By Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
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Published August 4, 2009 (Hardcover) Tor Books
439 typewritten pages, held together by a long loopy rubber-band, arrived in the mail a few days ago. The typed cover-page identifies the work as The Winds of Dune. I will be interviewing the authors tomorrow morning. I’ve talked to Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson before -- about their earlier book, Paul of Dune.
It’s not too windy of a day, and the sun is shining brightly, so I take the pages outside and read. It’s easy to fall into the story — even for readers who come along much later in the series. I haven’t been much of a science-fiction reader since I grew up, though I was captivated by other lands and, okay, Star Trek, when I was a kid. And, I do love Neil Gaiman’s books. Dune, to me, has been mysterious, especially at the hand of the original author, Brian Herbert’s father Frank, who began the stories in 1965.
But I enjoyed Paul of Dune – which fleshes out about a dozen earlier years — the first Dune collaboration between the younger Herbert and Anderson. This is the second. They say they write well together: one’s always typing madly, as the other talks — and they alternate.
In The Winds of Dune, Paul has walked off into the desert sand — blind — and is presumed dead. His beloved has died in childbirth, delivering twins, a boy and a girl. We immediately meet Paul’s mother, whose unemotional upbringing precludes her from overtly mourning her loss — first, she must take care of business. As a mother of young men, it is hard for me to relate to that. My life journey has included becoming un-codependent, so Jessica’s journey is foreign to me. Still, it is compelling.
There are two more Dune books to come — and if they’re as well-written at The Winds of Dune, I look forward to reading them, too…although I do prefer the hardcover version to a sheath of papers bound by a rubber band.
Jason said,
August 7, 2009 @ 12:46 am
Actually Herbert and Anderson have written quite a few more than 2 Dune books together. In correct order (followed by author) here is the the Dune timeline (so far):
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune: The Machine Crusade (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune: The Battle of Corrin (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune: House Atreides (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune: House Harkonen (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune: House Corrino (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Paul of Dune (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Dune Messiah (Frank Herbert)
Winds of Dune (B.Herbert & K.Anderson)
Children of Dune (Frank Herbert)
God Emperor of Dune (Frank Herbert)
Heretics of Dune (Frank Herbert)
Chapterhouse Dune (Frank Herbert)
Hunters of Dune (B.Anderson & K.Anderson)
Sandworms of Dune (B.Anderson & K.Anderson)
So actually this is the 10th Dune book written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson (with, AT LEAST, two more to follow) and, as weird as it sounds, Frank Herbert only wrote 6.
Diana Page Jordan said,
August 7, 2009 @ 6:49 am
I stand corrected. Two books — at least — to come is what I meant. And, actually, they told me they’re working on a brand new series, as well!