The Winds of Dune

"The Winds of Dune" by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson continues, no, drags on and on the Dune saga, created by Frank Herbert. Not only does it drag on and on, it drags it through the mud. (Since mud contains water, maybe covering something in mud is a blessing on Arrakis.)

"The Winds of Dune" picks up with the conclusion of Frank's 1969 "Dune Messiah." Paul, stricken by the death of Chani, has abdicated the throne and given himself up to the desert. (SPOILER! He ain't dead! Well, at least, not yet, read "Children of Dune" to get the skinny.) Young Alia now struggles to maintain the Empire, until Paul's children can assume the throne. Meanwhile, a troublemaker named Bronso is whipping up the masses with his heretical writings against the Holy Muad'Dib.

Oh yeah, Paul and Bronso used to be best buddies and ran away to join the circus together. No, I'm not making that up.

And Jessica wanted to kill Paul once upon a time. I'm not making that up either.

Brian's glorified fanfiction of his father's work has lost its direction and seems like just an attempt to generate more revenue for himself. Nothing wrong with that, but Dune was meant to have massive gaps in the story. That added mystery to the story. Now the story runs just fill-in-the-blank holes in the plotlines, and lacks its own sense of self. Only a few scenes managed to raise any emotional connection with the reader, and they were literally the last few pages. Other than that, I wonder if they're running out of ideas. You've got a cover of the Burning Man festival on Caladan, and a psychic defense shield created by "happy, joyful thoughts." I thought I'd read something earlier last year in another book series about a similar defense mechanism, something I think was called a Patronus.

There were a few sections I was surprised to see not covered. Nothing about the wanderings of Paul or the romance between Jessica and Gurney Halleck, or of Jessica's reconcillation with the Sister. But, maybe, that's because the roots of another sequel have been planted. Let's say it's an "army of the dead." Gawdhelpuz.

Please, Brian and Kevin, stop in the name of Frank! We don't need any more stories. I don't need to see a "Shaddam of Dune," or a "Fenring of Dune," or an "Irulan pf Dune." We don't want a trilogy about the events of Royal Twins, or about the events after "Children of Dune," or during the Famine Years, or the Scattering. Just, please, stop!

First, note that all of the praise quotes attributed to people like Arthur C. Clark and Robert Heinlein are quotes given to Frank Herbert's original "Dune" novel, published in 1965, NOT to the 2009 novel "Winds of Dune" by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Claiming that those quotes (by authors how are now dead) can have anything to do a different novel by different authors is clearly misinformation.

The book itself is not worth reading and I am amazed that such garbage is allowed to be published. Tor books should be ashamed. I suspect that any positive reviews were entered by advertising drones - none of those 5-star reviews actually describe any details or particulars of the book itself.

Caveat emptor.

To begin: To anyone who follows the discussion threads, you know I don't like this new series. To those who don't follow them, I am a member of a Dune Fan site that is very outspoken against what we see to be a complete misuse, abuse, and blatant disregard for the legacy of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Winds of Dune follows in the tradition of Brian and Kevin's previous series in that the characterizations aren't just missing, they are in many cases plain wrong. I've said often that I believe that Kevin writes only for the specific moment in which the reader resides, the most microscopic form of the NOW. He completely disregards elements of the Dune universe if they do not fit the exact moment of contact that eyes transmit and brain interprets, even if 2-3 sentences before or after he has to contradict himself. The typical complaints are here: plots that would insult the intellect of a 4th grader. Characters who's only distinguishing characteristic is their name or role. IQ's are yet again non-existent.

Example? Duncan and Gurney are trying to track down Bronso. They need pictures of him because he's erased all records of himself. After about a paragraph of Duncan mentioning he needs pictures of Bronso, they magically appear: He doesn't need them, the Ixians provided him with them. The book is rife with these little micro-plots that serve no purpose other than to fill space and provide even more evidence that the authors know nothing (or just don't care) about the Universe as Frank created it.

The fact that the authors would suggest that Duncan needs pictures of what Bronso looks like also illustrates another very lacking foundation in these books: Editing. Why do they need pictures of what he looks like when:

1)Bronso's first terrorist act in the book? Making his face appear in the clouds over Paul's Funeral.
2)His second? faking his execution by allowing a Face Dancer (shapeshifter) to die in his place. Immediately after this every Face Dancer in the galaxy takes on his form. (only a few of them are detained and even fewer are executed.)

If his face is that recognizable by everyone in the universe, why do the two security men assigned to find him need pictures of him? Duncan knew Bronso as a child as well as being a witness to the funeral apparition. He's a mentat, a human computer designed to store massive amounts of data and separate relevant facts, yet he can't remember the face of someone he's seen multiple times. Guild security (which includes genetic scanners to set up a joke in one scene but never again) as well as 900 mentats specifically trained to look for him in spaceports can't find him.

