The Very Bottom Of The Barrel

I've been a Dune fan for a really long time. It all started when I was young, browsing around the bookshop, where the covers of the Dune novels always fascinated me. At that time, I didn't know what the story was about, but I did know it was sci-fi and probably one of those that caught my eye. I think I'll always remember the title God Emperor of Dune, I couldn't comprehend how an Emperor could also be God, that was one of the first sci-fi mysteries that mystified me.

Fast forward to present day, I've read all the Dune novels and have a complete set of all of them, which includes the most sort-after Dune Encyclopedia, which was painstakingly found in London. Looking back, I can't believe I turned into quite the fanatic when it came to Dune. I searched the Internet for forums, websites and reviews. There were also arguments and different interpretations to the story.

The long-awaited Dune 7 novel that Frank Herbert failed to finish before he died was released in August 2006. I rushed to get my hands on a copy of it. The hardcover version was expensive, so I settled for the tradepaperback edition from the UK. I just finished reading the book (I took my time to read in between the lines all the details!), and had mixed feelings about how the story continued after Chapterhouse: Dune, Frank's last novel before he died. I didn't know whether to feel elated, angry, sad, or disappointed. I'm reviewing the novel below, it will definitely contain spoilers, so if you haven't read the novel yet, do NOT proceed further!

The first thing that struck me was that the novel was written for kiddies. When Frank Herbert wrote any of his novels, there was a certain amount of mystery and intrigue which you had to read between the lines to find out more. It wasn't blantantly spelled out for all to read. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson spelled everything out for us, almost to the point of patronising their readers. It was most infuriating to have every single thing laid out for us, in this case, there was no longer any mysteries in the stories, expect the ones that they created.

Next, the character development was hideously abysmal. I can't believe that Duncan or Murbella or any of the other characters are all the same. Nothing much has changed or could it have in the time span since Chapterhouse: Dune. They brought back so many gholas it was ridiculous. What will the gholas do? Why didn't they create new characters? Was it so difficult to do? All the characters had 1 dimensional qualities and they were cheesy. Duncan having an addiction to Murbella? What on earth is that about?

Moving on, every chapter seems to have a reference to one of the prequel novels, or one of Frank's Dune novels. I prefer Frank's Dune novels, they were very grounded and had so much depth that you had to dig for information. The prequel novels were just as scratching the surface, to fill in all those gaps that Frank neglected to talk about. In some way, the prequel novels destroyed the mystery of Frank's 6 Dune novels. At the same time, I was confused when reading Hunters of Dune, whether it was a prequel, sequel or a very long summary of the entire history of Dune.

Even the plot went round and round, Duncan was being chased around and around by Daniel and Marty with their ever-present tachyon net, that seemed to stretch all across the universe to ensnare them. Even folding space and escaping it didn't seem to distance the no-ship from the net's limitless ability to catch them. What kind of net is that?

The unlimited us of labels, Mother Superior evolved into Mother Commander, probably justifying that Murbella commanded both the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres. Proctor Superior, Matre Superior and the list goes on. In the prequel novels, they had Primero, Segunda, Viscount etc. All these labels, I'm guessing, are Kevin J. Anderson's doings. If you have read his other novels (and how he destroyed the Star Wars Universe!) you'll know that this was his evil work! Giving labels to all those characters didn't make them big, they just hid the fact that they couldn't write anything more about them, so attach something to them. It was disappointing!

Almost three quarters through the novel did I seem to appreciate that it was gaining a little bit more momentum. Many answers at last! The revelation that the Honored Matres are Tleilaxu females that were rescued from Tleilax and gained awareness instead of remaining as axlotl tanks was interesting, but a little too convenient, as I thought they were either Bene Gesserit renegades or Fish Speakers or a combination of both. But I shan't fault them, perhaps this was already written in Frank's outline. It will explain a great deal as to why they destroyed so many of the Tleilaxu planets and their Masters.

I was disappointed to find out that Daniel and Marty, the old man and woman, who were first introduced at the very end of Chapterhouse: Dune, turned out to be incarnations of Omnius and Erasmus. According to the final chapter in Hunters of Dune, they could change their flow-metal bodies to suit the needs of themselves, changing shape, changing faces, like Face Dancers, except without the Bene Gesserit detecting them.

I sincerely hope that Sandworms of Dune, the finale, would answer everything and would be much better written than Hunters of Dune. I suspect that Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are already scrapping the bottom of the barrel as to fresh and interesting new ideas for the Dune universe. Let us hope that they wouldn't cash in by writing more novels to destroy Frank Herbert's great work.

I recommend this book only to Dune fans who're out to find closure to one of Frank Herbert's sci-fi masterpiece.

5.5 out of 10 stars