Battle Of Corrin

[Foxbat]

By Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

This book is the concluding part of the ‘Legends Of Dune’ trilogy. Along with its predecessors, ‘The Butlerian Jihad’ and ‘The Machine Crusade’. It sets out the origins of many aspects of the late Frank Herbert’s Dune Universe.

Through this trilogy, we learn of the rise of both the Machines and Titans(disembodied brains within machines) and of how and why Humanity moved against them. We also discover the origins of institutions such as the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild. Technologies such as ‘Foldspace’ and ‘Holtzman Shields’ are developed, and Arrakis becomes an important planet within the fabric of Humanity and its future. In Human terms, we see the beginnings of the long-term grudges between houses Atreides, Harkonnen and Corrino.


It all fits in very well with Herbert’s Universe, but there are problems. Where Frank Herbert’s plots were multi-layered and peppered with philosophical and theological ideas which made it all the more believable, Legends Of Dune is linear and somewhat without soul. It lacks a certain spark that would elevate it and open new possibilities. There are aspects of the tale which have very obviously been dropped in as marker points, and anybody familiar with the Dune saga can probably work out roughly what is going to happen in the final two volumes (yet to be written).



It’s difficult to say exactly what the problem is. The writing is not bad – just not a style that I find particularly engrossing. Personally, I believe that the real problem lies in the subject matter itself. This whole trilogy has become hamstrung by its own history. Everybody that has read the original novels knew about the Butlerian Jihad, knew about the betrayal at Corrin which caused so much hatred between the Harkonnens and Atreides, knew about the origins of the Spacing Guild and how they evolved from humans immersed in Spice. The biggest problem within this trilogy is the destruction of ‘mystique’. Take the war with thinking machines for example, it is a concept that has become overused and a cliché within Science Fiction for so many years now that, when finally it appears in the Dune Universe, it seems almost cartoon-like. The machines are such exaggerated baddies that they start to resemble the villains of the old serials. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that, but in the context of Dune, it just doesn’t fit. And everything has to ‘fit’ because that’s exactly what the reader expects. The writers are driven in a certain direction not because it’s the right direction but because they have to – and that’s what I mean by ‘hamstrung by its own history’.



The thing is, I’ve read them all and will continue by reading the last two volumes(which should neatly tie up the whole saga) when they appear. Why? I suppose I’ve gone so far and, with only two more to go, I might as well. 5 out of 10.