Book Two of the Schools of Dune Trilogy - Mentats of Dune

I am quite bias because I love everything Dune. Great book! Kept me mesmerized. They aren't good as Frank but they are entertaining. The Butlerians remind me of the Christians of the Dark Ages and even now. Religion slows or evolution as humans. I have convictions and believe in The Most High but not like religions would have you believe. Long live Norma Cuerva and her descendants.

First review wouldn't post because it's evidently BAD FORM to make fun of others who constantly compare these authors to the MAN (Frank Herbert) which I don't do because.... Gee.... They are NOT Frank Herbert!

I am glad that these two decided to write these novels, because it's a way of further exploring the characters I've grown to love over the past 30 years, and I know the original books.... Very well. I've read all of the FH works over and over again, so the characters are just as real to me as my own family.

That said, it's a very simplistic approach, and although they are not considered books I couldn't put down, I always looked forward to finding out what happened next, and that, in my opinion, is what constitutes a success.

NOT what wasn't like Frank Herbert...

My advice: stop comparing these books to Frank Herbert, and read it them for what they are: adaptations, and spin-offs from notes left from a man who made his masterpieces, and now is gone.

The original Dune is a masterpiece and all the Frank Herbert Dune books are wonderful. The other series by his son and Mr Anderson are very pleasant and entertaining reads i have enjoyed reading and rereading them, i hope that a new volume will be added soon .Thank you.

Frank Herbert created a world that I could return to again and again, without ever tiring of it. The additions from Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have been enjoyable primarily for that reason. It is just such a rich world, and so there is no end to the stories that could be told (and, I think, ought to be). That being said, the writing style of Brian and Kevin leaves something to be desired, in my opinion. They are very good writers, and this book was as good as any they've written in the Dune Universe. But, they just spend too much time rehashing what happened in other books. It's almost as though they think that the reader has severe ADD, and will lose track of the story if they don't keep repeating things. This was an even more noticeable problem in this latest installment.

The other thing that is hard to swallow in these installments is the constant attempts to make profound statements, the vast majority of which are (at best) pithy, sound-bytish expressions of commonsense. It's nothing at all like the depth or the hints at future developments which were present in Frank Herbert's work.

However, I still give this 4 stars because, despite its deficiencies, it was very enjoyable to read. There was plenty of action, some touching moments, lots of intrigue (if a bit predictable). And it's really hard to go wrong when you're working in this world; undoubtedly one of the greatest in all of sci-fi.

Have read every one of the Herbert/Anderson series. All their novels re-hash events at the beginning of each chapter, but this time it was over the top annoying. Seemed like the book would be half as many pages without the recaps. Was also hoping this book was the final "bridge" to the first Dune book. Nope, Contrived to get yet another book in there. No meat to the story either, kept waiting for it to get to the good stuff, but didn't happen...disappointing.

Have read every one of the Herbert/Anderson series. All their novels re-hash events at the beginning of each chapter, but this time it was over the top annoying. Seemed like the book would be half as many pages without the recaps. Was also hoping this book was the final "bridge" to the first Dune book. Nope, Contrived to get yet another book in there. No meat to the story either, kept waiting for it to get to the good stuff, but didn't happen...disappointing.

Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert continue to expand and enrich the wondrous universe first brought to life by Brian's father, the late Frank Herbert. From completing his unfinished work in Hunters of Dune, to delving into the ancient lore of the Butlerian Jihad and the great Families that saved mankind from the tyranny of the Machine Empire, they continue to give life to the vast expanses of time and space first seen in the lives of Paul Muad'Dib, his Family Atreides, and the villainous Harkonnens in Dune.
In a style distinctly their own, yet perfectly comfortable to any fan of the original Dune series, they bring forth the stories behind the legends.
In Mentats of Dune, we find Gilbertus Albans who, by virtue of his tutelage under the maniacal robot Erasmus, has become the first Mentat, a human with the ability to organize his mind with the speed and efficiency of a Thinking Machine.
Gilbertus has founded the first Mentat School, and trains recruits under the ever-present and uneasy shadow of Manford Torondo, the leader of the Butlerian forces bent on annihilating any machinery deemed too advanced or unnecessary.
In all but open war with the Butlerians is Venport Holdings, the largest and most successful freight company in the Empire. Josef Venport, with the aid of the spice-mutated Navigators, has developed a near-monopoly on galactic freight and transportation with an absolutely perfect safety record. Venport believes the fanaticism of the Butlerian zealots and their war on technology threatens to regress all of mankind into a provencial and isolated existence, setting them back millenia.
Meanwhile, on a small dim planet, hoping remain unnoticed, Reverend Mother Anirule attempts to rebuild her Sisterhood from the near destruction of the attack of the first School on Rossack.
With a desperate and deadly secret concealed within the walls of his school, and the task of attempting to restore the mind of the Emperor's sister after her attempt to survive the Rossack Drug, Albans must balance politics, vision, and an image of loyalty to Torondo's forces.
Can even his superior mind keep his life's work from crumbling?

