I just got done with the last book in the Dune Prequels by Frank Herbert’s son Brian Herbert and coauthor Kevin J. Anderson. The two prequel series, Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune were both good in their own rights in that they tied together a lot of the back story of the original Dune series. One learns about why humans hate thinking machines, why they abhor atomics, how the spice was found, how the great houses were formed along with the spacing guild and the Bene Gesserit who formed the trinity of power in the Dune universe. The prequels delve into the history between the Atreides and the Harkonnen and why they had become such bitter rivals.

Other than these revealing facts the prequels themselves do not achieve the same greatness that the original series had. I tried to put my finger on it but despite drawing off a treasure trove of notes found among Frank Herbert’s personal possessions after he died, these books lacked the same finesse. I know I couldn’t expect Brian to be a prolific as his father within his fathers own universe but there was something missing that I just could not pinpoint. That was until I read some excerpts at the end of the last book of Legends which were lost chapters Frank had penned but never made it into the books. Reading those I saw how Frank Herbert’s style just seemed to flow like a conversation. He spent little time on the action and even the description and more time on the thoughts and words of each of the major players. In this way one would have to construct the world of Dune through the jaded eyes of each of the participants.

With the newer series action and description were more the focus. It was more like reading a story about people instead of living through them and experiencing what they would have experienced.

Dune is a story about political intrigue, genetics, religious fervor, and securing the future. But mostly it is about survival of the Human race and how each of the above intertwined to do just that. There is much talk about what does it mean to be human and does the loss of compassion, love, and even hate make one less human. In this world right and wrong are relative. The battle was not fought between good and evil but for survival.

The old book were able to obtain this balance. Perhaps in the first book Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides was the savior of Humanity but even he understood the events he had set in motion would lead to the enslavement of the human race in order to ensure that the future was free. He always battled between what was good for the present and what was good for the future.

The newer series lacked that balance and portrayed good and evil in more of a clear cut view. While there was some dynamics to the characters, with a couple switching sides here and there, the line wasn’t as fluid as it should have been. A theme in the prequels are that humans are erratic and could not be understood easily. Except for a few moments the humans mostly acted logically and without that inner debate that was in the first books.

All in all they were great reads though the original series is the only literary masterpiece of the bunch. Hopefully when Brian goes to pen the conclusion to Chapterhouse Dune, which has been rumored to be the case after the last two series were finished, he will be able to do it justice. Chapterhouse left off on a huge cliffhanger. Apparently Frank had planned to write the conclusion himself and had a huge number of notes and short writings on it. He however never got around to it. Brian’s telling of the tale can either become a great masterpiece or ruin the Dune universe forever – the bar is set that high.

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