So I've read and reread the main Dune series literally over 20 times and continue to be enthralled by the series. My question is: Are the other books ("Butlerian Jihad" for one)worth reading, or will they ruin something utterly awesome for me?
[ October 27, 2009, 07:43 PM: Message edited by: Prescient Twin ]
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
You mean the main 6, right?
The answer to your question is no, no, a million times no.
Posted by Prescient Twin (Member # 12210) on :
Oh wow, yeah typo there thanks for catching that.
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
I've read the two sequels and the two "interquels" but none of the prequels. I found them to be fairly entertaining books in their own right, but they don't come close to matching the depth and subtlety of the originals. The one thing that really bugs me about them is the way that the authors intentionally contradict and "retcon" Frank Herbert's canon in order to establish their own. For instance, "Dune" says that Paul was born on Caladan and had never been off-world before leaving for Arrakis. The new authors felt it necessary to establish otherwise. Apparently he was actually born on Kaitan and had numerous off-world adventures. Thus they have the gall to suggest that portions of "Dune" itself are apocryphal. That's like a Star Wars expanded universe author writing that Vader isn't really Luke's father.
Furthermore they claim that their books are based on detailed notes and outlines that Frank Herbert left behind, but they won't show them to anyone... EVER! Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
I personally enjoyed the House trilogy, despite the inconsistencies, because it helped set up (for me) the state of affairs going into the original. The other trilogy (Jihad, et al) were much more difficult for me to keep in my mind as part of the Duniverse because there were no shared characters. For the record, I had a similar difficulty with books 4-6 because of the lack of character tie-in.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote: For the record, I had a similar difficulty with books 4-6 because of the lack of character tie-in.
Book 4 has both Leto II and Duncan Idaho.
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
The change in cast as the series progresses never bothered me because it's Herbert's ideas and the complex universe he created that really appeal to me. I do, in general prefer books 1-3 to books 4-6 though.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I liked book 4 the best.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
quote: Book 4 has both Leto II
who was a monster beyond recognition
quote:and Duncan Idaho.
and a ghola who couldn't deal with the reawakening of his prior lives. Neitehr one was enough to keep me hooked. I did eventually get through the last 3 boks, but it was a challenge.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I personally quit after the main 3 books, since that's all there were when I read them, and I thought they went steadily downhill from the 1st to the 3rd. I've never liked it when other authors continue a series, either. It's always a disappointment, in my experience. (Though I know Herbert himself wrote some of the others besides the main 3.)
I love Frank Herbert overall, though. If you haven't read them already, try Soulcatcher, Whipping Star, The White Plague, and The Dosadi Experiment. Green Brain was kind of odd but still good in a Herberty sort of way. I recommend it only for the hardcore Herbert fan. Looking at his bibliography, I realize now that I haven't read some of his novels. I'll have to fix that right away.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I used to be a huge Frank Herbert fan; I believe that I've read all of his novels (with the Dune series and The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor being the ones that got reread the most), although there are probably short stories that I've never had the chance to read. Might be time to reread some of those. Whipping Star is sounding particularly fun right now for some reason.
[Edited for speeling]
[ October 28, 2009, 01:42 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I found Dune 2 to be unbearably boring.
The White Plague was excellent, though, even if it was sort of a reworking of D.F. Jones' book Implosion. And The Santaroga Barrier was creepy but cool. I think I actually stopped eating cheese for a while after reading it.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
I had the opposite feeling to neo-dragon: I tried to read the "Houses" prequels only to realize that the writers are much less skilled; so I didn't want to read what they had to say about characters I cared about, especially since those books weren't going to "solve" anything. Then I read the "Legends of Dune" trilogy, which was written even more badly, but I read it as I'd read a bad writer's history book: the "facts" still interested me. And of course I read the sequels since I wanted to know how it all finished, although those were pretty bad too. I won't read any of the "interquels". (nice word there, neo-dragon! )
So, in fewer words: if you want to read some, try the first three prequels and the two sequels in order to complete the story. But they *are* bad.
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Lisa, I also found book 2 the worst of the main 6, but still liked it a lot. And while the first book was my favorite when I first read them (too young ), book 4 became my favorite later on. I felt it was the most complex and the most fascinating of them all.
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Noemon, you have read "Destination: Void", right? I only found out it existed after reading the other three in the series, as only those came out in Romanian.
Posted by swbarnes2 (Member # 10225) on :
The Wiki entries on the new Dune books are fairly lengthy...so if you are dying to know what happens, you can read it there.
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