Herbert, Frank: How do the newer Dune series books compare with the Originals?

[Princess Ivy]

i managed to skim butlerian, that was as far as it got.
sigh

[clovis-man]

This is a very long-running thread. My assumption has to be that there is really some interest in the stories being generated or there would be no reason for discussion, except to bash them.

I've read all 6 of the original Dune books (long ago) and finally was intrigued enough by the prospect of delving into supposed prior events leading to mentats, the Bene Tleilax, Guild navigators, etc. that I read "The Machine Crusade". And I stopped right there. The story and characters were so juvenile and melodramatic that there was no semblance of "revelation" to anything contained therein. In other words, I was not at all enlightened and, worse, wasn't entertained either.

Are any of the others any good? Or is that too much to hope for?

Jim

[iansales]

Short answer: no. And yes.

To be fair, the House trilogy are slightly better than the Legends trilogy. The two Dune sequels - Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune - are worse. And Road to Dune, the fix-up, might only appeal to fans of the books but I found it quite an interesting read.

[Ice fyre]

My polcy on reading books or series is dont critisze that which I've not at least attempted to read. I attempted to read the machine crusade as like most of the posters here I liked the idea of finding out how it all started, god was I disapointed I think Kevin J Andersons should stick to star wars novelisations as that's what the preqel I read felt like!

[Tickle]

I have read ALL of the Dune books (except for Sandworms of Dune) more than once and I liked them all. Yes Brian and Kevin's style is different from Frank's. That doesn't make the books bad, they just have a different flow. I thought the prequels did a good and enternaning job with the origins of everything. And the continuation of the orig. Dune series was something I've been waiting on for years, ever since I finished Chapterhouse Dune. When I read Hunters of Dune, I was a little suprised about the way the story was going, but I still liked it. But IMO, if you haven't read the Legends Trilogy, then you might have a hard time linking or should I say understanding the events in these new set of books.

[sarakoth]

Anyone here excited for the Heroes trilogy?

[Timewalker]

*zzzz*

No, not really... (just finished Sandworms and need time for the brain-ache to go away)

[dekket]

Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune are a good wrap up to the entire saga (apparantly based on Frank Herberts unfinished notes), neatly combining the original story lines from Frank Herberts series (which was left incomplete after Chapterhouse Dune) and the new information unveiled in the prequels and the Butlerian Jihad era novels.

[iansales]

There's a great deal of dispute just how much they "wrap up" Frank Herbert's Dune books. It seems unlikely that FH himself would have come up with Omnius, Erasmus or the Synchronized Worlds. Not to mention the deus ex machina to end all dei ex machina Oracle of Time....

[Alia of The Knife]

I am an avid Dune fan I have read all books to date and am awaiting next book in "Heroes" trilogy. I personaly think that the new Dune books are nowhere near as good as the old ones. They are good but do not have the story depth of the originals