I know and have read comments on various different sites about how much fans hate these novels. I want to know if there’s anyone out there that actually likes them?
I have the Legends series along with the two sequels after Chapter House. I’m currently on Heretics and also decided to start the Butlerian Jihad. I’m a few chapters into that one as well and can definitely tell a difference in writing style, but don’t think it’s that bad so far. I’m trying to go into it optimistically and while I know there’s a lot of contradictions from Franks original work, Dune is by far my most favorite universe out there. So regardless I’m interested in whatever lore is out there that can dive me deeper into it.
Does anyone actually enjoy the BH novels in their own right when not compared to the original six?
I won’t help the conversation here but I really tried to give them a shot. I don’t know if it’s Brian Herbert or the second author that is bad - but it was just such bad writing. I even gave it another shot years after I finished the last Frank Herbert book in a second attempt. Got halfway through before just getting frustrated with it. Tried multiple books just to mark sure I wasn’t hiding one too harshly.
I wanted to. I wanted more Dune content. I may have even given it much more of a chance than I would with any other sci-fi series.
Yes, I enjoyed them all and was rather surprised when I found out years later the internet hated them. I had a small group of Dune fans where I used to live and all of us enjoyed them. Are they masterpieces? No. Are they enjoyable? To me they absolutely are.
I greatly enjoyed them. If only I had known that the Internet would hate me for it… I still would enjoy them
Maybe we need to start a Dune community for people who liked them.
Yes:
- Brian Herbert
- People paid by his publisher to astroturf for his books
- Contrarians
His novels are meh at best and most are fanfiction tier. Granted his father’s sequels also showed a noticeable drop in quality over time too.
I didn’t mind the Preludes trilogy. In fact, there’s a scene in House Harkonnen (I think) which has stuck in my mind and made me vow to destroy any Harkonnen I ever meet. The Denis Villeneuve films could do with that sort of scene as currently I don’t despise the Harkonnens in his adaptation the way I feel I should.
The Legends trilogy I managed to get through by sheer determination, but the rot was setting in and I only managed half of the first sequels book before giving up.
Bearing in mind that I didn’t really think too highly of Heretics and Chapterhouse, but I haven’t given them a re-read for many many years.
The Legends trilogy I managed to get through by sheer determination
You mean by will alone, right? ;-)
I enjoyed Chapterhouse on my latest reread. I only did the first 3 books on my first read, I made it to Chapterhouse a few times but quit when the spoiler sexy-time Duncan starts pinching nipples and humming and shit. My most recent reread, I actually enjoyed it? I don’t know what changed
The Legends of Dune trilogy was a weird one for me. The overall plot was decent, and some chapters and characters were intriguing. But there was so much fluff and annoying duplication in there. I assume the decent wiring and plot points came from Anderson, but maybe that’s unfair on Brian Herbert.
I think if you go into them for what they are, basically the ‘official’ sequels/prequels, and treat it like any other series, fiction or non fiction, written by another author in another voice, they’re fine. Its really the world you’re reading about. Maybe if they were written on their own without Dunes shoulders to stand on, the voice of the books might not trap you the same way, but i think lots of purists are too hung up on it being ‘not frank’ to possibly give them a fair chance.
I’m not sure Brian Herbert likes Brian Herbert novels.