The fact that the Face Dancers are creations of the distrusted Bene Tleilaxu is ignored because the book tells us that this is an irrelevant matter; Bronso hates the Tleilaxu so he obviously wouldn't work with them. Dune is a book about consequence, yet there are no consequences for anyone's actions in these books. Alia actually rewards a troupe of face dancer Jongleurs for their performance that she knows (or should know) are associated with Bronso, right after a group of face dancers interrupted her execution of Bronso. Following the logic in this book requires more suspension of disbelief than is healthy.

Duncan and Gurney know there is only 1 method of travel in the Duniverse: The Guild. Bronso's pamphlets appear magically in people's luggage after traveling on Guild Ships. It takes a Human Computer and a Security Expert 370 pages out of a 400 page novel to figure out that the crews are in league with Bronso, even after Gurney witnesses a crewman planting a pamphlet in the first 20 pages. That's like getting off a plane flight and finding a package of salted peanuts in your bag and not having the mental computation power to realize where it came from.

I believe that Brian Herbert's involvement in the actual writing of the book extends only so far as his conscience requires for him to claim co-authorship. EDIT: I've posted elsewhere that the co-authoring relationship between the two authors seems to be breaking down. This is a feeling I've had from reading the book and seeing large discrepancies in how Bronso's assault on Muad'dib godhood seems to change back and forth rapidly, not based on particular character's views, but on the moral and factual axis of Historic writing. It seems to me that Brian is beginning to regret adding as much as they have to the Dune cycle: perhaps he is starting to see it as mere fluff rather than philosophically constructive to his father's legacy.

Oh, and for the last time: Bene Gesserit DO. NOT. HAVE. PSYCHIC. POWERS. Frank himself explained voice as a method of control and authority, and pointed out its uses in our modern era. It is merely a trained extension of that, knowing who you are talking to and what motivates them, and tuning into that in order to slip commands directly into their instinctive response. A Sargent yelling "Grenade!" to his troops is a primitive form of voice: the soldiers don't think about the command, they instinctively react as they were trained to do. The Sargent isn't psychic Kevin.

I know some people are entertained by these books. Dune to me is something more, something sacred, it is a monument of Human Literature: to my friends I refer to it as a 'manual on humanity'. Therefore I see it as my duty to speak out against these philistine imitations. As a student of literature, I consider it a duty to know what I'm talking about so yes, I did read it, cover to cover.

Sad to say, and speaking as one who generally likes the post-Frank work of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, this book was a fail.

Unlike the interesting if uneven previous book, Paul of Dune, first in the latest batch of Dune novels from Herbert & Anderson, Winds of Dune sprawled all over the place with nowhere in particular to go. What was this story, really? I'm still not sure. I think it was supposed to be a parable about the complexities of a deifying a ruler. But it really, really wanted to be about the complexities of being Jessica too. And Alia.

Even writing this review is tiresome.

Look, fans like me will read these novels because they are official canon. But Herbert & Anderson have done better in the past. Much better. So I know the franchise is not necessarily lost to banality. Here's hoping for a return to something better.

One of the editorial reviews says that the authors write "with their usual skill." Regrettably, that's about right. It's hard for me to believe that Jessica would ever return to the Bene Gesserit later, after defying them so entirely in this book, or that Alia would be so heavy-handed and shortsighted, given her parentage and the circumstances of her birth. Honestly, she comes off more like Beast Rabban in drag, even though her possession has begun at this point.

Then the authors proceed to pull a new Bene Gesserit power, "guilt-casting," out of their backsides - you know, the terrifying ability to induce a coma that somehow fails to appear in any other Dune book, FH or BH/KJA? Yeah, that one.

What really chapped me - OK, one of the things that chapped me - was the scene on Wallach IV where Tessia is rescued. Seriously, vortices of psychic energy? SERIOUSLY?! What next, people shooting lightning out of their hands à la Star Wars?

So, not quite the literary abortion that *Sandworms* was but I'd still strongly recommend borrowing it rather than buying it.

Alright, I offer peace between our two camps for a moment. Without hot boiled vehement contempt for So called KJA Ditto-heads or so called Shills in the form of stylish intellectual jabs white knuckled sarcasm, and don't get me wrong my fellow Herbertarians, I LOVE YOU ALL FOR THIS, I shall try to appeal to you Nu-Duniacs emotionally.

First and foremost it is impossible for us to sympathize with either KJA or Herbert the younger because like it or not, they undertook this unbelievable undertaking with completely open eyes. As a Writer myself, I think I speculate honestly when I say that many of us start off believing that no writer with integrity would come in after the death of a famous brilliant writer and start mucking around with his legacy. This is called DEFERENCE. Deferential personalities usually don't approach a great work thinking that it's their place to add or subtract or change it for the better. In fact such abhorrent notions are the antithesis of Deference, it is in fact arrogance. (also hubris, but that don't rhyme as well with deference as arrogance, it's a matter of choice... ;)) I think that what stings the most is the attitude that there are to be improvements on these six great books.

