The (fictional) spice

As I promised, before I went off on my sociological soapbox, here are my thoughts on the final Dune book, written 40-plus years after the original Dune hit the science fiction scene...

But before that, a rap from the guinea pig!
ROLL SPOILERS! ROLL SPOILERS! ROLL SPOILERS!
WE GOT BAD SPOILERS LIKE YOUR MOM!
WE GOT BAD SPOILERS LIKE CARCINOGENS!

Thanks, Dante!

The Dune books played a big role during my first summer in Ithaca. I lived in a basement apartment I rented from this kid and that apartment complex happened to be a creek about one hundred yard from the front door. Of course, it being Ithaca, the creek was just after a sheer drop-off, but some local folks had beat a path down the hill to the river. I would read the Dune books there, usually as close to the creek as possible. Being so close to the water really brought the whole aspect of a desert planet off the page and into my mind.

And there were so many books to read! Six Dune books by the original Frank Herbert and about four used-book venues in town! WOOO!
This was just as Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson started writing their prequel novels, but since I hadn't heard about those yet, I devoured the originals. Like many fans, I felt the original "oomph" of Dune had whittled away by the time Frank Herbert wrote his last book, "Chapterhouse Dune." A cliffhanger ending that seemed to break the fourth wall with having the last page dominated by "the old man" and "the old woman." Weird, but the book still had the original touch of depth and layering.

Many years later, Frank Herbert's son Brian and fellow author Kevin J. Anderson did the now required and created prequels. Then they said they had found secret notes from Frank Herbert and an outline for Dune 7! *

I liked B. Herbert and Anderson's Dune books, but they lacked the multiple layers of the originals. They featured much more action than Frank's versions, but it all seemed too whiz-bang for me. They moved incredibly fast, covering thousands of years in mere pages. One reviewer on Amazon. com said that, "The prequels always felt more like outlines of novels than true novels." That is a smart observation. I remember sitting on that log by the creek and felt as if I were taking forever to read the original Dune books. However, I slammed out this prequel in three days. As a wanna-be writer, I understand how excited one can get to just make a point or show a scene., but it feels like the prequels were written to appeal based not on their inherent themes, but their stylistic choices. I don't consider the original Dune books to be very "hard" science fiction. Herbert rarely explains anything, instead just dazzles us and hints at answers. He was obviously creating books you wanted to fall in love with, something you need to review multiple times for the full effect. The prequels, on the other hand seem to run towards the finish at full speed. The reward isn't that it makes you think, but that it has done the thinking for you and now you better understand the Dune universe. Not through epiphany or Spica Agony, but through plenty of exposition. And when I think something has too much exposition, then you know the narrative has gotten out of hand!

To be fair, I liked that the prequels explained the Butlerian Jihad, where the Fremen came from, where all the Great Houses began and so forth. The prequels have driven "original" fans crazy, but have brought in tons of new readers. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson should feel proud they continued a legendary series that could have easily been hijacked by vicious nerds ("No, you can't read my Dune book, n00b!**") looking to keep it for themselves. Following in the footsteps of Frank Herbert must prove difficult and they have bravely chosen to inject their own style and thought into the mix, instead of just copying. However, continuing is one thing. Honoring is another.

However, like with every science fiction prequel series (I am looking at you Star Wars!), I don't see fans clamoring for it. Instead our fandom hurts us because we love the series so much that we just have to have those answers in the prequels, even if we weren't asking the questions. The prequels also sandwiched the essential six "core" books between bookends of the entire series being a war against robots. It dilutes the original majesty of Dune when you realize all that drama doesn't matter.

As for Sandworms of Dune II died thousands of years ago because here they are washing away all their , it exemplifies one of the reasons I never resonated with the prequels. Everything inherent about Dune, Arrakis, the sandworms, and the desert only appears here in name. I felt the book literally jumped the shark when the worms ended up on an ocean world! WTF?! Spice making sea-worms! Like my mom would say, "How can they have the SPICE *juts out hip* when they live in the cold ocean!? *swings to salsa music*" I feel that is something B. Herbert and Anderson threw in themselves. I can see the touch of Frank Herbert when Duncan Idaho becomes the ultimate and final Kwisatz Haderach. That explains all his deaths and rebirths through the series, something I felt the original Herbert did on an almost cartoonish level. As for all those other "gholas" (Dune for clone), I feel that was done just to bring back those characters we originally loved. I doesn't matter that Paul, Jessica, Chani and Leto are diminishing their historical importance by fighting robots! Since the clones in the Dune universe can learn the memories of their original self, the concept of cloning carries much more weight then in something like Star Wars. In Frank Herbert's writing, gholas were carefully crafted living machined, designed to spice something up. In the prequels, they pop up so damn often that they remove any sort of importance when a character dies. Same thing happens in comic books and in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Why do we even care anymore? Because we are all fans. Dune spoke to us someway and we enjoyed it enough to keep exploring it I don't hate Sandworms of Dune. I am happy it exists to put a final end to this series. Whether or not it is the end we all wanted depends on the reader. But it's there for all of us to nitpick, whine about and, sometimes, enjoy.

PEACE!


*I just learned that Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are going to slam out three more Dune prequels! Set in between the original Dune and it's sequel, Dune Messiah. ACK! Give us a break, guys! I am too much of a sucker not to buy them.

** I hate the word "n00b" and all that "gamerz" language. Is Halo, so damn intense that you can't spell the word "owned," instead saying "pwned." Yeah, way to bring video games to the masses kids and free them from decades old stereotypes. Creating your own little secret annoying language. "Oh, but the rappers did it back in the late 70's," you say! Well, they had culture. You have a hack code for Halo 3.