PLEASE GOD LET THIS BE GOOD" Final Dune Sequels Due

[Khephra]

Final Dune Sequels Due

Kevin J. Anderson—the SF author who has co-written six Dune prequel books with Brian Herbert, the son of original Dune author Frank Herbert—told SCI FI Wire that he has just signed a deal with Tor Books to write two final novels intended to conclude the series according to Frank Herbert's recently discovered outlines. "This wraps up everything we can envision in how the story ends," Anderson said in an interview. "People have honestly been waiting 18 years to get to the end of this story."

The two volumes, entitled Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune, are based on an outline left behind by the elder Herbert before he died. "When we started going through all his notes we found these keys to a safe deposit box, and inside the safe deposit box was Frank Herbert's full and complete outline for what he called Dune Seven," Anderson said. "In it is his giant outline for the grand climax, which wraps up everything in the whole story."

According to Anderson, the novels will resolve a cliffhanger left at the end of Herbert's sixth and final Dune book. "At the end of Chapter House Dune you find out that are actually on the run from something even worse that's coming after them. Kind of one of those 'Oh, s--t' moments. We have to reveal what that is, and we wrap up the whole story. There are tantalizing hints that Frank Herbert sprinkled throughout the books that he wrote, but he's got this tying elements all the way back to his novel Dune, plus his outline of the history of the Butlerian Jihad, which we wrote in our other prequel trilogy. So all the answers will be revealed and all kinds of great mysteries solved."

Anderson and Herbert are also working on a compendium entitled Road to Dune, which will contain lost chapters written by Frank Herbert for the original Dune novel, as well as new stories from Anderson and Brian Herbert. Also included are a few letters that should provide encouragement to aspiring writers. "One other thing we hope to include in the Road to Dune is a stack of the original rejection slips that Dune got," Anderson said. "One of them, I can't remember which publisher, said, 'I might be making the mistake of my career, but I just can't see how anybody would ever read a book like this.'" Road to Dune will be released next fall. The Battle of Corrin, the sixth and final Dune prequel written by Anderson and Herbert, is due in August.

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-main.html?2004-03/23/12.00.books

[thebigidea]

1. geez, maybe Kafka had the right idea about burning his stuff after death

[CrownPrinceBandar]

2. I was underwhelmed....

by the Dune prequels, but am holding out hope for the story climax. I wonder if we'll get yet another Duncan Idaho redeux (ghola)?

[madrchsod]

3. we will see...

please don`t make another movie!!!

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. So what we have here is a series of books that has more books

written AFTER the author died then he wrote himself.

:-)

I enjoyed the two prequels I read - House Harkonnen and House Atreides - and think they are pretty well done. I haven't read any others, though I had Butlerian Jihad in my hand the other hand. Now I wish I'd bought it, but I was at a Border's not a Barnes and Nobles, and so no discount.

These new books sound totally fascinating!

Thanks for the info.

[lazarus]

5. Something else?

Dammit, if it's Asimov's Robots, I will hunt down and poke these people with a stick for 7 years.