Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is part one of a two part conclusion to the main Dune series based on notes and an outline by Frank Herbert. I've heard and experienced much trepidation regarding this, but thankfully, as long as I'm mostly focused on the ideas rather than the writing, I got through it without any wounds. :)

This is the continuation of the epic struggle between the Honored Matres and the Face Dancers and the Bene Gesserit and an even greater foe that implacably hunts all of them down. And when I mean "They", I mean all of humanity.

I have to admit that the reveal of the great foe of us all is a rather cool surprise and brings the whole series full circle in chronology in a very nice way. For those of you in the know, I know I just gave it away, and for the rest of you, you'll probably never know what I mean, but tough. :) It's a really exciting time for Dune Fans and perhaps a little info will get you guys back in the groove and taste this melange-laden treat.

There's also another tidbit that takes up a huge portion of the text that is pretty much awesome, especially for some fanboy who has, at the time of this writing, read the original Dune 14 times.

Oh, crap. Did I just do it again? It's so hard to say what I love about this novel and what I'm already going to love about the one that completes it because the "big secret" is also an ENORMOUS part of everything in the books. Think Gholas. Think a lot of Gholas. Think about awakening a lot of Gholas from a secret cache of genetic materials stashed away by a Master. And think about using these peeps as the last ditch effort to save the faltering and fractured humanity.

Woah. Serious Woah.

Good conflict, great characters, delicious ideas that tie together the entire franchise in a really big way. That's where this book is.

Now, I do miss Frank's way of writing. It's much denser, much more clever, full of unique insights and wisdoms, and thousands of wonderful idea-laden easter eggs that sometimes never get explored but still make us pause and wonder.

On the other hand, Brian and Kevin do have the whole clarity and pacing thing down pretty good. I can appreciate what they do well even when I miss the old master who did NOT do the whole pacing thing well at all. :) He sacrificed pacing for ideas and I was pretty good with that. :) Alas.

However, this book isn't that much of a stinker if you're focused heavily on getting to the idea reveals and you like good characters and love to see old classic characters interact in fantastic new ways. :)

I do recommend this for all old fans. It's also closure. :)

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