Paul of Dune (Heroes of Dune) by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Paul of Dune (Heroes of Dune)
Book Review: "The Son Is Always Shaped By The Father" ~ Spreading The Truth On An Intergalactic Scale
Summary: 4 Stars
Let me begin by saying Frank Herbert's beloved sci-fi novel `Dune' was one of the most unique, mind-boggling books I've ever read. I was entranced by Paul's visions, the prophetic utterances, the mind control powers of the Bene Gesserit, the properties for expanding consciousness provided by the digestion of the spice and the awesome, almost God-like presence of the legendary sandworms. If ever there was a readers heaven this was it! In stark contrast to the elation and wonder experienced while reading `Dune' I must sadly admit to undergoing profound dismay and disillusionment upon reading his follow-up `Dune Messiah'. The deeply prophetic and mystical aspects permeating the first installment were gone, now replaced by political intrigue and the power of corruption. But what bothered me the most was the missing years between book one and book two.
Those missing years have finally become available, unfortunately not from the master wordsmith and storyteller himself, but from his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson in 'Paul of Dune'. I've read many of the highly negative reviews already posted on this new release and it's easy to tell who the Dune purists are. Not being among their number, it's been over 35 years since I've read `Dune', I'm not in a position to compare composition styles, attention to detail and plot inconsistencies with the original storyline. Hence I'm left to judge the worthiness of `Paul of Dune' on it's own merits, along with a faint memory of the mood and flavor of the original classic as remembered all these years.
With that in mind I will now say that I thoroughly enjoyed this apocryphal account covering the intergalactic Jihad, Paul's rise to power and the reconstructionist history of Muad'Dib as played out by his closest confidants and recorded by his wife Princess Irulan. It was this latter aspect of the novel that I found most intriguing. The authors did an admirable job of examining how myths and legends are born, structured and cleverly maintained with half-truths and embellishments to fool the faithful, thus maintaining power and control.
As I write this review I'm reminded of the burial of Duke Leto Atreides in the deep desert in the presence of Paul, Lady Jessica, Chani and Alia. I found the scene surprisingly moving and had the feeling that this opening chapter was meant to serve as Brian Herbert's tribute to his Father, and his "canon" of work. Paul's internal dialogue during this solemn ritual at Duke Letos' gravesite were thoughts and feelings that could just as well been thought at Frank Herbert's services. Was Brian Herbert symbolically burying his Father along with the Duke in a bittersweet but glorious goodbye as he places the wondrous wordsmith beneath the sands of the fictitious planet he has forever immortalized?
Book Review: "The best thing Brian and KJA have written. Amazing!"
Summary: 1 Stars
I wish I could agree with Brian's nephew's evaluation of this book quoted in the title. But I can't. So far as I can see, the writing is just as uninspired and the use of language every bit as inept as in their previous eight "Dune" books. (Every noun must be qualified by an adjective or some other modifier, for example.) The characters are two-dimensional at best and, even allowing for the difference in writers, simply do not seem to be the same people encountered in Dune or Dune Messiah. While it is true that there seems to be less restatement of events that occurred only a few "chapters" earlier, there are still too many reminders of Duniverse basics that anyone other than a first-time reader (or someone who has recently suffered severe head trauma and a resultant loss of memory?) should already know and remember. And the inclusion in the four "Emperor Muad'Dib" sections of elements and events just recounted in the three "Young Paul" ones invariably comes across as clumsy and forced. Particularly when none of them are ever mentioned in Dune or Dune Messiah.
Which of course brings me to the issue of inconsistencies: the book continues the now established tradition of introducing inconsistencies with the original six books by Frank Herbert (for example, according to Dune, Paul never left Caladan, his birthworld, before the Atreides moved to Arrakis, but nevertheless the "Young Paul" flashbacks have him journeying twice to Ecaz and once to Grumman) ... but this is no longer an issue, because we are informed in a tête-à-tête between Paul and Irulan that she is in fact the real author of Dune ... and probably of Messiah and Children as well. (No doubt in upcoming tomes we will discover that Harq al-Ada is the author of Leto of Dune and Gaus Andaud the historian/fictionalizer of the events of God Emperor, Heretics and Chapterhouse.) The message here is clear: everything we fans thought we knew about the stories "ain't necessarily so." The new Prophets of Dune continue their revelation of a new Gospel, which we must either accept or be cast out as "Talifans."
But that's just one masterful performance that takes place in this multi-ring circus. Other attractions include the provision of further support for the retcon corrections to two mistakes made in earlier books (even though both are now safely covered by the "Irulan Solution") and the creation of the foundation for a plot element introduced in Hunters and Sandworms.
Above all this, however, my biggest problem with the book is ... that it's just plain boring. This makes sense in a way, seeing how from my perspective it (and the three "Heroes" books slated to follow it) is completely unnecessary: the "gap" left by Frank Herbert between Dune and Dune Messiah was not an accident. While I would be very much interested in seeing any notes Frank Herbert may have left concerning the Fremen Jihad and that period of Duniverse history, I have practically no interest in pulp fictionalizations of his ideas (or worse, of the second-rate ideas of lesser writers) by lesser writers. (Other than reading them to criticize and complain, of course.)
