) in a little under 3 days each. It would have taken me a few weeks to manage reading 1,000 of Frank Herbert. Really its the difference between pop fiction and literature. Frank Herbert wrote literature, it just happened to be sci-fi. Brian and Kevin write pop fiction. Not bad, just not of the same caliber.
I know I did not get much into the plot here. And I won't really because it would reveal too much from the previous books and the next book. What I will say is that I did enjoy reading Hunters of Dune. It was cheesy at points, it was action filled adventure at others. But it was a fun read. This book is definitely defined by the "Hunters" that exist in many forms through the book. It is a constant game of hide and seek, of hunting and being hunted. There is a real sense of danger for the main characters through the whole book.
Did it live up to my expectations for book 7 in the Dune epic? No, but I think with the way my brain was rolling after Chapterhouse:Dune, perhaps nothing ever could. Not even if it was written by a Frank Herbert ghola himself (gholas are people who have been cloned from dead cells in the Dune universe...often they can get their old memories back, for those who have never read the series).
I think anyone who has read the entirety of the Dune series would read Hunters of Dune and its sequel Sandworms of Dune simply for closure. Its not bad, its just not as great as it might have been.
Favorite quote: "As human beings, we have trouble functioning in environments in which we feel threatened. The threat becomes the focus of our existence. But 'safety' is one of the great illusions of the universe. Nowhere is truly safe."
Stars: 4 out of 5.
Final Word: Spicy.
Book Review: Problems from Page 1
Summary: 2 Stars
Brian Herbert claims in his foreword that this book is the culmination of a thorough reading of an outline his father Frank had for "Dune 7." Indeed, he says that in order to tell the story, the final book would be 1300 pages, and thus we are "treated" to two books, "Hunters of Dune" (under revew now) and "Sandworms of Dune," which should be out shortly if it isn't already. Yet, after reading the 1st "half" (which consists only of about 562 pages) of this thrilling conclusion, I have my doubts that the outline was anything other than the title and a lot of question marks.
The fact is, "Hunters of Dune" is not a good book. Of course, the "Dune" books got pretty lousy ("Heretics..." is one of the worst books I've ever finished, not only from a plot standpoint, but from a literary one, and while "Chapterhouse..." was sufficiently entertaining, though NOT well-written, it's ridiculous ending really marrs the book as a whole). The "science" part of this "fiction" is even worse than in the Herbert books (Brian Herbert's understanding of mathematics, and specifically spatial geometry, is MUCH more flawed than his father's, and FAR less entertaining or thought-provoking). I mean, take the FIRST CHAPTER. We are treated to a Miles Teg clone watching the "final moments of his life." Unfortunately, the cells which he was cloned from were taken LONG BEFORE these final moment. Unlike the elder Herbert, who was smart enough to note that his gholas were clones taken from DEAD bodies (and hence the cells could possess the entire life-memories of the subject), the younger Herbert seems too oblivious even to realize this. I never much cared for Frank Herbert's science or math, but at least it made a semblance of logical sense. The same cannot be said about the younger Herbert.
I will place no (other) spoilers in this review, but the development of this book is hardly exciting. Of course, the source material is suspect(the "honored matres" was one of the worst inventions in the Frank Herbert universe, as well as the insistence of resurrecting characters - it's like I'm watching "Dragon Ball" or something), but Brian Herbert wouldn't make a compelling story of even good material (see, for example, "The Butlerian Jihad" or its follow-ups, although I did enjoy the "House ---" books, but only for their beach-read entertainment value). The literature here is far more flat than that of the elder series (which wasn't exactly lively to begin with), and the subject matter is far less engrossing.
Pretty much a dud...
Addendum: Man, I'm kicking myself for even giving this one two stars. What a piece of trash.