But leaving that aside for a moment, Here's the problem simply from my perspective, (herein speaking I now generalize what I think all the OH's position is, however each man and woman amongst us speaks quite well for his/herself and can freely tell my to go to heck if I am off. Let the record show I accept that possibility):
Readers of Dune, lovers of dune, started their love of dune under the care of a brilliantly elegant, magnificently eloquent, story teller, whom imbued his prose with an uncanny combination of heady, didactic narration and overabundant characterization of amazingly well thought out and well represented, unique and memorable personalities which populated his universe. We got to know Paul and Jessica and the Letos, Chani and Ghani and so on and so fourth under his guidance, heard their voices through his brilliantly stylized prose which managed to think for the characters peripherally while at the same time remained biased to each of their whims and grander schemes. He told us what was happening, what might happen, what might have happened and what will happen so seamlessly that you didn't even realize that you were being both hand held through the process as well as schooled on how to think about the outcome when all was said and done. Many, many, many writers, brilliant writers, cannot do this as well as he did it, and the main problems the OH's have is that when THEY hear the word DUNE they think of it in the music of Frank's words. Hence the visceral reaction when reading of any and all of these characters in the form of lesser Prose.

And now let us face the truth of it. These new books are written in blatantly lesser prose, there's just no if ands or buts about it, kids, these words are base, they are flat, they are not stylized, there is no art of rhythm or ebb and flow to them. They read (to coin a phrase from a famous movie) like stereo instructions. So the upper echelon tier of the OH is quite dismayed at this, they get up, the leave the table, never to look back on sheer virtue of what they would come to consider "bad writing" in and of itself. They are both right and wrong, because as individuals in the free world they are allowed to like or dislike whatever they want, and they are free to decide (should they choose) that the things that they DON'T LIKE are definable in the realm of Good or Bad. Personally I tend to consider Good and Bad as public domain and will refrain from calling something out as a good or bad thing predicated simply on weather I liked it or not, but there you have it again, preference.

So to sum up:
Writing: definitely lesser (no arguments about it)
Lovers of original Prose: Will tend to dislike or hate. (When they label it bad, this is just a matter of opinion, but this is how they feel, and the word fan is an offshoot of the word FANatic, so passions will always flair. Getting bent or twisted about this is a waste of everyone's time. Everyone needs to grow up a little. But that there is just in MHO!)

Now tier two of the OH has gone a little further than tier one. They brazened through the prose and got to the meat of the books and they too have come up wanting.

Here's were this gets sticky, because like it or not, Nu-Dune-reviewers, they are absolutely right about this angle:
I worked for nearly twenty years in the comic book industry. Crazy as they like to be, those kooky comic kids did turn quite a telling phrase when it came to growling at unscrupulous writers that came slipping into their favorite line of books and began Face-Dancing all over their pastime indulgences. They called it "Retroactive Continuity" or RetCon, Verbalized as "Retconning" when it's found to be done on a regular basis.

It works like this:
Writer one says "Wolverine is the best at what he does.". For whatever reason he moves on and Writer Two comes in and says, "Yeah he is, but except on Tuesdays when he sleeps in!". This deplorable act is usually done on the sneak, true believers. Fans go "WTF?! What's this Tuesday crap?" And now Writer two, Suddenly the premier word-smith of the book cracks wise and cheeky and says "like it or lump it, fools! That be the way it is from now on!"

And thus we have our example.
He, whom is a fan of a thing, knows a thing. He whom knows a thing is fully aware when what he knows is being changed or tampered with. He whom holds what he knows about that thing as sacred to him will strike out with great vengeance and furious anger at those whom try to poison what he knows and you will know he is a "True Fan" when he lays his on opinion down on the world wide web!

Item one:
I know that Vlad Harkonnen was thinking about getting rid of Piter before the fateful sneak attack on the Atreides in book one.
I know he was lamenting that thinking because he enjoyed aspects of Piter's ruthlessness.
I know that once Piter was accidentally slain in the baron's place, Thufir Hawat was pressed into Harkonnen service as a worthy replacement
I know that in spite of this, at a few points in book one, Vlad did indeed still miss certain characteristics in Piter that Hawat lacked.
I know that as far as these stories are concerned, spanning over 5000 years of Herbertarian History, the only Ghola to regain his consciousness was Duncan Idaho
So knowing that, I also know that all these factors were blatantly contradicted in Paul of dune.
I know that if the Baron valued Piter, and thought his current Piter was starting to slip he would not have lamented replacing his mentat master of assassins if he had axolotl tanks full of new Piters on stand by waiting on Bene Tleilax! (Leaving aside how little sense it makes to have your master of assassins, essentially the Duniverse equivalent of a Consigliere, mass produced off site where this very important component of your regime can be easily tampered with)
I know to ask that if only Duncan can regain his consciousness, what good would a brand new mindless ghola that looks like Piter be to the Baron Harkonnen?
I DEDUCE, from what I know, that this plot point was cheeky and cute and hatched in an uneducated (in terms of the details of their own universe) brainstorm amongst the Nu-Dune authors and they either didn't care to or didn't bother to go back and verify weather or not this ornate scenario was plausible in accordance to the rules of the cans and cant's that master Herbert the elder laid down when he painstakingly developed his Legacy.

