Hunters of Dune

Brian Herbert · Kevin J. Anderson

Oct 2006 · Dune Book 4 · Sold by Macmillan

About this ebook

Book One in the classic conclusion to Frank Herbert's worldwide bestselling Dune Chronicles

Hunters of Dune and the concluding volume, Sandworms of Dune, bring together the great story lines and beloved characters in Frank Herbert's classic Dune universe, ranging from the time of the Butlerian Jihad to the original Dune series and beyond. Based directly on Frank Herbert's final outline, which lay hidden in a safe-deposit box for a decade, these two volumes will finally answer the urgent questions Dune fans have been debating for two decades.

At the end of Chapterhouse: Dune--Frank Herbert's final novel--a ship carrying the ghola of Duncan Idaho, Sheeana (a young woman who can control sandworms), and a crew of various refugees escapes into the uncharted galaxy, fleeing from the monstrous Honored Matres, dark counterparts to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. The nearly invincible Honored Matres have swarmed into the known universe, driven from their home by a terrifying, mysterious Enemy.

As designed by the creative genius of Frank Herbert, the primary story of Hunters and Sandworms is the exotic odyssey of Duncan's no-ship as it is forced to elude the diabolical traps set by the ferocious, unknown Enemy. To strengthen their forces, the fugitives have used genetic technology from Scytale, the last Tleilaxu Master, to revive key figures from Dune's past—including Paul Muad'Dib and his beloved Chani, Lady Jessica, Stilgar, Thufir Hawat, and even Dr. Wellington Yueh. Each of these characters will use their special talents to meet the challenges thrown at them.

Failure is unthinkable--not only is their survival at stake, but they hold the fate of the entire human race in their hands.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Ratings and reviews

As a stand alone work, this might have been passable sci-fi. As the next installment of the Dune saga, it is nearly unreadable. Frank Herbert made subtlety and subtext the central theme of his writing, sometimes to a fault. From Jessica's observations of the tensions surrounding her to Leto II's musings on his plans, nothing was overt. Hunters takes pains to spell every observation out explicitly, and the writing suffers for it. The narrative is not well constructed, following a haphazard progression of acts, buried in endless summaries of events which just transpired. The dialogue is blunted when compared to God Emperor or even Chapterhouse. It's as though the characters have regressed. The universe Herbert created is still there on the surface, but the animating force makes the whole affair shambolic, like watching zombies animated to mimic Baryshnikov. The moves are all there, but the execution only serves as a grotesque reminder of how much we lost with the original artist.

As much as I desperately wanted to know what happened after Chapter House, I had difficulty reading this book. The authors may be forgiven for not having Frank Herbert's depth of insight into human nature. However purple prose, irrelevant details and outrageous plot machinations are basic writing pitfalls that they should know to avoid. This book lacks the subtlety that made the original series so enjoyable. It may have been based on Frank's notes, but it has none of his style.

I would like to say this was great but that's not the case. The book was enjoyable but not up to the originals. Anyway, I would have read it. What I hated was the constant summary at the beginning of each chapter, it was like if it was meant for a serial novel in a magazine. Quite important to make a closure of the Dune mitology.

About the author

Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert, wrote the definitive biography of his father, Dreamer of Dune, which was a Hugo Award finalist. Brian is president of the company managing the legacy of Frank Herbert and is an executive producer of the motion picture Dune, as well as of the TV series Dune: The Sisterhood. He is the author or coauthor of more than forty-five books, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, has been nominated for the Nebula Award, and is always working on several projects at once. He and his wife, Jan, have traveled to all seven continents, and in 2019, they took a trip to Budapest to observe the filming of Dune.

Kevin J. Anderson has written dozens of national bestsellers and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Readers’ Choice Award. His critically acclaimed original novels include the ambitious space opera series The Saga of Seven Suns, the epic fantasy trilogy Wake the Dragon, steampunk adventures Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives (with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart), as well as the thrillers Stake and Kill Zone (with Doug Beason). He is the publisher of WordFire Press and the director of the graduate program in publishing for Western Colorado University. He also set the Guinness-certified world record for the largest single-author book signing.