"Heroes" to be a tetralogy now

[Omphalos]

You're making assumptions there about Leto of Dune that I certainly wouldn't be willing to.

Hey, the slippery shit has replied:

We haven't changed our minds. Dune 7 (HUNTERS and SANDWORMS) is the grand finale and we don't plan to write any stories beyond that, as we said in our interview eight years ago. These new novels are set in a much earlier time frame.

(Don't tell me you didn't kinda see this gambit coming.)

He is a slippery little cocksucker, ain't he?

[A Thing of Eternity]

Bloody fucking thin play on the wording if you ask me.

Chig, I'm with you, I think Leto of Dune will probably be the worst atrocity of the bunch, but it is also probably the most lusted after by the prequelites.

[orald]

He is a slippery little cocksucker, ain't he?

KJA for president 2008!

[Serkanner]

Be honoust now ... there is no way to interpret the quote as he does. I know my English is not perfect but I am sure that any scholar in the English language would interpret the quote with its context as we have.

[trang]

Three More Dune Novels -- Jessica, Irulan, and Leto
We are pleased to announce a new deal with Tor Books for three more Dune novels to follow PAUL OF DUNE. These novels -- JESSICA OF DUNE, IRULAN OF DUNE, and LETO OF DUNE -- will also flesh out and fill in the gaps in Frank Herbert's original three Dune novels. The new novels will focus on each of the title characters.

The first book in this sequence, PAUL OF DUNE, is in effect a direct sequel to DUNE, filling in much of the story of Paul's Jihad, and will be published this September. JESSICA also fits mostly into this time period. IRULAN is a sequel to DUNE MESSIAH, taking place after blind Paul has walked off into the sand, leaving his empire in the hands of Alia. And LETO OF DUNE takes place immediately after the end of CHILDREN OF DUNE, showcasing the first years of the God Emperor's reign. (This latter novel is the story most requested in the fan letters we receive.)

These novels will be published every other year (or perhaps sooner, depending on our writing speed and on our duties for the upcoming Paramount film version of DUNE).

POD is pressed, done deal, due out to burn our eyes from our skull, and destroy our braincells, not much more can say there.

The ones on Jessica and Irulan I just dont see the content there, I know these two could write a 750 page book describing a fart, but what the hell are they going to talk about for jessica? how she sat her happy ass on caladan safe and comfortable?

Irulan is a walking recorder, so I guess we are just going to get a thousand pages of here writings about things that are happening because she has no power and no impact.

Leto Im sure they will attempt a grand story and blow it out their rearends, Im not prepared to take the pain.

and the overall heartwrentching factor is the last bit of bold, EVERY OTHER YEAR.... 3 more books, 6 years.... plus their working to destroy the upcoming adaptation to the big screen........ARRGGHHH.

I can see it now......Jean claude van dame comes out of retirement to play Fayde... Chuck norris comes out of retirement to play Paul.....

the fremen have shotguns and slingshots.....

spaceshuttles with new paintjobs are used as he craft in the movie.

spacefolding becomes everyone standing in a single white room and a guy in a bell hop uniform comes in with a piece of paper and does some origami and then opens the door to their next destination...

the pain continues....

isnt there an elder herbert somewhere with some sense that can just grab these two by the ear and give'm a good old fashion smack! and say stop it! stop it right now!


God Emperor help us.
Trang

[SandChigger]

Trang is evolving before our eyes....



(I think I laughed hardest at "blow it out their rearends". You're on a roll. Don't stop now!)

[A Thing of Eternity]

Chuck Norris will play Shai Hulud.

I know these two could write a 750 page book describing a fart,

Could, or have?

[Mandy]

I would be crying if that wasn't so funny. I loved the space folding bit.

[Tleszer]

I would watch that movie, though I'd probably sneak into the theater to see it. I don't think any reasonable person would pay to see it. Still, it couldn't be worse than Ultraviolet (the one time I wish I never tried to see a "double feature").

[Hunchback Jack]

Kevin's explanation makes no sense anyway, as the original quote was an explanation for why they would write the House and Jihad books before Dune 7. So the idea that the 'few more books" in the interview refers to books set after Dune 7 is absurd. He clearly meant that Dune 7 would be the last books written.

[Hunchback Jack]

Great post, trang.

I also can't see how they're going to pad out Jessica and Irulan into two full books, unless they invent gratuitous behind-the-scenes shenanigans for them out of whole cloth.

Or the rewrite Dune Messiah from Jessica's point-of-view, or something equally unnecessary.

What am I saying? The whole venture is unnecessary.

