Brian Herbert... 'Legends of Dune'
 

I've read 5 of the first 6 dune books by frank herbert. i have not touched the house atriedes, house harkonnen, house corrino books.. but yesterday at barnes and noble 'the butlerian jihad' was on sale for like 5 bucks (hardcover) so i felt an obligation to pick it up..

do i need to have read the 3 'house' books to understand this series, or do they stand alone?

They stand completely alone.

The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin (not yet published)

I feel that they are good Dune novels, but not quite as good as the Prelude to Dune series (House prequels).

While reading The Butlerian Jihad, don't expect Frank Herbert. Go in with an open mind and enjoy the story. I don't believe you will be disappointed.

just finished the machine crusade..

i was really surprised!
these are pretty good! i like the pace.. and how the time moves quickly.. generations pass.. like the real dune

i finished the butlerian jihad in like 2 days.. but it took me nearly 11 to finish the machine crusade. i dont know if thats a sign of how good the book was.. or how busy i have been in the last week.. but whatever the reason.. check these books out if you havent! they are worth it!

I finished The Butlerian Jihad a lot quicker than I finished The Machine Crusade, too. I think the pacing in TBJ was more intense.

I have enjoyed all of these works. Never looked for the writing to be 'just like' his fathers, but did find it a creditable legacy to the originals. I am eagerly awaiting Battle of Corrin.

I'm only reading these (out of the public library) in the hopes of a marked improvement in writing so that when they get to the 'last' Dune novel based on Frank Herbert's notes, they will do a job worthy of his memory.

BTW, I read somewhere that the last Dune book will now be a 'duology'. Anyone able to confirm/deny?

They will be Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune... probably published in August/September of 2005 and 2006... followed by the Paul of Dune Trilogy, and also, The Road To Dune, new short stories and lost chapters of Dune & Dune Messiah.

Dune is my favourite book of all time (Lord of the Rings being a close second), so in my not-so-humble opinion, anything the son wrote is nothing better than for use as bog roll. ;) I admitedly haven't read anything from the preludes (avoiding 'em like the plague), but I have read the Butlerian Jihad (to satisfy me curiosity), and it irked me how all the major storylines/plots/inventions etc in dune all seemed to be miraculously solved in a short time-span in BJ. Maybe I'm too picky, but I think I'll stick to re-reading the original Dune series, which is infinitely better. :)

Odd, I am a huge fan of the original Dune books... and yet I still find these books add to the experience, don't detract from it. But, everyone has their own tastes. I found that I had to read them as stand alone books, and not focus on the comparison to his father (which is obviously unfair).

Don't skip Prelude to Dune just because they're not written by Frank Herbert. They are written very well, in my opinion.