About this title: The first volume of a series co-written by Frank Herbert's son, examining the prehistory of the legendary planet of Arrakis, more commonly known as Dune.
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Description: Very Good. 0765340771 Great condition paperback book, clean pages, mild creases to spine, some edge/corner rubs, this book is GREAT! Shop & Save With US. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780765340771ISBN:0765340771
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Tor Books
Date Published: 2002
ISBN-13:9780765301574ISBN:0765301571
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780765340771ISBN:0765340771
Description: Grade: B. Catalog: Science Fiction General Synopsis: 695 pages. Frank Herbert's Dune series is one of the great creations of imaginative literature, science fiction's answer to The Lord of the Rings. De... read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"In recent years, it seems there's been a move in publishing to expand upon the most famous universes created by some of the greats of science-fiction. We've had the three B's (Bear, Brin, Bradford) creating a new Foundation trilogy in the Asimov universe while over in the brilliant universe that was Frank Herbert's Dune, we've had his son Brian and author Kevin J. Anderson working to fill in some of the gaps.
The Bulterian Jihad is the first of a trilogy called the Legacy of Dune and it seeks to explore the war between machines and humans that is often alluded to and referenced in Dune. I can't aruge with the pedigree of having Frank Herbert's son write the novel, since he created an encyclopedia for the Dune universe and would have first-hand knowledge of how things fit together.
That said, the book is a pale imitation of the style of Frank Herbert. It's told in a more episodic nature and the characters, while interesting, lack something essnetial from Frank Herbert's original vision. The book is fast-paced and has its moments-it does the epic battles in the first-round of the war to overthrow the machines very well. And while the authors make it fun to revisit the Dune universe, it's not quite as rich an experience as the original novel was."
"As other reviews have stated, this is not the most well written of books, and some of the plot holes are pretty hard to ignore. In particular the behaviours of the machine overlords and the idea that humans, reduced to slave status, would have any impact is a stretch. This kind of scenario has been done much better elsewhere.
However, this is the world of Dune and for those who loved Dune as kids, as I did, you'll find it easy to forget the difficulties with the novel and just enjoy the exploration of the Dune back-story and the origins of the complex society that Herbert described. For that alone it is well worth a read of any Dune fan, and I for one will happily work my way through the whole series."
"An abomination that should never have been written - which is true of all that Herbert Jnr and Anderson have contributed to the Dune series. Putting aside the pedestrian writing, the authors have failed entirely to capture the complexity of Frank Herbert's universe, characters and ideas. They seem incapable of subtlety. Nothing is implied. Everything is stated. They do tell a story but with none of the sophistication of the original. Life is far too short to be wasted reading this money-spinning insult to the memory of Frank Herbert."
"I've noticed that most of these reviews are pretty evenly split. I think I know why. (Note that I gave it two stars. It's not bad enough to deserve one star, but if *this* had been the introduction to the Dune universe, that universe would have crashed and burned.)
The biggest problem is that, frankly, Brian Herbert doesn't know why Dune was so successful. Probably the most intriguing thing about the world-building in Dune was how it started in median res. The characters all acted and behaved as though they were used to the world they lived in, which of course they would be. The reader is introduced to the world slowly and naturally, with little hints in the chapter bumps. As commonplace things (to them, not us) become important, we get to see them finally developed. Slowly and naturally, we get immersed in the meaning of what we are seeing. It's the "Show, don't tell" attitude. Dune showed. Jihad tells. It tells way too much. And the difference is quite jarring.
In addition, the clever and interesting ideas and politics are just missing. The "This could really happen" feeling is completely gone. It's all sci-fi tropes taken out of bad B-movies and pulp fiction.
Thus I suspect that to people to whom the sci-fi ideas are new and fresh or who don't appreciate the subtlety of the original series, this book will be OK reading. To me, however, it is simply an attempt to cash in on the original."
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