Paul of Dune - Book Review

Paul of Dune
by Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson
Tor Books
September 2008.
Official Dune Website
Paul Atreides
The Dune Story

Long long ago in a country far far away, I once saw a movie called DUNE. The year was 1984 and the country was New Zealand.


I loved this movie. Mostly because I loved the people and the planet Arrakis (aka Dune). I loved watching how the Atriedes family learned to survive in a hostile environment and how they interacted with each other and with the Fremen. I did get confused over all the different allegiances and families in the Landsraad, but once I read the book (which I read AFTER I saw the movie), everything fell into place.


Anyway a long long time later, someone decided that they didnt like the 1984 movie. They thought they could do better, so they made a new TV miniseries (2000).
I HATED IT. I preferred the original dark haired and strong Paul Atreides, not this wimpy blond fellow.




Frank Herbert's Dune(1965), ended with Paul (Atreides) Muad’Dib in control of the planet Dune. Herbert’s next Dune book, Dune Messiah(1969), picked up the story several years later after Paul’s armies had conquered the galaxy.

But what happened between Dune and Dune Messiah? How did Paul create his empire and become the Messiah? Following in the footsteps of Frank Herbert, New York Times bestselling authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are answering these questions in Paul of Dune.

The Muad’Dib’s jihad is in full swing. His warrior legions march from victory to victory. But beneath the joy of victory there are dangerous undercurrents. Paul, like nearly every great conqueror, has enemies--those who would betray him to steal the awesome power he commands....

And Paul himself begins to have doubts. Is the jihad getting out of his control? Has he created anarchy? Has he been betrayed by those he loves and trusts the most? And most of all, he wonders, Is he going mad?

Paul survives several assassination attempts. And his army overruns the known universe and lays waste to any world that does NOT acknowledge him as EMPEROR. This is an excellent book - 512 pages. It took me a few days to get through this but I really did enjoy it.

Because Paul Atreides was the first strong character I read about in Dune (and saw on the movies) I have always preferred Paul to his descendents. In the later Dune Books, Paul's son Leto became the God Emperor and also a large and gross creature due to the spice melange he ate. These later books have never appealed to me because they are have too much fantasy, way beyond the realm of possibility. Whereas those Books involving Paul COULD be within the realm of possibility.

That is how I like my science fiction - either based on fact or based on the high possibility of being factual.

The next book in this trilogy will be about Paul's mother Jessica. Jessica of Dune is due out in 2009. I am hoping that the third book is about any one of the following. Alia Atreides (Paul's sister), Chani of the Fremen (Paul's concubine) or Princess Irulan Corrino (Paul's official wife).