Ever wonder what the spinning corpse of Frank Herbert sounds like? If so, then you've probably not read the new Dune novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Now, there was a time when Dune was my favorite science fiction series. I loved the vast culture, the socioeconomic overview, the religions, the everything. And, I was sad when I discovered that Frank Herbert passed away leaving his last book unfinished.

Before I got into Dune, I loved reading Star Wars novels. And who hasn't read a star wars novel without hearing the name "Kevin J. Anderson"? I, of course, stopped reading Star Wars novels when I realized that they were mostly formulaic, and that I didn't want to devote my limited bookshelf space to glorified fan fiction. Also, I got tired of the fact that KJA would always "push the envelope," introducing characters more powerful than Luke Skywalker, giving them ships capable of destroying the universe, and then letting them gallivant through the galaxy doing whatever they want until they learn a valuable lesson.

So, when I heard that Brian Herbert was using KJA to write more Dune books, my heart sank. Nevertheless, I decided to pick up the first one and at least give it a shot. Maybe Herbert learned a little about writing from daddy, and was only using KJA as a big name to sell the books.

Wrong. I'm not sure what percentage of this book is actually written by Herbert, but it reads exactly like every other KJA book I've had the misfortune of reading: like glorified fan fiction. And sure enough, KJA introduces characters that are MORE POWERFUL than Paul Atriedes, and able to do all sorts of amazing feats, and this all happened before Paul was EVEN BORN!

Here's some fan fiction of my own: "After the publication of Dune: House Atreides, the mystical forces of the universe were so unsettled that they shattered the barrier between life and death. The zombie Frank Herbert rose from his grave, and would have eaten the brains of the people who wrote and published the piece of crap that had word "Dune" in the title, had they any brains to eat. Instead, he shambled over to his Underwood and pecked out the rest of Dune 7, which was promptly published to wide acclaim. As he returned to his grave after a particularly harrowing signing, he dragged along a large burlap sack with the muffled sounds of screaming coming from within. After that, there were no more glorified fan fiction books being published by a particularly prosaic writer."

You'll probably like this book if you love the spoonfed dreck that KJA normally defecates onto paper. Otherwise, you'll probably only read this book if you LOVE Dune, and will read anything with the word "Dune" in the title, and named your first child "Frank Herbert Paul Maud'Dib of Dune Jones." And if she can forgive you, maybe you can forgive Brian Herbert. ( )

A good background to the events leading up to Paul Atreides. I found it thoroughly enjoyable and am looking forward to the next book. This is really a wonderful collaboration between Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. In this novel, you learn about the work behind the scenes and the political actions.

Sean ( )

The three books are okay to read, definately a must for Dune fans. I read them before rereading the original Dune novel, and while reading the books, I couldn't wait to start reading Dune. Great as an appetizer! ( )

This is the first book in a series of Dune prequels. It is written on a junior high level and is far inferior to both the original Dune and the second set of prequels that succeeded these. ( )

Good and not. I'd rather read the original books but this was fun to read. ( )