HBJ

[SandChigger]

Well, necessary? No, but the million dollars or so the contract for the books will bring in will no doubt come in handy.

(I wonder how they split that among the HLP members? Probably not a straight eleven cut, eh?)

[SandChigger]

Serkanner, some dipsheet fanboy has decided to answer your second comment in KJA's stead. (Isn't it cute when they "step up to the plate" to defend their hero? I used to love it when TAZ did it: he never opened his virtual mouth without shoving both feet into it! ) Anyway:

Jesus man, you act like he's running for Congress or something. Kick back, take a Xanax, and enjoy the wonderful books this man writes. Some of us enjoy the expansion upon Herbert's original vision, and have you forgotten that HIS SON is co-authoring these books?

If you find the books bothersome, deal with it on your own time rather than digging up 8-year-old interviews and bashing a creative mind's work.

Back to the subject at hand, I've been a fan of Youll's since his Death Gate Cycle/Star of the Guardians covers. I'll have to check out the coffee-table book.

Let's see, "It's his SON writing them!"...which PSI argument was that again?

I think what he means in the second paragraph (besides "Shut up!") is "do it on your own time" = "do it somewhere else". Yet again, a fan of the new books displays linguistic deficits in expression. (So ya gotta wonder about comprehension as well.)

Speaking of Kevin's MySpace blog...there's some major cybersuckage going on on the new post. (Which hasn't been transferred to Kevin's mirror site...AKA Dune Novels...yet, so I haven't blogged it yet myself.)

[Serkanner]

I am actually surprised it took this long for one of the suck-ups to comment. I also miss TAZ.

[Hunchback Jack]

"Some of us enjoy the expansion upon Herbert's original vision, and have you forgotten that HIS SON is co-authoring these books?"

Enjoyment of the novels (or not) is not the issue, for me at least.

My concern is that the original stated (or at least strongly implied) purpose of the whole venture was to do Dune 7, fulfilling FH's own intentions. The House and Jihad novels were (depending on which interview you read) to prepare the way by introducing necessary background, or to reinvigorate interest in the series. And all the books were supposed to be based (to some extent) on FH's notes or outlines.

Now, though, Dune 7 is done, and the books go on. Furthermore, they are books that insinuate themselves between the novels of the original series. If ever these authors were working according to Frank's desires, they sure ain't now.

Now, certainly, the quality of the novels is a concern, but it is less so if the novels stay nicely away from the original timeline. There's more latitude for differences in writing styles and inconsistencies if the expansion novels are self-contained. At worst, they can be ignored completely. But this nonsense of "filling the gaps" is something I wouldn't want to see happen regardless of who the authors are, or how good they are.

(Wipes brow. Takes a deep breath. Lets it out).

I wonder what the readers who enjoy the new books so much saw in the original novels?

HBJ

[orald]

I wonder what the readers who enjoy the new books so much saw in the original novels?

Clearly, they didn't. He didn't say anything about enjoying the originals, did he? The ommitment(sp?) isn't accidental.

take a Xanax

Clearly he knows his stuff.

[orald]

It's almost 2 am here.

[SandChigger]

It's almost 2 am here.

Do you know where your parents' underwear is?

(It's 8:30 AM here....)

[A Thing of Eternity]

4:30PM here. Isn't this fun?!

[SandChigger]

I am actually surprised it took this long for one of the suck-ups to comment. I also miss TAZ.

I just had a look at that guy's profile page, found this:

"My parents always said I could become anything I wanted. So I became an asshole."

So there you have it.

You can always tell when Kevin has decided to move on and not address your comments and the silenct confusion ("Why doesn't he answer this guy?") begins to weigh heavy on the leetle minds of the fanboys....

[Nekhrun]

I just remembered that time I posted a condensed version of my Sandworms review over on Myspace and Kevin still wrote me messages while never even noticing what it said. That doesn't sound like it explains much, I guess you had to be there

[SandChigger]

The only important thing over there is, did you Friend him or him you?

[Nekhrun]

The only important thing over there is, did you Friend him or him you?

IIRC he sent the invite after I left some comments on his blog. Ahh, the good ol' days when you could leave comments there without being a friend.

[SandChigger]

Aw...that's sweet.

You had to change yer drawers after that, right?

[Hunchback Jack]

I'm still reeling over the concept of getting banned from the official Dune forum for being critical of the books. I mean, if you're just trolling, then that's understandable, but if you actually have nitpicks ...

In fact, some authors actually welcome reports of errors (typographical, or of consistency, etc) so they can be corrected in the PB edition.

HBJ