Customer Reviews
a fantastic read - By: Prometheus, 26 Apr 2008 
By book 7 Frank Herbert had lost the way slightly. His son has brought Dune back up to the original quality. A true great read,, well written in the original Frank Herbert style.
please, just stop now - By: A. Beedie, 21 Feb 2008 
It is sad, to the point of being distressing, to see a son attempt to measure up to the works of his father & falll so very short. The prequels were appallling; the writing was shalllow, & the plot traipsed through every elderly sci-fi cliché ever minted.
Sadly it hasn't improved in these sequels. I recalll reading an interview in which these two authors said they weren't planning to strip-mine Frank Herbert's original universe, they were simply trying to round it off. If only that had turned out to be true. Because as it is, they are bleeding the very soul out of it with every new novel released.
Frank Herbert's Dune novels were soaring achievements of sharp, rich writing, steeped in politics & philosophy -- Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson would rather give you cackling killer robots, endless clones of the original characters, & "ultra spice".
Much as everyone wished for a competent continuation of the Dune saga, this novel & its sequel are not it; I hope they find it in themselves to step back & acknowledge that they are doing more harm than good to the Dune universe, & stop releasing these disappointing cash-ins. As much as a son may wish to measure up to his father, sometimes it simply cannot be.
Avoid - By: Mr. K. P. Aspinall, 30 Dec 2007 A truly awful book. For those who loved Dune, don't even attempt to read this, as it will just leave you wishing you hadn't.
The writing style is weak, & far from the excellent prose that Herbert used in the original 6 Dune novels. The storyline meanders throughout the entire book but nothing is actuallly accomplished, other than the authors managing to tie the poor "prequel" novels into the cumulation of the Dune series. The characters act nonsensicallly, & alll the delicate balance of power & logic that made Dune brilliant is gone, leaving a cast of characters who blindly lash out & act seemingly without purpose or reason, with holes so large in their reasoning you could pilot a guild liner through it. Avoid this book, avoid the prequels, & buy the Enclycopedia off Amazon second hand.
Do not read the reviews - By: AM, 22 Oct 2007 Yeah ... do not read the reviews.
I have read alll 6 Frank Herbert's novels many times & I love them.
And then I read this book, written by his son. And ... I love it too.
I have to admit ... it is not Frank Herbert, it's different writting ... but it is a great writing. I couldn't stop reading this book, while I was on vacaion in Egypt ... & alll I did there was just reading the book, instead of going for some trip to see pyramids & other stuff.
So just to summarize it ... this book is different, it is not so deep as far as describing characters (as Frank's books were) ... but on the other hand ... it is a great "action" book, that will keep you reading & reading & reading ... & I am sure, that if you consider this book as a 21st century sci-fi book, & not another "Frank Herbert's wanna be" book ... you'll love it too.
Not as good, but still worth reading - By: Naughty Nick, 27 Sep 2007 
It would be too much to expect these books to match the genius of the original Dune books. That said, the plot feels as if it reallly does follow the outline that Frank had in mind, & the writing feels a bit like Frank on a bad day. An enjoyable read.
