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A review by scarletcarnival
Sisterhood of Dune by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
4.0
The Herbert/Anderson additions to the Dune series are not particularly known for their philosophical depth (despite their quite noble attempts). Unlike Frank Herbert's original series, the extended books are less successful in the depth of thought and more tilted toward an ADHD world that requires bombs and blood. That said, and for full disclosure, I am a huge fan of the Herbert/Anderson additions. I believe they have done the world of Dune a great service and I continue to look forward to however many books they will produce in the future.
The Sisterhood of Dune, however, takes a sharp left turn from their previous work and—without quite yet reaching the depth of the original series—aims for something more than guts and glory. This storyline could have been ripped from any day on a Facebook wall. The struggle of faith and reason, religion and science, is a very relevant theme right now in our present world. Herbert/Anderson tackle that theme head-on and succeed in ways that I think would have made Frank Herbert proud. Granted, they have continued many of the tropes that have made their previous books both loved and reviled but it would be disingenuous of them to suddenly change their own style because of a few bad reviews here and there. In fact, in some ways, I can see The Sisterhood of Dune being the answer of Herbert/Anderson to the fanatical faith of those who irrationally refuse to see anything beyond Frank Herbert's books and into their ability to live and create within that same universe.
This volume starts a new series of books dedicated to the origins of the Great Schools (Bene Gesserit, the Mentats, the Suk Doctors, the Spacing Guild and the Navigators). If there is anything that is more interesting to me than the nitty-gritty details of these schools, I'm not sure what it would be. Herbert/Anderson almost fulfilled my wishes here. Of course, there are at least two more books in this series, so I will have to wait and see if there is further expansion on origins in the next books, but The Sisterhood of Dune was sufficient as a start to whet my appetite for more.
I don't do spoilers. Not really, I mean. So take these next comments as you will.
• There is a lot of pick-up from the last novels that seems to be included to bring people up to speed. The first third of the book is a bit slow and redundant if you've just finished the Legends of Dune trilogy. After that, it picks up nicely and while the rest of the book doesn't exactly move mountains, it held my interest nicely.
• Reading of the Butlerians destroying everything in their path was heart-wrenching at times. The portrayal of these fanatics was not only scary in a very real way, but touches off all kinds of red flags and warning sirens in our own time.
• The Agamemnon twins were a waste of space and story. I failed to understand their purpose and inclusion. As with most things, though, I will reserve judgement until the end of this series to see if I might just be missing something because there is more coming.
• Likewise, without putting too fine a point on it, there were a couple of deaths that seemed premature. I can see where these are leading and why, but they seemed a bit too contrived and character development was lacking.
• Seeing the origins of some of the most beloved (or notorious) aspects of the original series was neat (e.g., juice of sapho, imperial condition of the Suk doctors, etc).
• Several things came up that require I now go back and re-read the Prelude to Dune trilogy. The Sisterhood of Dune brings up some storylines that I just can't remember how are wrapped up before the original series starts. Seeing Erasmus again was a bit disorienting.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I look forward to the rest of this series.
The Sisterhood of Dune, however, takes a sharp left turn from their previous work and—without quite yet reaching the depth of the original series—aims for something more than guts and glory. This storyline could have been ripped from any day on a Facebook wall. The struggle of faith and reason, religion and science, is a very relevant theme right now in our present world. Herbert/Anderson tackle that theme head-on and succeed in ways that I think would have made Frank Herbert proud. Granted, they have continued many of the tropes that have made their previous books both loved and reviled but it would be disingenuous of them to suddenly change their own style because of a few bad reviews here and there. In fact, in some ways, I can see The Sisterhood of Dune being the answer of Herbert/Anderson to the fanatical faith of those who irrationally refuse to see anything beyond Frank Herbert's books and into their ability to live and create within that same universe.
This volume starts a new series of books dedicated to the origins of the Great Schools (Bene Gesserit, the Mentats, the Suk Doctors, the Spacing Guild and the Navigators). If there is anything that is more interesting to me than the nitty-gritty details of these schools, I'm not sure what it would be. Herbert/Anderson almost fulfilled my wishes here. Of course, there are at least two more books in this series, so I will have to wait and see if there is further expansion on origins in the next books, but The Sisterhood of Dune was sufficient as a start to whet my appetite for more.
I don't do spoilers. Not really, I mean. So take these next comments as you will.
• There is a lot of pick-up from the last novels that seems to be included to bring people up to speed. The first third of the book is a bit slow and redundant if you've just finished the Legends of Dune trilogy. After that, it picks up nicely and while the rest of the book doesn't exactly move mountains, it held my interest nicely.
• Reading of the Butlerians destroying everything in their path was heart-wrenching at times. The portrayal of these fanatics was not only scary in a very real way, but touches off all kinds of red flags and warning sirens in our own time.
• The Agamemnon twins were a waste of space and story. I failed to understand their purpose and inclusion. As with most things, though, I will reserve judgement until the end of this series to see if I might just be missing something because there is more coming.
• Likewise, without putting too fine a point on it, there were a couple of deaths that seemed premature. I can see where these are leading and why, but they seemed a bit too contrived and character development was lacking.
• Seeing the origins of some of the most beloved (or notorious) aspects of the original series was neat (e.g., juice of sapho, imperial condition of the Suk doctors, etc).
• Several things came up that require I now go back and re-read the Prelude to Dune trilogy. The Sisterhood of Dune brings up some storylines that I just can't remember how are wrapped up before the original series starts. Seeing Erasmus again was a bit disorienting.
All in all, I enjoyed it and I look forward to the rest of this series.