Consistent mastery of the mythology of the Dune universe. Telling of the story is STILL, after 12 volumes, in line with Papa Frank's narrative and dialogue style, easy to pick up, hard to put down. If you stopped reading DUNE after "Chapterhouse", you have a LOT of catching up to do, but oh, so worth it!

again they have captured my imagination for the planet dune and the politics of galactic intrigue, could not have been more pleased with this great story, the carry through of past stories and some but not all conclusions, They leave room and hope for more in the future.

This is a very good book especially considering it is the middle book of a trilogy. It provides closure to many of the unresolved issues raised in the first book of this trilogy.

The main focus of this book is the ongoing conflict between the anti-technology Butlerian fanatics led by Manford Torondo and the powerful industrialist Josef Venport.

Caught in the middle of this is the Corrino Emporer Salvador and his much wiser brother Roderick.

Also addressed in this book is:

- The Sisterhood, which has now been split up into two groups, one group loyal to the Butlerians and stationed on the Imperial capital of Salusa Secundus, and the other stationed on Wallach IX and led by the Reverend Mother Raquella Berto- Anirul.

- Gilbertus Albans, the head of the Mentat School who pubically supports the Butlerians out of fear his school would be shut down.

- Vorian Atrieides, the near immortal and hero of the Butlerian Jihad, who is looking to reconnect with his family.

- Valya Harkonnen, who has achieved Reverend Mother status and who is seeking to kill all Atrieides in revenge for what Vorian has done to her family.

This was a fine continuation of the Great Schools Trilogy. As usual the middle book of a trilogy is designed to maintain interest in the story so that you will buy the next book, this one did that and more. The continuation of Vorian Atreides story was welcome. The build up of the pressure between the Butlerians and Joshef Venport makes one wonder whether or not it can be resolved in the next book. Also I am wondering which school will be featured in the next book.
Will the issue of the hidden computers of the Sisterhood be resolved in the next book.

I have read all the Dune books. I was disappointed with this one. Too much of the story is a retelling of what happened in previous books. Not only once but sometimes more than once. Some was necessary, but it was excessive. As a result the story dragged. Additionally, although it is typical of many of these Dune books I get tired of the "bad" characters getting away with their violence and treachery, and there is no retribution. No satisfaction for the reader. Yet I still like entering into this fantastic world captured in the Dune series. It is fascinating this future world, and I love reading about it. The characters are still very interesting too.

I have loved the Dune series since the first time I read it. And I have read it several times. At first when Frank Herbert's son Brian and Kevin Anderson took over I had some problems reading those first few they wrote, I just kept saying to myself "Frank would have never done it this way." But then they started writing the prequels. I must say I have enjoyed most of those, the history of the machine wars, the start of the Harkonnen / Antreides vendetta. But we are back to Frank would have never wrote it this way.
This boeeok and the one before it are just about as bad as the first few they did in the Dune Universe. It follows no set story line, it jumps between many, many different story lines, to the point that you really are not sure where it falls in the timeline of the prequels, and it does not truly deserve the title it has because very little is on the story of the creation of mentats.
If you are going to continue to try and make money off your Father's Dream, and the story of Dune, then get it together and make the title and the storyline make sense, don't try and tell 10 stories in one book with the title of the book having the least amount of information in the book.
Ad one last thing, everyone in the universe just gets done watching cymeks kill billions and billions give up their lives to defeat them and just a few years later you have them starting the whole thing over. GET IT TOGETHER.

A Continuing expansion of the Dune universe, good for fans, but casual readers might be a bit bewildered by the references to previous works.I was not as annoyed by the long story as some seemed to be.

The storyline was consistent with the previous and subsequent books. I very much liked the fact that several stories keep on developing. I liked the evolution in the character of the robot Erasmus.
I'm hoping another chapter in this story is written.