Item Two:
I know that Paul had never left caladan before his trip to Dune, according to Book one.
I know that he was the only son of Duke Leto I and Lady Jessica, whom broke with her betters in order to birth him in the first place.
I know that Leto refused Jessica marriage in order to leave the way to the Imperial throne open by way or arranged marriage
So I know that the new addition of his OTHER son by his first wife makes absolutely no sense in accordance with the narrative given us in the original books, neither does the fact that Paul, a student of prana bindu and extensive bene Gesserit training, was allowed to run away from home and join the circus.
I know that Book one wasn't an assemblage of convenient lies penned by Irulan to build the legend of Muad'dib. The chapter headings were exerts of her writings, not the mane body of the text. Meaning that what Frank wrote in his first book was not speculation or a secular point of view on the real happenings in the Muad'dib era, but in fact CANON of what happened in detail.
Therefore I know that saying that Irulan lied is not quite as clever an out for Lesser Herb and his compadre as they thought, since that device only potentially changes the chapter headings and doesn't touch the main body text. Meaning that their subsequent books are nothing more than inaccurate contradictions of the classic books and therefore invalid as genuine cannon.
Shaddam can have an army of Ghola's if he wants. Don't change the fact that he died on Selusa in exile.
Sure Jessica can some back to dune right after Paul "died" if you want to say so. It doesn't change the fact that her absence (in the true canon) was part of the catalyst for Alia's insanity and subsequent possession by the Baron Harkonnen. Take all the plot points away you and, have as many Ghola's as you want, it don't change a thing. These books I believe will sadly vanish into obscurity even in the hearts and minds of their fans, as they all tend to blur anyways, and offer very little in the way of memorable events or dialog or character development.

Item three:
I know that the other OH's picked up on this.
I know they were dismayed by this.
I know they made their feelings apparent to all.
I know when you have this kind of wanton insensitivity towards the original canon of compiled with a SEEMINGLY deliberately artless "style" of prose you will get push backs from Fans that are paying attention.

You can love these new books, but you have to admit they are inferior to the originals, weather you are a fan of the subsequent books or not. Not everyone loved Return of the Jedi, Until episode one came out. Then it was al solidarity, baby! You also have to admit that these new boys are changing the old boys words and ideas to continue to write these books. What is the point then? Supposedly Frank's legacy was completed with Dune 7, what is the point of continuing now if not for the cash?

Ahh it brings ups the old eighties futility litany

"I do cocaine so I can work harder
So I can earn more
So I can do more Cocaine"

Or

"We started writing new dune books so we could finish the duniverse
so we could change a few things
So we could write more dune books!"

Dune is an old story, not as old as the bible or Lord of the rings, but it runs a close third or forth in the line of epic novels that span several books to tell a larger than life story that is beloved by generation after generation. It is CHILDISHELY NAÏVE to expect that any and all attempts to expand on these books (even if painstaking care was attributed to their development) would be embraced mightily by the die hards. Now couple this with the fact that these new books are not only poorly written, but are not even meticulous in their trampling steps all over the intricate details of what came before, is it any wonder that the Orthodox Herbertarians came into being?

The purpose of this was to explain where we are coming from evenhandedly, because sometimes when writing these things it's easy to get heated in the head and start lashing out with hard words and spitefulness. You are not fools for loving this, we are not haters for not. We all pick up books to get taken to somewhere else, sometimes that works for some of us, sometimes it doesn't. We get verbal when we're left flat from a book we were hoping would get us to the promised land, and having intellects capable of problem solving and comprehension of conveyed word stuff on type face, we tend to use our prowess to express our disappointment. We shouldn't be fighting one another, not OVER BOOKS. History is full of the terrible consequences of interpretation and re-interpretation of someone else's written point of view. See Crusades! ;) We should heed the lessons learned from these costly missteps and not turn the store into the new dead marshes, or the next Literarian jihad!

I Know you will all be safe here at year's end!
I Know this next year will be better than the last!
I know I wish you all a happy new year!

For one of the prequel/sequel/tweener books, it wasn't bad. Now in fairness, that may be because after the abortion that was Sandworms of Dune, everything else looks good by comparision, but this book really ... wasn't that bad. Obviously, the bar for this series has been lowered, but it was ... kinda good? Sure Alia was cartoonish, and they ran away and joined the circus, and Paul hadn't really lost it because he let some people sneak off the planet before killing the billions left, but ... what was my point again? Oh yeah, given all that, the story still held me, I'm a sucker for Jessica, what can I say? These guys will write another one, and I'll buy it just like everyone so we can do our annual mass-bitch. Did I mention it wasn't Sandworms of Dune? That's a plus, right?

Disclaimer: I am a staunch Dune fan. I acknowledge the differences with FH, and I have enjoyed almost all of the BH/KJA entries so far. I am not just another reviewer who is angry about the later books.

Nevertheless, I was very disappointed in this book.

