Frank Herbert / Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

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The Secrets Of Frank Herbert'S Dune
James Van Hise, Michael D. Messina I Books Entertainment 160
Summary: "The Secrets of Frank Herbert's Dune", complete with a DVD full of interviews, footage, and behind-the-scenes goodies, reveals the how, where, and why of the 6-hour SCI FI Channel miniseries. The series, much anticipated by fans of Herbert's novels (and foes of David Lynch's controversial 1984 take on the story), covers the action of the first book, "Dune".
With lots of black-and-white photos showing shots from the miniseries as well as never-before-seen cast, crew, and set images, "Secrets" reveals much of the production process, including special effects. The accompanying text enlightens fans about some of the casting and plot decisions, bound to be the subject of debate for years to come. An inset includes color photos of major cast members, production sketches, models, and sets. One of the best chapters in the book is Vittorio Storaro's "Cinematography Ideation of the Film," which reveals his ideas behind camera methods and key shots. The book makes a nice, informative package for anyone interested in how a cable-TV science fiction epic is made, and the DVD is an added bonus. "--Therese Littleton"

My Comments:

Dune
Frank Herbert Ace Literature & Fiction 544
Summary: This Hugo and Nebula Award winner tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence.
The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privilege, though, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.
"Dune" is one of the most famous science fiction novels ever written, and deservedly so. The setting is elaborate and ornate, the plot labyrinthine, the adventures exciting. Five sequels follow. "--Brooks Peck"

My Comments: (Book one in the series). I must admit, the movie (in my opinion) was actually very good. While not absolutely true to the book. It definitely conveyed the 'look' and 'feel' of the book. After having read the entire series, I can safely say that this is by far the best series of novels I've ever read

Dune Messiah
Frank Herbert Ace Literature & Fiction 336
Summary: Paul Atreides, genetically bred and trained to become the leader of his planet, is still subject to human frailties. The second book of the series.

My Comments: (Book two of the series. Picks up after Paul Atreides (Muad'dib) has defeated his enemies, and become emperor.

Children of Dune
Frank Herbert Ace Science Fiction & Fantasy 416
Summary: Climactic volume of the Dune trilogy in which an alien society achieves ecological salvation.

My Comments: (Book three of the series. The development and ascendancy of Muad'dib's children (Ghanima and Leto II)).

God Emperor of Dune
Frank Herbert Ace Books Science Fiction & Fantasy 423
Summary: The fourth book about the planet Dune.

My Comments: (Book four of the series. Leto II becomes a god through transformation/symbiosis with the sandtrout).

Heretics of Dune
Frank Herbert Ace Science Fiction & Fantasy 480
Summary: The planet Arrakis is becoming desert again. Lost ones are returning home from the far reaches of space. The great sandworms are dying, and the children of Dunes children awaken from empire as from a dream, wielding the new power of a heresy called love.

My Comments: (The fifth book of the series. The life and times of Leto II/The Worm. The Ghola Idaho, and the demise of a god).

Chapterhouse Dune
Frank Herbert Ace Literature & Fiction 435
Summary: Now--the conclusion to Frank Herbert's l3-million-copy epic masterpiece. The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed, and the heirs to Dune's power, have colonized a green world--and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile. "Impressive...the whole saga will be one of the monuments of modern science fiction."--Chicago Sun Times. TP: Berkley.

My Comments: (The sixth and final book of the original series. The Bene Gesserit, and the future of humanity).

House Atreides
Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson Spectra Science Fiction & Fantasy 681
Summary: Acclaimed SF novelist Brian Herbert is the son of "Dune" author Frank Herbert. With his father, Brian wrote "Man of Two Worlds" and later edited "The Notebooks of Frank Herbert's Dune". Kevin J. Anderson has written many bestsellers, alternating original SF with novels set in the "X-Files" and "Star Wars" universes. Together they bring personal commitment and a lifelong knowledge of the Dune Chronicles to this ambitious expansion of a series that transformed SF itself. "Dune: House Atreides" chronicles the early life of Leto Atreides, prince of a minor House in the galactic Imperium. Leto comes to confront the realities of power when House Vernius is betrayed in an imperial plot involving a quest for an artificial substitute to melange, a substance vital to interstellar trade that is found only on the planet Dune. Meanwhile, House Harkonnen schemes to bring Leto into conflict with the Tleilax, and the Bene Gesserit manipulate Baron Harkonnen as part of a plan stretching back 100 generations. In the Imperial palace, treason is afoot, and on Dune itself, planetologist Pardot Kynes embarks on a secret project to transform the desert world into a paradise.
"Dune" remains the bestselling SF novel ever, such that three decades later no prequel can possibly have the same impact. Yet in "House Atreides" the authors have written a compelling, labyrinthine, skillfully imagined extension of the world Frank Herbert created, which ably commands attention for almost 600 pages. It is powerful SF that continues a great tradition, and in itself is a very considerable achievement. "--Gary S. Dalkin, Amazon.co.uk"

My Comments: That's right it's a new Dune Novel. Frank Herbert's son has brought back the series with this first of three planned novels. This book is a prequel to Dune, the first book of the original series. Splendid read. Does his father proud. As rich and intriguing as the original series.

