Heretics of Dune

From the diary: “April 4, 1985

“Am reading Heretics of Dune. It’s an adventure/coming of age story like Dune and Children of Dune. Much more readable than Dune Messiah (ugh) and God Emperor. So far. I’m only halfway. Soon Chapterhouse: Dune will be out. I don’t know why I’m addicted to this series.”

Addicted? I don’t know. I tend to read every book in a series (or every movie or episode if it’s a TV series or issue of the comic or whatever) so long as the stories are decent and available. Fact is, I push on until I’m disappointed repeatedly. But I do learn to quit if what I’m seeing isn’t rewarding. I also fall out with a series when there are long waits between episodes.

Of the Dune books I can say I really enjoyed the first. I’ve read it two, maybe three times. The last books, the ones Frank Herbert churned out not long before he died, were pretty lightweight, I understand. