I lost interest at Heretics of Dune. I really enjoyed the Butlerian Jihad prequels, though, and the "House" prequels (Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino).
The Brian J. Andersen stuff lacks the distinctive touch which Herbert's worldview brought to the original series, just be forewarned. It's a bit more shallow and generic by comparison.
Actually, I take it back: the "House" prequels are not much better than your average piece of SF written for young adults. If you enjoy reading about the Dune universe, though, you might find them amusing.
yeah, and i don't want to read dune books that are not written by frank herbert. imagine the guy selling the rights for LotR to Amazon writing a sequel for lord of the rings
Literally only the first one is worth reading. Books 2 and 3 are about Herbert's moronic political opinions, and everything after that is shitty fanfiction written by his hack son about nuns abusing little boys.
Can someone who really likes these books explain to me why Dune is supposed to be good? I rarely read genre fiction, but I decided to give this book a chance because I was assured that it was about interesting political and social ideas. My impression upon finishing the book is that it's one of the most juvenile power fantasies I've ever read, barring actual "young adult" novels.
Maybe it's due to lack of experience in these types of books, but especially in the first book I loved the inner workings of Paul's mind.
How he picked up on the minutia in people's words, how each conversation is written like a duel and each duel is written like a game of chess
Dune Messiah and God Emperor are the peaks of the series. If you're a fan of the series by the time you get to God Emperor (why wouldn't you be a fan if you're reading up until the 4th book but you get my point) it's worth a shot at Heretics because you might enjoy the bullshit Frank begins to write, 5 and 6 are significantly weaker novels though.
Dune Messiah impressed me on a literary level. It might be a bit pretentious to use a word like exegesis to describe but it really is an exegesis of the themes of the first book done in like 1/4th the length and in a format that’s almost written like a play in purposeful contrast to the big set pieces of the first book. My question though is if Children of Dune is reaaaally worth reading to get to God Emperor or not. Because in the time it takes to read Children I could have read literally something else, and I’m not sure God Emperor is worth all that. And no I’m not really scared of the weird shit I’m just wondering if Frank is really able to bring anything genuinely new or interesting enough to the table after the first 2
I'm reading Dune Messiah and I've p much lost the plot. I'm at the part where Paul just adopted the dwarf. Also can anyone explain to me what a distrans is? Also I hope Thufir Hawat comes back as a ghola sometime soon.
A "distrans"is apparently some kind of voice-activated psychological cue which prompts an organic life form to communicate some implanted information to the "cuer." Because the rules of the Butlerian Jihad forbid any technology which mimics the functions of the human mind (including memory, or the storing of information for later recollection), people in the Dune universe use organic life forms as "recorders" which respond to compulsory voice commands. They are essentially sleeper cells that relay messages from memory upon receiving the right auditory input.
I found it boring, but I read them out of order (God Emperor before CoD). The only purpose of Children of Dune seems to be to bridge the gap between the two-part original (Dune + Dune: Messiah) and God Emperor.
Feels like one of those 'middle of the series' books that just drags on for way too long. Messiah is considered a high point in the series for many readers so reading Children afterward is like ASOIAF readers reading A Feast for Crows after Storm.
quality post
I always thought Children was seen as the masterpiece and God Emperor the weird one
zeroth
I lost interest at Heretics of Dune. I really enjoyed the Butlerian Jihad prequels, though, and the "House" prequels (Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino).
The Brian J. Andersen stuff lacks the distinctive touch which Herbert's worldview brought to the original series, just be forewarned. It's a bit more shallow and generic by comparison.
Actually, I take it back: the "House" prequels are not much better than your average piece of SF written for young adults. If you enjoy reading about the Dune universe, though, you might find them amusing.
yeah, and i don't want to read dune books that are not written by frank herbert. imagine the guy selling the rights for LotR to Amazon writing a sequel for lord of the rings
He cashed in on his father's legacy, which is understandable. I might deplore it, but I've also never had that kind of opportunity.
Literally only the first one is worth reading. Books 2 and 3 are about Herbert's moronic political opinions, and everything after that is shitty fanfiction written by his hack son about nuns abusing little boys.
Can someone who really likes these books explain to me why Dune is supposed to be good? I rarely read genre fiction, but I decided to give this book a chance because I was assured that it was about interesting political and social ideas. My impression upon finishing the book is that it's one of the most juvenile power fantasies I've ever read, barring actual "young adult" novels.
for me it's the worldbuilding. the navigators, the mentats, the bene gesserit. they are all cool and work well together.
I was into the prescience stuff and all of that but you need to read up to God Emperor for some sort of pay off, it's not worth it in my opinion
Maybe it's due to lack of experience in these types of books, but especially in the first book I loved the inner workings of Paul's mind.
How he picked up on the minutia in people's words, how each conversation is written like a duel and each duel is written like a game of chess
Dune Messiah and God Emperor are the peaks of the series. If you're a fan of the series by the time you get to God Emperor (why wouldn't you be a fan if you're reading up until the 4th book but you get my point) it's worth a shot at Heretics because you might enjoy the bullshit Frank begins to write, 5 and 6 are significantly weaker novels though.
Dune Messiah impressed me on a literary level. It might be a bit pretentious to use a word like exegesis to describe but it really is an exegesis of the themes of the first book done in like 1/4th the length and in a format that’s almost written like a play in purposeful contrast to the big set pieces of the first book. My question though is if Children of Dune is reaaaally worth reading to get to God Emperor or not. Because in the time it takes to read Children I could have read literally something else, and I’m not sure God Emperor is worth all that. And no I’m not really scared of the weird shit I’m just wondering if Frank is really able to bring anything genuinely new or interesting enough to the table after the first 2
I'm reading Dune Messiah and I've p much lost the plot. I'm at the part where Paul just adopted the dwarf. Also can anyone explain to me what a distrans is? Also I hope Thufir Hawat comes back as a ghola sometime soon.
A "distrans"is apparently some kind of voice-activated psychological cue which prompts an organic life form to communicate some implanted information to the "cuer." Because the rules of the Butlerian Jihad forbid any technology which mimics the functions of the human mind (including memory, or the storing of information for later recollection), people in the Dune universe use organic life forms as "recorders" which respond to compulsory voice commands. They are essentially sleeper cells that relay messages from memory upon receiving the right auditory input.
What's apparently so bad about Children of Dune anyways? Is it just that weird? Or moreso boring?
I found it boring, but I read them out of order (God Emperor before CoD). The only purpose of Children of Dune seems to be to bridge the gap between the two-part original (Dune + Dune: Messiah) and God Emperor.
Feels like one of those 'middle of the series' books that just drags on for way too long. Messiah is considered a high point in the series for many readers so reading Children afterward is like ASOIAF readers reading A Feast for Crows after Storm.