Heretics of Dune
Frank Herbert's magnificent Dune books stand among the major achievements of the human imagination. In this, the fifth and most spectacular Dune book of all, the planet Arrakis--now called Rakis--is becoming desert again. The Lost Ones are returning home from the far reaches of space. The great sandworms are dying. And the children of Dune's children awaken from empire as from a dream, wielding the new power of a heresy called love...
Stats for nerds
4recommend
16mentions
13people
2008–2024years
31% recommend44% neutral25% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- My standard advice for people reading the books with the movies/mini-series mixed in:
Read the first one. It's not for everyone, it's a little dry, POV is all over the place, and it's very political and thoughtful. It can be a slow read, but it's worth it.
Watch the Lynch movie. (Lament that this could have been Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune if so inclined.)
Watch the Sci-Fi Channel's Frank Herbert's Dune.
(Probably watch the Villeneuve Dune due out in December this year.)
If you happened to like it, read Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. You'll probably like these books as well. (If you didn't like Dune, it's okay to stop here.)
Watch the Sci-Fi Channel's Children of Dune.
If you happened to like those, try God Emperor of Dune. Be warned it is extremely different from the previous books. It's become my favorite book in the series after multiple re-readings of the entire series (previously was Dune Messiah), but it is certainly not for everyone. It's okay to quit here.
If you made it through God Emperor, read Heretics of Dune.
If you enjoyed it, read Chapterhouse: Dune. (If you didn't enjoy Heretics, don't bother).
Lament that it is over.
If you must, read Sandworms of Dune which is written by the son, but is supposedly based on the father's notes. It is the least bad of the books I've read by the son. Don't read anything else.
Edit: Formatting
- In my opinion: Yes!
Here's the advice I give to people about the entire Dune series:
Read Dune. If you don't like it, stop.
Read Dune Messiah. If you don't like it, stop.
Read Children of Dune. If you liked Messiah you'll probably like this as well.
Read God Emperor of Dune. This one stands alone. Lots of people hate it. Whether you like it or not, don't stop.
Read Heretics of Dune. If you don't like it, stop.
Read Chapterhouse: Dune. Weep that it's over.
In my experience, people who like Dune generally will enjoy at least through Children of Dune. Anyone who enjoys God Emperor of Dune is insane (maybe why it might be my favorite).
Regarding the other Dune books, read them out of curiosity if you like, but they're not really Dune books despite being in that universe. I've read about seven of them out of optimism and hope but didn't enjoy them at all. Even Sandworms of Dune which is ostensibly based on Frank Herbert's notes for Dune 7 wasn't enjoyable to me, although it was least bad.
- "Personally I found 2nd and 3rd books the worst."
I absolutely agree. Children of Dune and Dune Messiah are by far the worst. The series picks up with God Emperor of Dune, and my favorites are the last two: Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune.
The original Dune book was also good, but overrated compared to the last two in the series.
- Yeah, I find Heretics of Dune to be much better than Children of Dune, for instance, both in characterizations and the ideas it explores.
I'll break ranks, though, and say I actually enjoy the plot after God Emperor of Dune quite a lot. I didn't really the first time I read the books, so that may have some bearing, but it helped to read a piece discussing the books, where they claimed that the Dune books are two separate trilogies, with God Emperor as the transitional book.
Unfortunately, Frank Herbert didn't get to complete the second trilogy, but the first two books of it -- when thought of as a mostly separate set of stories from the first Dune books -- becomes much more interesting, rather than just "why is he introducing all this new stuff into this universe?"
As for those other "Dune" books written by Frank Herbert's son and Kevin Anderson, they are total trash, and not worth any more of your time than, say, your average bottom-of-the-barrel Star Wars EU novel (it's telling that it took Frank Herbert nearly 30 years to write his six Dune novels, and it took them less than 5 years to write their first six). If you're curious about them, do yourself a favor by reading their synopses on wikipedia, feeling sad that they even exist, then forgetting that they do.
- Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune by Frank Herbert are my favorites. the sequels God Emperor, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse were good as well but I like the 1st three the most.
Dune was about how people shouldn't let supermen lead. it was complex. it was an ecological novel. they had quotable quotes like "thou shall not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind". people say it's the lord of the rings of science fiction. the characters are rich, the plot thick. i highly recommend Dune.
- >Did Herbert have a plan for this combo, or was he just making up some future backstory?
It has been a very long time since I read all the novels so I can't recall all the details. It is a major plot point in book 5 "Heretics of Dune" zensunni leads to the alliance between the Bene Gesserit and the Tleilaxian's. The Tleilaxu follow a strict interpretation of the religion in secret and during a meeting between the faction leaders one of the reverend mothers is able to deduce this from their speech patterns and manipulate them into an alliance which has some ramifications.
Considering the Tleilaxu aren't introduced until book 2 (I think) I assume it was planned out ahead of time by Herbert.