Minor issue- Style
The writing style is even more immature than in previous entries, the short chapters essentially quick vignettes like watching scenes in a TV program. We are presented with cartoon-style explanations of exactly what people are doing and why. Oh wait, let me say that again, e.x.a.c.t.l.y. what they are doing and why. This is the antithesis of FH, though in his case he was too far the other way (we never really knew what half the characters were thinking, and in some instances, actually saying).

Major issue- Plot and characters
I have no problem accepting new canon (I really liked the House series). That is not the issue. The problem here is that at least two of the major characters (Alia and Duncan) are completely wrong. It is as if, in order to generate conflict, the authors decided to demonize them. Yes, they are the main antagonists in this book. This is not a spoiler-from the beginning, Alia is reduced to predictable tyranny, essentially throwing a childish tantrum throughout the entire book. (In that, she oddly resembles Omnius) Duncan is reduced to her henchman. Neither display compelling intelligence or redeeming qualities. The plot follows this disappointing scenario, as our protagonists strive to sneak around behind Alia's back. Really? That's what this book is about?

Keep in mind, though, that this change of heart for Alia comes BEFORE she starts listening to you-know-who-in-her-head.

So disappointing. While reading it, I was constantly reminded of watching one of those straight-to-DVD Disney "extra" movies, where a second rate cast and composer tell stories that fill in gaps of time in the original blockbuster. A new villain has to be created, strange twists in the characters occur to keep it interesting, and nobody ends up taking it seriously. BH and KJA: I've really enjoyed most of your additions to Dune. I've been a little disappointed in some decisions, but I've stood behind you. Not this time. That's not Alia. You just can't do that. 2 stars.

I was thoroughly surprised upon reading Winds of Dune that I actually agreed with the litany of negative reviews about this book. I have, overall, quite liked all of KJA and BH additions over the years but this is simply: BORING. And more than that--it doesn't feel right. For the first time I wonder if our pair of authors are, indeed, milking a cash cow.

After finishing the newest book in the ongoing Dune Chronicles, I have mixed feelings about this entry. I felt that parts of the book were excellent and other parts lacked the depth and mysticism that make Dune so wonderful.

The book actually focuses on one of my very favorite characters, Jessica Atreides, mother of Paul Muad'Dib. Knowing this ahead of time (as the original title was set to be Jessica of Dune), I was really looking forward to exploring the events of this time period through her eyes. The story opens immediately after the end of Dune: Messiah and Jessica learns that Paul has disappeared into the desert on Arrakis and is presumed dead. The loss of one's child would certainly be emotional and devastating and the authors portrayed this very well. As the story continues, she makes her way to Dune to attend the funeral and reunite with her daughter Alia, who is acting as Regent in waiting for Paul's newborn children to come of age to rule in their father's place.

Set in the middle of this time period are two sections of the book (each approx. 100 pages in length) where Jessica actually tells different stories, set earlier in the Dune timeline. To avoid spoilers, I will not go into details on the events described here but I will say that I enjoyed one a lot more than the other. Part IV of the book was set 7 years after the fall of Shadam IV and deep in the middle of Paul's jihad. This section of the book really shines, in my opinion. We see how Jessica struggles with what her son has become and the bloody devastation he has unleashed upon the known universe. The emotional swings that she passes through seem very genuine as she tries to decide if Paul still exists or if the "prophet" Muad'Dib has completely consumed him. One thing that I thought would have been a very nice touch would be a shift to first person narrative for these two "flashback" sections since Jessica was telling the story from her perspective, but no previous Dune books have ever been written in first person , so this was probably not considered.

As a whole, this is not one of my favorite books in the "new" Dune series, though it certainly has its merits. If you enjoy Brian and Kevin's writing you will want to include this on your reading list as it certainly has its place in their body of work and is definitley worthwhile, but if you are not a fan of these new books, there is nothing new here and you probably shouldn't spend your time reading it.

Apparently Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson aren't finished milking Frank Herbert's cash cow. First prequels, then sequels, and now a midquel.

In this case, "The Winds of Dune" explores the months after the blinded, grief-stricken Paul Atreides aka Muad'Dib wandered off into the desert. While Anderson and Herbert conjure some touching moments as the people in Paul's life deal with his loss, they don't manage to make the story come alive -- the prose and beloved characters are flat.

On Caladan, Jessica is shocked by the news of her son's apparent death, Chani's tragic loss, and the birth of her twin grandchildren. She rushes to Arrakis to assist Alia, now appointed Regent, and discovers that Dune has changed in many ways -- Paul's loss has only increased fanatical devotion (and equally fanatical division), and the ruthless Alia is determined to cement Paul's legacy.

Cue a novella-sized flashback about Paul's childhood, and how he and his friend Bronso of Ix ran away to join the circus... er, the Facedancer Jongleurs. No, seriously.

Unfortunately, Bronso of Ix has since become a sort of idealistic terrorist, disrupting Paul's "funeral" and spreading heretical pamphlets which seek to reveal Paul's flaws and atrocities. Jessica attempts to soften Alia's increasingly ruthless reign as her daughter prepares to marry Duncan Idaho -- but Bronso's determination to kill the legend of Muad'Dib leads to some very big new problems. But is all this Muad'Dib's will?

