Hunters of Dune
by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
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Book Reviews of Hunters of Dune
Book Review: His father must be rolling over in his grave: introducing (yet more) inconsistencies and breaking a canon.
Summary: 3 Stars
Warning: spoilers ahead.
Well, this is not a new book, but I'm just reading it. I'm a fan of the original Dune series, and I must say that the Prelude to Dune has dissapointed me, from a literary point of view. So many incoherencies, so many repeated phrases and words, just to fill pages, the style, well, like if the books were for dummies, while the original books were so complex and interesting. And, well, tons of inconsistencies, of course. Then I read the books devoted to the Butlerian Jihad. Slightly better style, but still many, many inconsistencies and simplistic writting.
Ok, I thought these books by Brian and Kevin should be seen as a separated work *based* on the Dune universe, but not inside that universe, and decided to finish reading them all, despite of reading the reviews and spoilers (yes, I knew the "identity" of Daniel and Marty). So I bought Hunters. The style is a bit better. I must say "a bit", because it's still like a children's book , and they still repeat phrases and words all over the place. The character development is not as good as with Frank Herbert. The heroes are plastic ones. But at least it is better than the "House"'s series. But, come on, why to say that Daniel, Marty and the enemies were robots, when Frank Herbert stated they were perfect Face Dancers. Why to say the no-ships didn't work without Space Guild navigators, when they have worked like that for the last 1500 years! That was the purpose of the Golden Path, which Kevin and Brian dismissed saying it was the wrong path, nullifying God Emperor in one single phrase. They were helped by a researcher, as I understand, so they could minimize the inconsistencies. But they seem to show little knowledge of the original series.
I give 3 stars (they should be 2.5 stars) because this book is better than previous series, but it's not on par with Frank Herbert's work. It should be considered a separated work.
Book Review: Frank Herbert's Dune would have been honored far more with no continuation
Summary: 1 Stars
*SPOILERS are included in this review*
By recommendation from a friend, I sat down at read this book though I had zero expectations (after tromping through all of the Bulterian Jihad trilogy). Unfortunately, this novel is by far the worst BH/JKA material out there--except for the next in the series. My problems:
1.) All old characters from Frank Herbert and BH/JKA novels are resurrected because they couldn't think of anything else to do. They're also all flat, undeveloped, and thrown out as if necessary to get the plot rolling. I guess they thought old friend Atreides were quick fixes.
2.) There is absolutely no deep philosophical reading in this. Okay, Frank Herbert's novels after God Emperor were a little tedious with philosophy, but you can't have a Dune book without some universal truths being discussed in religion, politics, life, etc. There would at least be some meat in the book.
3.) The writing style was horrible. It was stilted, stiff, and flat. If this book went through the reading systems, it would probably crank out at 4th-5th grade level language-wise.
4.) No plot. No plot. No plot. People talk, some things happen, but there's no plot. Okay, so we get to meet our great adversaries finally, but when I realized who they were, I was floored by how horribly predictable it turned out to be and BH/KJA's audacity to incorporate those characters as antagonists.
5.) Everything else that was wrong. Which was a lot. Really.
There is only one highlight in this novel, and it's a Leto II/worm reference. I actually smiled when I read it.
If you loved Frank Herbert's Dune series, don't pick this up. It'll put a bad taste in your mouth. If you aren't a big Dune fanatic, you probably won't want to read this anyway because Frank Herbert's implied attachment to the novel is its only selling point.
Book Review: Lesser work by a lesser mind
Summary: 2 Stars
I know that Brian Herbert is not Frank Herbert. With that said I cannot forgive the butchering this book gives to the Dune universe. Not only is the writing dumbed down to a 6th grade level, the characters do things completely against their nature, it takes a VERY long time to explain what is going on where Frank Herbert could do it with a sentence and the characters are just DUMB. I'm sorry that is the only way to explain it. Mentats asking things like "what is the significance" when the very point of a mentat is to figure out the significance of information and quite quickly really sunk this novel right from the start for me.
I really wish I had not read this, I can't help but feeling like my view of argueably the greatest science fiction series of all time is a bit tarnished now. I will not buy Sandworms and will for sure not read anything else these two put out about Dune. I don't really even consider Hunters canon after reading it. Again, way too many things are just polar opposite of what they were in Frank Herbert's orginal 6 books not to mention huge plot holes, shoddy character development and the complete lack of the deep political/philosophical undertones of Frank Herberts works.
I could nitpick all day about what I really found wrong with this book. I'm going to go and try to forget I ever read this and leave of my Dune experience with book 6. Honestly the ending to Chapterhouse was not that bad of an ending for the series. At any rate it is light years better to end there than ruin your Dune experience with these other books. I think another reviewer said it best when they mentioned that this book is basically like a big fanfic that actually had proper grammar and got published.
Book Review: Unintelligible Drivel
Summary: 1 Stars
This is part 1 of "Book 7" in the Dune Chronicles so it was a must-read for a Dune fan such as myself. I checked it out in paperback from the library. Here is what I concluded:
I could hardly read it. The language used in this novel makes absolutely no sense! I found myself re-reading sentences to see if I was at fault only to discover: The novel is just completely senseless!
The characters are boring, two-dimensional, paper-thin copies of the original series. If you pick this novel up expecting to have a good read filled with the old beloved characters, prepare for intense disappointment!
My advice: Check it (and the "other book 7") out from your local library. That way you don't have to spend money on it, and support these authors. IF you enjoy the book you can always come on here and purchase a copy.
PS ~ Many other people have stated that these "new" Dune books are written for those who have ADD or ADHD. I will state this now: That is false!
I understand the reasoning behind a person's insistence: This novel, and all the other "new" ones are jumbled works that jump all over the place, and don't have a clear timeline of events --- therefore Must be written for a person with Attention Deficit Disorder. Yet, even a person with ADD/ ADHD (my boyfriend*) found these novels to be too jumbled to make any rational sense.
* The only reason he even picked up 'Hunters of Dune' was I would read a little, become angry that the authors have so badly ruined the Dune Universe, and throw the novel to the floor in disgust. He became curious to my anger, and tried reading it only to tell me, "This book is weird, and wasn't written for somebody with ADD/ ADHD."
Book Review: Fooled - Again
Summary: 2 Stars
I had originally bought the Butlerian Jihad (by the same authors) after reading the original Dune series of which I was a great fan. The book was horrific to the point of unreadable. Other reviewers have pointed to the endless torture scenes and excessive explanation of relatively simple concepts as weak points, to which I can add my agreement. Additionally the book had the same problem that plagues Hunters - it's boring. The authors seem to use the aforementioned "techniques" to cover up the fact that there just isn't that much here. Jumping from one character to the next over and over does little to distract from the fact that this is basically a dressed up outline. You can see the broad strokes of Frank Herbert but every time the outline is filled in you can feel the unpleasant transition. The beginning felt a bit like the old series but it quickly degenerated into the same nonsense as the prequels.
I think for most readers this writing collaboration just doesn't work. It would be great if the writing or ideas were on par with Frank Herbert's (which they are not) but what is really annoying is that the writing is not good enough to stand on it's own - net of Frank Herbert.
Almost every reviewer and, I suspect, reader bought this book because of the original Dune series. The authors invite comparison to the original Dune series by writing prequels and contninuations, it's not like this is a standalone work.
I will probably buy the last book to see how Frank Herbert intended for the story to end but I don't have high hopes for the actual story. The authors of Hunters assure us there will be more books in the series, I sincerely hope not.