Teaser

Chani. Born and raised on Arrakis. Irulan. Born and raised in the Imperial Palace. Both women will be remembered as wives of the great Muad’Dib, but before him, they led lives of their own . . .

Review

Anyone who follows this blog will know that I am a staunch defender of the Dune expanded universe. Frank Herbert’s original six novels have their merits, and deserve to be remembered as classics, but I am not someone who gets precious about creations remaining unfinished with the death of their creator. Though less innovative, I think that Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s contributions to the Dune canon are frequently better stories than their predecessors. Certainly, they are not the disrespectful cash-grab many slander them as. If a universe has room for a story to be told, then why shouldn’t someone pick up the pen and tell that story?

All that being said, however, Princess of Dune does feel like a low point for the Dune expanded universe. No, it’s not as awful as God-Emperor of Dune. But nor does it reach the heights of Paul of Dune or Dune Messiah. My main reaction to this book is that, yes, it exists. And that is a painfully underwhelming reaction to have after enjoying more than twenty novels by the Herbert and Anderson pairing.

Some time ago, after the publication of the excellent Paul of Dune and the also strong The Winds of Dune, Princess of Dune was listed as the next in the loosely arranged ‘Heroes of Dune’ series. Then it disappeared, and we got the ‘Schools of Dune’ and ‘Caladan’ trilogies instead. the reason Princess of Dune resurfaced a decade later seems quite clear to me. The arrival of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two. This is a tie in book. The cynic will obviously say that this book intends to latch onto the success of the films, but it also exists to support the film. To provide extra context for those who want it. To remind viewers that Dune is, first and foremost, a literary endeavour. If you’ve only seen the films, you might be a little confused by the gender-flipping. But if you’ve only read the original book, then this seems like a good way to refresh your memory before heading to the cinema.

Except for one major problem. This book contains very little story. There is an absolutely fascinating subplot about a rebellion against the Emperor that is far and away the best part of the book. But the sections relating to Irulan and Chani have little to do with it. Their chapters in theory exist to deepen our knowledge of the characters and their personalities. In practice, it’s four hundred pages of wheel spinning. There’s no forward momentum. Nothing that happens in this book has any bearing on the rest of the Dune saga. Of course, I don’t want to have everything centre around the original series. If Herbert and Anderson wanted to write a crime thriller set on Salusa Secundus, I would be all for it. But when you take these famous characters, only two years before the arrival of Paul into their lives, there’s an expectation that these events matter. I don’t want a slice of life novel about these characters. I want something more engaging. More impactful. Just more.

All of that makes it sound like I hated the book. But I didn’t. As I say, the B-plot would have made a great standalone story. The writing itself is as digestible as ever. This isn’t a book that will keep you up at night thinking. It’s a quick read, and reliably entertaining. It’s okay for books to be okay, no matter how much we might want them to all be masterpieces.

It’s been two years now, and there’s no word on any further Dune novels. Perhaps one will arrive to support the upcoming third Dune novel. Perhaps it will even be the seemingly lost Throne of Dune At this stage, I’d be perfectly happy to see Anderson and Herbert move on to other things. They’re a great team, and I don’t think cramming more novels into a tight time frame between existing parts of the canon is doing anyone any favours.

Book Stats

• A Standalone prequel to Dune
• First Published 2023
• 442 Pages