"The Winds of Dune" is one of those novels that might have been a decent sci-fi read if it had been based on its own universe. But as a Dune story, it seems like glorified fanfiction with a cool cover -- an attempt to fill in various plot points between "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune," such as Alia's marriage to the ghola Duncan Idaho and the water ceremonies.

There isn't actually much plot in "Winds of Dune" except for Alia's increasingly tyrannical actions, and Jessica's attempts to moderate her loopy attempts to deify Paul. There's a spattering of assassination plots, ceremonies (both official and Fremen), Bene Gesserit evilness, and lots of political wheeling and dealing. But without a pair of hefty flashbacks -- about a Bene Gesserit rebellion and running away to the circus -- it would be a very skinny book.

And sadly Herbert and Anderson don't bring much life to the narrative. There are some touching moments -- such as Stilgar's mystical moment with a sandworm -- but mostly it's an unexciting, flatly-written stretch, filled with weird plot twists that rarely work (guess what: Paul was adored because he used Jongleur hypnosis on EVERYBODY!). Seriously, how did they make explosive assassination attempts and hardcore spice hallucinations into half-page-long, emotionless borefests?

The characters are similarly undeveloped -- while the flashbacks temporarily resurrect beloved characters like Chani, Yueh and Duke Leto, none of them have much personality. Alia is suddenly a two-dimensional, crazy, fanatical brat, and gets engaged to Duncan with little evidence of actual romance. It's like, "Hey Mommy, I'm marrying Duncan! Surprise!"

Jessica is the one major exception, as we see her struggle with her losses, and try to keep the truth about Paul's virtues and flaws alive. Same with some minor supporting characters like the torn Stilgar and grieving Gurney Halleck (whose attraction to Jessica begins to flower).

"The Winds of Dune" is basically an official fanfiction, attempting to add plot in between Frank Herbert's original works -- babies, weddings, and collectible Muad'Dib souvenirs. It simply doesn't work.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will make my admission now. I never finished reading DUNE. I never got past page 50 or so. So I don't come into THE WINDS OF DUNE with a fountain of knowledge and/or a great passion for the preceding work. Which leads me to a second admission. THE WINDS OF DUNE is an astonishingly good book.

The novel was originally slated to be called JESSICA OF DUNE, and it certainly would have been fitting. Much of the book is from her perspective. Changing the title to THE WINDS OF DUNE is also fitting. This volume inserts itself into the Dune chronology directly after the events of DUNE MESSIAH, in which Paul-Muad'Dib, the Emperor of Dune, abandons his children and his life by simply walking into the desert of Arrakis, leaving his 16-year-old sister, Alia, to serve as Regent. As such, the winds of change begin to blow across the Imperium, and Alia must step forth with strength and conviction to match her older brother or lose all he worked hard to create.

As Alia struggles to find her own footing, and likewise to uphold the deification of her brother throughout the galaxy, the despised Bronso of Ix continues to hammer out treatises against Paul. Seeking to undercut the myth, Bronso exaggerates and manipulates the truth in the opposite direction of Alia and Irulan, Paul's wife and biographer. Alia calls forth the full power of her forces to track down Bronso and bring him to justice, salvaging her brother's legacy.

These are major threads that weave through the narrative, but mostly this is a book devoted to Jessica, and of her torment and strength. As the mother of Paul and Alia, she is pulled in multiple directions. Alia takes up the title of Regent, but Jessica is disturbed by her actions in defense of Paul's legacy. She herself is conflicted about Paul, her son. His death has shaken her, though her Bene Gesserit training prohibits her from showing it, but she is also haunted by the guilt that she had designs on killing him because of the horrors of his jihad. The reason she never ended his life is her secret, one she has borne for years, and the weight of which has finally reached the point of needing to be told.

Equally important in this storyline is the revelation about the friendship of Paul and Bronso, and the remarkable journey they took together as young boys. Woven into the present day, Jessica reveals the past partnership of House Atreides and House Vernius, the strength of the bond between the fathers and the sons, and ultimately the event that severed that bond, guiding Bronso on a path to tear down the messianic image of his childhood friend, Paul.

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have teamed up to write a compelling story, one with great emotional depth, and enough action and intrigue to keep the tale advancing at a decent pace. They also serve the continuing saga by including kernels of plot that no doubt see the light of day in CHILDREN OF DUNE and beyond. With THE WINDS OF DUNE, they have succeeded in doing much more than delivering a solid, enjoyable read. They have sparked an interest in me to revisit that old abandoned tome once more, and in that regard this work is a resounding success.

--- Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard

I have ripped through all Brian Herbert's and Keviin Anderson's Dune books, I only finish books when they are so good I can't put them down, this is the only series where I had the next book lined up ready to go, so I wouldn't be without the next Dune story. I have read negative reviews and can't understand them. I read all the original Dune books and only loved the first one and "God Emperor of Dune." All the other books I just read hoping they get interesting.

Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert have delivered (yet again) an excellent foray into the realm of the Dune Universe. Winds of Dune tells the story of the Empire immediately following the death of Paul Muad'Dib Atreides. The story explores the new found role of Alia, sister to Paul, Irulan, official biographer and wife of Paul, Jessica, the mother of Paul, as well as the Ghola Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck. Exploring these characters and their attempts to cope with the death of Paul while continuing to rule the empire and care for his children provides readers with a greater insight into characters from the classic novels. The novel also reveals a previously unexplored past of Paul Atreides, providing insight into Muad'Dib and his former friend Bronso of Ix, who becomes a major character in the novel, providing an excellent spring board for the characters to discover the legacy of Muad'Dib, both publicly and privately. Kevin and Brian's writing is an easy to read and intelligent format, while simultaneously telling the story in their own style while remaining true to the work of Frank Herbert.

For those unfamiliar with the Dune Universe, I don't suggest starting here. While Kevin and Brian do an excellent job of covering their bases as to the importance and relevance of characters and events, the book takes place in between the classic Dune novels Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, and new readers won't have the necessary background or appreciation for characters, and situations. However this is not to say that one couldn't just pick this up and read it, because you certainly could.

Here's the bottom line; If you enjoy the classic Dune novels, read this book. If you enjoy the previous work of Kevin Anderson and Brian Herbert, read this book. If you enjoy rich, character driven stories, read this book. If you've never read anything outside of Frank Herbert's Dune novels, read this book. If you're still reading this review, why? Go read the book already, you'll enjoy it.

I just finished it and really liked it. The previous Dune universe books by KJA and BH felt like they were being told by different voices (which was fine. For me that actually worked in their favor), but by returning to the time and place of the original trilogy, they're capturing some of the flavor of the original. Oh, I'm sure there are purists out there who are experts in the minutiae of the original Dune books, and God bless 'em. It's been a number of years since I've read them--and I'll make a point to to do so again. But taken on its own merits, I found "The Winds Of Dune" to be a solidly entertaining novel. It was almost like getting caught up with old friends.

Ever since reading the original Dune back in highschool I have had a ravenous appetite for any and all things Dune. It was just at that time that the first Dune Prequels were coming out but I dutifully read through all of Frank Herbert's Originals before delving into Mr Anderson and Mr Herberts novels.

While the style of these novels is decidedly different than the originals that should not make the diehard Frank Herbert fan stay away from them. there more approachable style shed light on some concepts even a major Dune nerd like myself had found obscure in the original novels. and finally once armed with the information of the first 6 prequel novels i went back to the originals to read through completely and enjoy the grand finale that was finally written. it is on these second readings that one really grasps how great the prequels were to fit in so well with the originals and they both work to elevate the others.

This new book is no different. filling in a very interesting time after Paul's walk into the dessert we get to witness how Alia grabbed the reigns of the imperium and beagn her troubled rule that we will see in Children of Dune. All the characters we know and love are given much more depth than was ever possible before. and several new interesting characters are introduced to further the tale.

The main character who has really benefited from these novels is the count Fenring a character given a very shady short description in the original novels, here he leaps of the page as a fully realized character, who holds great power despite his lack of prominence.

Using a great flashback sequence the novel manages to show both glimpses of pauls childhood and the universe after his disapearance and seeing the vast changes wrought by him are even more breathtaking with this format.

If there were any complaints to be leveled at this and its most recent predecessor it would likely be that while the events easily fit into the overall Dune narrative created by Frank Herbert there are less concrete links and i imagine reading them all in chronilogical sequence might cause some troubles by characters who show up only in these prequels and then would disapear for the Frank Herbert book in between and then show up again. for this reason i would still suggest to any readers new to the Dune series to at least read Frank Herberts original three Dune novels before plunging into these prequels. but once you have you will not regret it.

"Winds of Dune", the latest collaboration in the Dune series written by Brian Herbert and Kevin K. Anderson, begins in Caladan at the court of the Lady Jessica, now Duchess of Caladan, in the days immediately following the presumed death of her son, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, after his final walk into the desert of Arrakis. Blind and feeling as if there is nothing left to live for after the death of his mate, Chani, Muad'Dib leaves Imperium and Godhead behind. The care of the Imperium and his infant twins has now been thrust into the hands of his sister, Alia, a teenager who was born with all of the memories of a Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit. As Alia struggles to face the difficult choices lain before her, her appetite for power increases...

In the hopes of assisting her daughter in these tumultuous early days of the Regency, the Lady Jessica leaves her peaceful life on Caladan to return to Arrakis and the deification of her family. It is not long before Alia wonders if her mother is indeed her ally or is trying to steal the reins of power from her. Alia's problems increase as Bronso of Ix's propaganda against her late brother infiltrate the Imperium at an alarming rate. Bronso's works contradict everything that Muad'Dib's priesthood of the Qizarate and the Princess Irulan's histories have said.