Fans of the previous "New Dune" efforts, young adults and people who don't read much in the way of real books will probably be able to enjoy this one. Real Dune fans should pass, unless you're also the kind of person who ogles traffic accidents or just someone who wants to keep current with the latest bumps along the downhill road Dune is currently on.
Book Review: 0 Stars
Summary: 1 Stars
Paul of Dune is another poor attempt at writing in the Duniverse. It is obvious that this duo of authors has learned nothing from their previous 8 books and are severely lacking knowledge of the Duniverse. They add things in that contradict the original 6, for example: it is known that the Tleilaxu are religious fanatics in this book, although that was not revealed until Heretics of Dune to the other factions in the books, some millenia later. This and countless other inconsistencies and complete disregard for the legacy of Dune and its author Frank Herbert have made me give it a one star rating, although it really doesn't even deserve that. Poor writing, predictable plots, poor character development (although these characters have been developed in the books by Frank Herbert, they are badly represented in this book) and a need for action and one upmanship make this a book you definately should not read.Book Review: 0 Stars, a travesty and disgraceful piece of unedited fan fiction that does not understand the original
Summary: 1 Stars
I sat down to read Paul of Dune with much trepidation, Hunters and Sandworms were atrocious examples of writing that I debated long and hard if i should even attempt to slog through the moronic prose and cardboard characterization that are earmarks of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
PoD continues with a familiar format, very short chapters, telling instead of showing, no inner monologues, blatant insertion of their own creations that contradict the work done by Frank Herbert (details below), and utter disregard for the themes of the Dune Universe.
The authors attempt to confuse us with inept smoke and mirrors to explain their blatant rewriting of the entire Dune Universe. According to the revisionist view Paul was born on Kaitain,completely ignoring Paul's fathers statement to him:
"Seeing the direction of his father's stare, Paul thought of the wet skies out there--a thing never to be seen on Arrakis from all accounts--and this thought of skies put him in mind of the space beyond. "Are the Guild ships really big?" he asked.
The Duke looked at him. "This will be your first time off planet," he said. "Yes, they're big. We'll be riding a Heighliner because it's a long trip. A Heighliner is truly big. Its hold will tuck all our frigates and transports into a little corner--we'll be just a small part of the ship's manifest."
If the authors had read Dune as they claim to have, they would know that Leto never lied to Paul ever!
The Muadru have been mentioned in every single book the authors have written for Dune since The Machine Crusade, yet not once in the original six Dune novels written by Frank Herbert are they mentioned. Yet the authors have inserted their own creation wholesale into the original works without any regard for the originals.:
Paul says, "There appears to be a linguistic connection between the Fremen and the Muadru, but the latter race vanished at independent sites all over the galaxy--suggesting a terrible cataclysm that took them all at once."
There are no other races in the Dune universe, just humans and variations of humans, the inclusion of a mysterious alien race shows a total lack of understanding of the Dune Universe.
Princess Irulan gets worked over pretty good as well.
"...and how Princess Irulan becomes his biographer, propagandist, and myth-maker, willing to doctor history as she sees fit."
This statement form the TOR newsletter indicates that the growing dissent against the wholesale destruction of Frank's work is not the actions of a talifan's, the authors in order to cover their inconsistencies, use Irulan as a scapegoat because you know, we are better writers and have written more Dune books in less time than Frank ever did so everything he wrote was just the work of a propagandist.
Duke Leto's cairn. The authors have Paul create this massive shrine yet in Children of Dune, the cairn is still very simple and plain, not the ornate monstrosity the authors describe, yet again an example that they did not read the original works at all.
Total misunderstanding of the Fremen culture. No Fremen at this time would ever yield a Honor Challenge. Ever! Death is the only outcome.
The book is also poorly edited, actually i wonder if it was edited at all, in one scene Paul is fighting anonymously along side his troops yet does not even know the name of the planet he is on and the next moment he does without explanation. Sloppy and very poor. I have tutored eight grade students with better writing skills than these two authors. The lack of any editing is painfully clear.
The end result of Paul of Dune is a terrible, terrible piece of fan fiction that is a waste of ones time, show's zero respect for the works it is based on, is another example of rewriting and destroying one of the seminal works if American Science Fiction, and like much of today's popular works, complete utter crap with no value whatsoever.
Yes, I have a copy of Paul of Dune, a gift from a former employee, so don't bother with that line of attack
Book Review: 0 stars, worst book so far by this duo
Summary: 1 Stars
I have just finished wrestling my way through this pile of paper.
The authors have shown again that they either didn't read Frank Herbert's work or they don't understand it. The writers completely misunderstand who Paul Atreides is and why he has become the person he became in Dune Messiah.
The writing style has clearly not improved after co-writing 8 previous books. Lots of repetition at every single chapter, flat characters who behave out of character ( card-board ), inconsistencies with the works of Frank Herbert ( the burial site of Leto Atreides and also inconsistent within the book itself: one moment Paul doesn't know on which planet he his but the next page he clearly remembers where he is.
People who love Dune I advice to not buy and or read this book. You will be greatly disappointed if you do.