Winds of Dune

Winds of Dune ... August 6, 2009

As is almost always the case, I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, the publication of Dune (© 1965). was a cultural watershed *. Part of science fiction's weltanschauung, It can stand quite comfortably on its own, without reference to its age or circumstances. Even Frank Herbert's own sequels ( through Chapterhouse, with another in note form) had a whiff of shtick to them. We were treated to "wheels within wheels within wheels" a tad more often then good writing necessitated.

On the other hand, Mr. Herbert did write sequels, and Brian ( his son along with co-author Kevin Anderson) has his notes, along with the legal and familial rights. The hard and cold is that we all wondered who the Bene Gesseret were, what Jihad was being referred to, and how the heck a starfaring culture ended up with an Emperor, witches, and all the other twisted Dramatis Personae. Now we know. While each sequel is a dilution of the original moment, chasing the dragon as it were, I still read them. (Thank God for public libraries.) More books are reported to be in the works. (please; no Sligs of Dune IV) I guess you can treat them like lollypops after a fine meal, pleasant, but not the main course.

* (note to the reader: please forgive the pun, I couldn't help myself.)