House Harkonnen
Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson Bantam Books Arts & Photography
Summary: Don't even think about reading "House Harkonnen" without reading its predecessor "Prelude to Dune: House Atreides"; anyone who does so risks sinking in the sands between Frank Herbert's original "Dune" and this new prequel trilogy by Herbert's son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The purist argument that had Herbert wanted to go backwards he would have done so is, at least in part, negated by the sheer narrative verve, and by the fact that Anderson and Brian Herbert manage to pull some genuine surprises out of this long-running space-opera. "House Harkonnen" is a massive book, and there are places where it becomes plot heavy, but in following the story of Duke Leto Atreides and the conflicts with House Harkonnen, the authors succeed in spinning a gripping adventure while going off in some unexpected directions. Anderson, who has written many successful "Star Wars" novels, has noted his particular admiration for "The Empire Strikes Back", and his desire to emulate that film's dark take on the genre. In "House Harkonnen" the conflict encompasses the tragedy of nuclear war, is marked by grief and horror, vengeance and torment, and all while the complex intrigues continue to unfold. Everything has its cost. We pay to create our future, we pay for the mistakes of the past. We pay for every change we make--and we pay just as dearly if we refuse to change. Ultimately this is the theme of a compelling game of consequences, choices and responsibility, a study of Leto's growth into power and the price of politics and love. "--Gary S. Dalkin"

My Comments: That's right, another new Dune novel. Frank Herbert's son has brought back the series. This is the second of three planned novels. This book is a prequel to Dune, the first book of the original series. It's been a pleasure absorbing this resurrected majesty of Dune. I'm looking forward to the third book.

House Corrino
Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson Spectra Literature & Fiction 512
Summary: The triumphant conclusion to the blockbuster trilogy that made science fiction history!

In Dune: House Corrino Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson bring us the magnificent final chapter in the unforgettable saga begun in Dune: House Atreides and continued in Dune: House Harkonnen.

Here nobles and commoners, soldiers and slaves, wives and courtesans shape the amazing destiny of a tumultuous universe. An epic saga of love and war, crime and politics, religion and revolution, this magnificent novel is a fitting conclusion to a great science fiction trilogy ... and an invaluable addition to the thrilling world of Frank Herbert’s immortal Dune.

Dune: House Corrino

Fearful of losing his precarious hold on the Golden Lion Throne, Shaddam IV, Emperor of a Million Worlds, has devised a radical scheme to develop an alternative to melange, the addictive spice that binds the Imperium together and that can be found only on the desert world of Dune.

In subterranean labs on the machine planet Ix, cruel Tleilaxu overlords use slaves and prisoners as part of a horrific plan to manufacture a synthetic form of melange known as amal. If amal can supplant the spice from Dune, it will give Shaddam what he seeks: absolute power.

But Duke Leto Atreides, grief-stricken yet unbowed by the tragic death of his son Victor, determined to restore the honor and prestige of his House, has his own plans for Ix.

He will free the Ixians from their oppressive conquerors and restore his friend Prince Rhombur, injured scion of the disgraced House Vernius, to his rightful place as Ixian ruler. It is a bold and risky venture, for House Atreides has limited military resources and many ruthless enemies, including the sadistic Baron Harkonnen, despotic master of Dune.

Meanwhile, Duke Leto’s consort, the beautiful Lady Jessica, obeying the orders of her superiors in the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, has conceived a child that the Sisterhood intends to be the penultimate step in the creation of an all-powerful being. Yet what the Sisterhood doesn’t know is that the child Jessica is carrying is not the girl they are expecting, but a boy.

Jessica’s act of disobedience is an act of love — her attempt to provide her Duke with a male heir to House Atreides — but an act that, when discovered, could kill both mother and baby.

Like the Bene Gesserit, Shaddam Corrino is also concerned with making a plan for the future — securing his legacy. Blinded by his need for power, the Emperor will launch a plot against Dune, the only natural source of true spice. If he succeeds, his madness will result in a cataclysmic tragedy not even he foresees: the end of space travel, the Imperium, and civilization itself.

With Duke Leto and other renegades and revolutionaries fighting to stem the tide of darkness that threatens to engulf their universe, the stage is set for a showdown unlike any seen before.

My Comments: The triumphant conclusion to the blockbuster trilogy that made science fiction history. I certainly hope it's not the last Dune novel I read. This new series has been every bit as good as the original.

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