I've been on an SF/Space Opera jag for a while now. I think it started with Iain M. Banks "Culture" series, then I segued jnto Neal Asher's Polity universe. Galactic civilizations, post-human evolution, sentient (and often sarcastic) AI, ancient civilizations and fantastic alien life forms... These books really scratch that itch in my brain.
Looking for other options, once I'd devoured all of the above, I've sampled a lot of the recent space opera, but also done quite a bit of looking back.
First stop was Asimov's Foundation/Robot/Empire novels. Asimov did a pretty impressive job of tying his disparate SF series into a cohesive universe by the latter days of his career, and it's interesting to read those novels in story-chronological order. It's an earlier era of SF, so think robots in place of AI (and oh-so terribly serious robots at that) and no aliens to speak of. But a galaxy spanning story that kept me interested through the full set of novels.
Which brings me to Dune. After finishing Asimov's universe, this one just makes sense, right?
Dune is one of my favorite novels. I've read it several times and enjoyed it, equally each time. Incredible world building, fascinating characters and a galaxy spanning conflict to tie it all together. No aliens to speak of and, since "thinking machines" have been outlawed for thousands of years, clearly no AI. But it's a great read and I'm sure I'll go back to it again soon. (of course, I cannot wait for the new Dune film… Cannot wait to see what Villeneuve does with this one.)
Unlike Asimov's books, once I get past the first one, things become… problematic. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, both written within roughly the same time period, are fine reads and I've enjoyed them in the past. They don't measure up to Dune, bit they do a fine job of continuing the themes and stories of Dune.
But then there's God Emperor. And Heretics. And Chapterhouse. And all the Brian Herbert sequels and prequels and expansions and what have you.
While looking through my books recently for something to read, I came across Hunters and Sandworms of Dune. These are the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson contributions to the original Dune saga, based off Brian's father's copious notes. It picks up the story after Chapterhouse to complete that storyline. I figured, what the heck, and started Hunters.
It only took a few pages for me to realize that I needed to go back a few books in the timeline to really understand the current backstory. (It's been a long time since I read any of these and I've forgotten far more than I remember, especially of the later books in the series.) Since Hunters deals with "recent" Dune history, I didn't feel the need to reread Dune, Messiah or Children at this time. And, frankly, I can't stand God Emperor. I don't really know why… I just found it so tedious and overwrought the last time I read it that I simply can't go back there again.
So i picked up Heretics and started there, followed by Chapterhouse. I fear I'm probably going to have to delegate these to the "don't go there again" category along with God Emperor. Part of this may be that the stories haven't aged well. But another part of it is that the sexual politics – Bene Gesserit "witches" battling Honored Matre "whores" – is kinda tough to take now. But aside from that, the stories themselves just aren't that compelling… I'd finish one to get to the next and the next out of some pointless need to get to the end of the saga.
Which brings me to the Herbert/Anderson novels. Completing Chapterhouse, I went back to Hunters. Things made much more sense now that I knew who the returning characters were, but it didn't help much in terms of my enjoyment of the book. Much like Heretics and Chapterhouse, I ended up finishing it to get to the next book to see where it all ends up.
But when I got to the end of Hunters, references to the machine intelligences that are going to be the primary antagonists in Sandworms made me think that, perhaps, I really should go back now and read his Legends of Dune trilogy. This tells the story of the infamous Butlerian Jihad (the reason thinking machines are banned in Dune's universe) and seemed like a logical next step in the story.
And this is where things go completely off the rails for me. I remember now why these books, and his Prelude to Dune books (House Atreides, House Harkonnen and House Corrino) have sat in boxes, unread, for years. I've tried reading them before and ended up giving up on them after only a few short chapters.
I'm not sure what it is about the writing in these books, but there is clearly something lacking for me. The stories seem so very… formulaic? Pedestrian? Boring. (I'm really not trying to be harsh here, I'm just trying to find the right word that expresses my reaction to these reads.) Part of it may be characterization… when you first read Dune, you are exposed to all these very specific, larger than life, living, breathing characters. When I read Butlerian Jihad I feel none of that. The characters are all variations on a theme, characters I've seen before in countless novels and TV series and movies… not quite stereotypes, but all drawn from standard SF molds and given minor character tweaks to feel unique, while clearly anything but.
I think the writing may fall into that as well. While I'm not as fond of Frank Herbert's later Dune novels as I am Dune's first trilogy of stories, there's still something in those stories that sets them apart from anything else I've read. I can't say that for the writing in Butlerian Jihad or whatever book I stared in the Prelude trilogy (House Atreides, one would assume).
There's a part of me that's still interested in finishing Sandworms... after all, I'm sure I'll be given enough info in that one to understand the machine intelligences Omnius and Erasmus. I'm simply not in any great hurry to do that right now (I've found other space operas to distract me), But I think, when I do, it won't include my filling in that backstory with the Legends trilogy.
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