Brian, Leave Dune Alone!

Dune is my favorite book. By "favorite" I mean it would be the one book I would take with me to a deserted island. I have read the original series (first 6 books) over and over again, and I keep returning to it.

When Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son, first started publishing the House and Legends trilogy, I was generally happy about the concept. After all, what could be bad about reading more of your favorite fantasy world? The books that Bryan wrote weren't as good, but they served as some sort of history archives, setting up the background and the events that led to the Dune story.

Six books of Pre-Dune weren't enough for Brian. Obviously, the trick seemed to be working - write anything that says "Dune" on it, and people will buy it. Yeah, I bought all 6 books of the two trilogies by Brian Herbert. And it was starting to feel weird.

Then came Hunters of Dune. And it wasn't good. At all. Hunters of Dune was supposed to let us know what happened after the somewhat-cryptic ending of Frank Herbert's final Dune book, Chapterhouse: Dune. It is a badly written book, that utterly ruins the spirit and beauty of the original Dune. Frank Herbert was a gifted writer and a man of amazing imagination. His son falls seriously far from that tree, and another writer in the form of Kevin Anderson doesn't really help.

What Frank Herbert could convey in one paragraph, now took a whole page. Perhaps they needed to fill the pages. Maybe the publisher thought it would be a good idea. People love FAT books, and you can charge more for them, can't you?

I didn't even touch Sandworms of Dune. Frankly (no pun intended), I'm too scared. I don't want to read Brian's version of the future of Dune. I know it won't be good. I love Dune too much, and I don't want any more horrible books by the no-good son to spoil it for me.

It could have ended here. But nooooooooooooooooo. Brian apparently needs more money or something of the sort. He is bored, perhaps. His friend, Kevin, probably also feels the need to milk this cash-cow some more. The pair are planning YET ANOTHER SERIES of books, this time more Pre-Dune.

The first volume in the series, Jessica of Dune, is scheduled for an autumn 2009 release in trade paperback. The other books in the series are Irulan of Dune and Leto of Dune for releases in 2011 and 2013 respectively.

And I say - Brian, Leave Dune Alone! In the name of Shai-Hulud! Leave us with the glorious, wonderful world that your father has created, and stop sucking the marrow out of this poor cash-cow that you have found.

Fat chance, though. I hope the upcoming Dune movie will bring us some happiness. In the mean time, we can watch Brian and Kev ruin yet another piece of the Dune universe.