Sisterhood of Dune (Spoilers Allowed)

[Admiral_Young]

The newest book from Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert is out now. I have yet to read it and am really hesitant to do so. I used search to see if there was already a thread on the book but didn't find a result. As I feared this is a direct sequel to their Butlerian Jihad trilogy. If you liked those novels, then I guess you'll be interested and probably like this book. As I've mentioned in some other threads I would have really preferred their original plan for this book which was "The Throne of Dune" which would have finally revealed the three thousand plus reign of the God Emperor of Dune and take place between "Children of Dune" and "God Emperor of Dune".

I guess they couldn't come up with anything or felt uncomfortable writing in that period and decided to return to something much more familiar. I'm really disappointed myself as I'm a huge Dune fan and if this is the future of the novels then I'm not really interested. All that being said...who has read this and if so what did you think? Is it worth reading? Is it worth another trilogy which i think is their plan.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

As a huge Dune fan myself, I feel your pain. I just downloaded a sample on my iPad. Will give it a read later today, but I suspect it will be on par with their other stuff.

 

[The Wormhole]

I've bought the book, but I haven't read it yet. Still got Christmas gifts to clear through before I get a chance to read it.

Admittedly, I'm not to excited. The Jihad trilogy were probably my least favourite Dune novels. Don't get me wrong, a Dune novel is a fun read regardless. But, if the lost years of Leto II's reign were really too much for them to write (or whatever the excuse is) couldn't they just have sandwiched in another story among the Frank Herbert timeline? Or in the time between the House trilogy and the original Dune?

Oh well, hope it's a decent book all the same.

 

[Agenda]

As I've mentioned in some other threads I would have really preferred their original plan for this book which was "The Throne of Dune" which would have finally revealed the three thousand plus reign of the God Emperor of Dune and take place between "Children of Dune" and "God Emperor of Dune".

Writing an entire novel with Leto II's intellectual depth is beyond their capabilities. Readers of the original books would be wondering why the character has suddenly turned stupid.

 

[JRoss]

Sorry, but these two clowns don't deserve all the second chances that people are giving them. I regret reading each of the three Butlerian Jihad books. No way are they getting any more of my money or time.

 

[Saga]

part of me is curious...but then part of me knows better. i doubt i'll pick this one up.

 

[Reverend]

I've long since given up on any Dune book by Pinky and the Brain being worth reading. The Houses trilogy was OK, if a little off while the Butlerian Jihad books were just downright odd and inferior and the less said about that tedious dross that was the "Dune 7" duology the better. I made an attempt at one of two of those interquel novels (Paul of Dune??) but it didn't grab me.

Really, how much deader can this horse get?

 

[Admiral_Young]

One thing I noticed while flipping through the book is that these two seemed overly fascinated with Erasmus which I find hard to believe is a Frank creation. I have always wondered just what exactly were his notes on his back story stuff and what they created themselves. I can sort of buy that Omnious was a Frank creation that they elaborated on but Erasmus...they seem to have a fixation on him.

 

[Broccoli]

I, for one, await the eventual Dune of Dune book.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Or the more likely titled Arrakis of Dune.

 

[The Wormhole]

One thing I noticed while flipping through the book is that these two seemed overly fascinated with Erasmus which I find hard to believe is a Frank creation. I have always wondered just what exactly were his notes on his back story stuff and what they created themselves. I can sort of buy that Omnious was a Frank creation that they elaborated on but Erasmus...they seem to have a fixation on him.

Erasmus, huh? Well, that comes out of left field. I'm not complaining, that twisted and demented robot scientist was one of the highlights of the Jihad trilogy, so it'll be nice to see him again. Still seems odd, though.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I should be specific...it's not really Erasmus but some kind of globe that has Erasmus matrix or something in it that Gilbertus Albans has around him to converse with.

 

[Reverend]

One thing I noticed while flipping through the book is that these two seemed overly fascinated with Erasmus which I find hard to believe is a Frank creation. I have always wondered just what exactly were his notes on his back story stuff and what they created themselves. I can sort of buy that Omnious was a Frank creation that they elaborated on but Erasmus...they seem to have a fixation on him.

I don't really see it either. At least, not the way either of them were realised by P&B. See Frank Herbert's 'Jesus Incident' and 'Whipping Star' for how he can characterise "god minds." Omnious read like some kind of cartoon villain while Erasmus...I don't know exactly, it just never felt believable. I could never shake the impression that most of his antics were done for mere shock value. I get the impression they wanted to instil horror at the behaviour of a truly amoral being, but neither author appears to have the depth to pull it off.

Same thing with the Titans. I could never buy into the idea that these bumbling personalities had the wherewithal to overthrow all of human civilization.

Indeed, I suspect that most of their material is only superficially related to Frank's old notes. IIRC the original description of the Thinking Machines taking paints a picture of an increasingly soft and stagnant society only gradually becoming enslaved by machines over many generations. That sounds much more like Herbert than having some brain-in-a-jar moron let loose a bunch of killer robots to "enslave all humans" but forgetting to tell them "except us brains in jars of course." I mean really? That's the best they could do?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Erasmus to me comes across as a poor man's Data.

 

[Non Sync]

For something slightly different, there is always "National Lampoon's Doon" by Ellis Weiner (1984).

Arruckus-men call it Doon, the Dessert Planet. It is a sugar-covered wasteland entirely devoid of entrees, patrolled by a terrifying species of giant pretzel.

This savage world is the setting for an apocalyptic drama. On one side is the evil Baron Vladimir Hardchargin- ruthless, voracious, extremely fat. Opposing him: young Pall Agamemnides, the teenager who may (or may not) be the Messiah. Pall's only allies are the planet's nomadic tribes, the fiercely religious, sweatsuit-wearing Freedmenmen.

These forces clash in a deadly contest over Doon's one precious resource, a substance found nowhere else in the Univers: the mind-altering liquid known as beer...

 

[M'Sharak]

^ Not quite as good as Bored of the Rings, maybe, but Doon was still a pretty entertaining read.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Erasmus to me comes across as a poor man's Data.

Poor Man's Spock actually.

Guess KJA and Brian Herbert have to make a living though I would rather have preferred KJA writing Trek novels.

 

[Agenda]

Do you know the most disgusting thing about Anderson and lil' Herbert's books? There's a lot of bad shit, but this is the utmost worst: they actually attempt to invalidate the first Dune novel by saying that it's not the true story, that it's supposedly an inaccurate history that was penned by Irulan. Just read about Paul of Dune. I'm not making this shit up.

 

[Saga]

^ yeah, Paul of Dune was the last straw for me.

 

[Agenda]

And I'd like to emphasize read about it, don't actually read it. Don't inflict it upon yourself and don't give them any money.