DUNE 7 BLOG

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Too Big for One Book

Frank Herbert originally planned HERETICS, CHAPTERHOUSE, and "Dune 7" as a trilogy. The story he mapped out was vast, spanning huge events and sending our characters from one end of the universe to the other. When Brian and I first read the notes and outline for "Dune 7," we couldn't imagine how that story could possibly be told in a single book that would have been shorter than 1400 pages long.

In the last two DUNE novels he wrote, Frank Herbert adopted a somewhat different writing style than in his previous books, a shorthand of sorts, in which he allowed certain major dramatic events to occur "offstage." For example -- SPOILER WARNING for those of you who haven't yet read HERETICS or CHAPTERHOUSE -- Bashar Teg rallies his loyal followers to steal one of the Honored Matres' no-ships, they cheer...and the next time we see them, they have already succeeded in seizing the craft. The obliteration of all life on Rakis is done between chapters. The major events of the Battle of Junction are simply skipped.

As should be obvious to anyone who has read our DUNE prequels, Brian and I have a different writing style from the original novels. We have intentionally not attempted to imitate Frank Herbert's prose. We also come from a different generation. Books have an unlimited special-effects budget, and we take advantage of that -- showing the DUNE universe in all its spectacle. This requires a lot more pages, expanded scenes, fully described battles. Hence, we realized we could only tell the story in the "Dune 7" outline in two volumes.

No doubt some of those people who loved Frank Herbert's style will prefer the earlier approach. On the other hand, a great many readers found the denser writing in HERETICS and CHAPTERHOUSE to be too opaque for their tastes.

Either way, we have written HUNTERS and SANDWORMS to tell the grand climax of the Dune Chronicles, which fans have been anticipating for twenty years. On August 22, you will have your chance to see how the story ends.

-- KJA

PS -- I'm still hoping to convince some of you to contribute to my mountain climb for charity. Please consider donating to this great cause by clicking on the Tip Jar and marking "Peak Challenge 2006" in the detail line. For further information, see my July 28 blog entry.