Like a Coriolis storm, everyone's lives are thrown about in their own bitter struggles: Alia struggles to maintain control of the Regency, Gurney Halleck has his own inner turmoil confronting his most forbidden desires, the Naib Stilgar is torn between loyalty to Muad'Dib's children and the Regency, Princess Irulan is torn between Alia's wishes to deify Muad'Dib and Paul's secret wishes to present him in a more human, fallible light.

"Winds of Dune" carries us through the early days of Alia's Regency with flashbacks onto Paul's youth and early days of his Empire. A host of new characters is introduced, older ones revisited, all of whom help to tie in events of the past to events of the original Frank Herbert novels, yet it leaves the reader with enough loose ends to wonder what happens in those years between "Winds of Dune" and "Children of Dune". We are left with tantalizing glimpses of Alia's growing lust for power, Irulan's role as caretaker to the Imperial Heirs, and Jessica's struggle to choose between a peaceful life on Caladan and concern for her young grandchildren.

If you enjoyed this novel, please feel free to keep up on other works by Kevin J. Anderson :
[...]

July 21 at 8:54pm
Another smash hit from the writers of the Dune Series . From the opening chapter of the book to the very end it is non-stop action adventure . As I went from chapter to chapter of The Winds of Dune, I found myself unable to put the book down. It is a great chronicle of the events that begin after Paul (Maud'Dib) walks of into the desert at the end of Dune Messiah. It chronicles Lady Jessica's return to Dune to pay her respects to her son which is quickly turned into chaos by Bronso of IX (the childhood friend of young Paul Atreides). Regent Alia as she struggles to keep the Imperial Government strong after the loss of Maud"Dib musters every available resource she has to track down and put a end to Bronso and his campaign to put a end to the myth and legend of the former leader. Lady Jessica is prominent in this book as she is on a mission to carry out the wishes of her son. We also learn more about the loyalties of Gurney Halleck and the ghola Duncan Idaho to Lady Jessica and Regent Alia . And not to be left out as in any Dune novel the powerful and mysterious Bene Gesserit order and their continuing mission to put things back in order their way.The relationship of Paul Atreides and Bronso are told very well and their adventures are inserted in a way to bring understanding and meaning to the outcome of this great book.. Readers will not be disappointed as tensions rise between mother(lady Jessica) and daughter (Alia). Page after page a great tale of the Dune world unfolds and does not stop until the very last page. This is a wonderful work by the writing talents of Brian Herbert and Kevin J.Anderson. Every Dune reader will marvel in a great addition to the Dune Universe. "Winds of Dune" is a tale of loyalties and a mother who believes in keeping honor to the Atredies name. Watch for surprises and turns in the story that you will not expect when you start the novel. Michael Hood

This book are so good written. I always know Paul rally was off Caladan many times even though he dad said he wernt. I wish these book would come out in order though. Its too hard to keep trak of where everything is happening. I think us Dune fans wan't to see Dune rewritten so it fits in with the new books more better. Heopfully the movie will include details from these books too!@ Keep up writing (i'll keep listening).

July 21 at 8:54pm
Another smash hit from the writers of the Dune Series . From the opening chapter of the book to the very end it is non-stop action adventure . As I went from chapter to chapter of The Winds of Dune, I found myself unable to put the book down. It is a great chronicle of the events that begin after Paul (Maud'Dib) walks of into the desert at the end of Dune Messiah. It chronicles Lady Jessica's return to Dune to pay her respects to her son which is quickly turned into chaos by Bronso of IX (the childhood friend of young Paul Atreides). Regent Alia as she struggles to keep the Imperial Government strong after the loss of Maud"Dib musters every available resource she has to track down and put a end to Bronso and his campaign to put a end to the myth and legend of the former leader. Lady Jessica is prominent in this book as she is on a mission to carry out the wishes of her son. We also learn more about the loyalties of Gurney Halleck and the ghola Duncan Idaho to Lady Jessica and Regent Alia . And not to be left out as in any Dune novel the powerful and mysterious Bene Gesserit order and their continuing mission to put things back in order their way.The relationship of Paul Atreides and Bronso are told very well and their adventures are inserted in a way to bring understanding and meaning to the outcome of this great book.. Readers will not be disappointed as tensions rise between mother(lady Jessica) and daughter (Alia). Page after page a great tale of the Dune world unfolds and does not stop until the very last page. This is a wonderful work by the writing talents of Brian Herbert and Kevin J.Anderson. Every Dune reader will marvel in a great addition to the Dune Universe. "Winds of Dune" is a tale of loyalties and a mother who believes in keeping honor to the Atredies name. Watch for surprises and turns in the story that you will not expect when you start the novel. Michael Hood

This book are so good written. I always know Paul rally was off Caladan many times even though he dad said he wernt. I wish these book would come out in order though. Its too hard to keep trak of where everything is happening. I think us Dune fans wan't to see Dune rewritten so it fits in with the new books more better. Heopfully the movie will include details from these books too!@ Keep up writing (i'll keep listening).