Should I bother with the Dune sequels?

[Elok]

Yes, I just read Dune for the first time this week. Liked it; it's like Lawrence of Arabia in the future, with knife fights. Still not clear on what exactly "spice" does for people who aren't Muad'dib; apparently it has "geriatric properties," so I guess it makes you cranky and incontinent. I'd look it up on Wiki, but I'm afraid of running across spoilers from future books.

On which point: should I get the sequels to Dune? How many, if so? Are the ones by Brian Herbert any good? Or are they like HHGTTG, one good book with a long line of sequels whose quality drops at an exponential rate?

[rah]

While i'm sure there will be many others that will say differently.

STOP WHILE YOU STILL THINK IT WAS A POSSITIVE EXPERIENCE.

I did not like any of the sequels but because of that didn't read many of them.

[Lorizael]

Most people I've talked to say that the first few sequels are alright, but they steadily go downhill. Especially when the author's first name is not Frank.

[Jon Miller]

Dune was a great book.

The later ones he wrote were hit and miss, but definitely worse than the original. Don't read if you only want to read the best.

I haven't read the ones by his son, but everything I have heard makes me want to stay far away.

JM

[rah]

Ming read them all I believe, we'll see what he says.

[self biased]

i enjoyed them. :shrugs:

my biggest complaint is that in the Brian Herbert books there was a tendency to repeat things, probably due to shoddy editing. they were fun overall, but not high literature.

[Elok]

Well, I was veeery leery when I saw "Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson" as authors. KJA? Oy. Well, let's see what everyone else says.

[Japher]

Aren't you French? Seems like a big endeavor for one of the lazy ones. Besides, why read a book if you can just watch the movie. I'm waiting for all my text books to come out.

[Q Classic]

By Frank Herbert
Dune - Good
Dune Messiah - Aiight.
Children of Dune - Eh.
God Emperor of Dune - Now it starts getting weird. Sorry, no. Really ****ing weird.
Heretics of Dune - Whoa, wtf?
Chapterhouse: Dune - Uh... oooookay. Your senility medications are getting to you.

By Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert:
House Atreides
House Corrino
(The two I read before I cast them into Anathema status, as I did David Lynch for his abuse of the material~)
Penny Arcade says it succinctly.

[Drake Tungsten]

Dune Messiah is good, as it's basically the completion of the story in Dune. You find out what happens to Muad'Dib after his rise to power and the subsequent jihad.

I'd also recommend Children of Dune. Leto II (Paul's son) is probably the most complex character in the whole series and it's interesting to find out more about the Golden Path that Muad'Dib refused to take and which subsequently fell to his son.

I'd stop after that. I kind of like God Emperor of Dune, but only because the character of Leto II is interesting enough to keep me engaged despite all the weirdness. Everything after God Emperor is nigh incomprehensible. The books by Herbert's son, of course, are an abomination and should not be read by anyone.

[onodera]

Drake said everything I wanted to say. Read the next 3 books and stop.

[Ming]

Hmmmm...
It took me many tries to get through Dune Messiah, but after that one, I was entertained by the rest of the books. Granted, NONE of them even came close to the Original Dune, but I found them readable.

Then there are the books written by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert. My SF friends and I call them "Dune Lite"
I found them OK, and worth a read ONLY if you are interested in the Dune Universe. A lot of it was based on Herbert's notes, so it does provide some OK stuff. I felt they were the worth the read, but I wouldn't ever want to read them again... unlike Dune, which I have read multiple times.

[self biased]

there's also the fact that there's quite a lot of information being doled out for the finale during god-emperor, heretics, and chapterhouse.

[Elok]

Sooo...what DOES spice do? It was so unclear, I just sort of accepted it as a McGuffin.

[Drake Tungsten]

If you like Herbert but don't want to continue to slog through the increasingly pretentious and confusing Dune universe, The Dosadi Experiment is a good alternative read. Examines one of the central ideas in Dune (societal development in a closed and harsh environment) in a different and interesting fashion.

Sooo...what DOES spice do?

Extends life and, in large enough doses, unlocks intellectual capabilities that would otherwise be unavailable. For women, it allows them to tap into the genetic memory of all their female ancestors, ie. turns them into a Reverend Mother. For Guildsmen, it allows them a limited prescience that makes them capable of plotting safe courses across the galaxy. Paul and Alia Atreides are affected much differently, but their experiences are pretty clearly detailed in Dune and Dune Messiah.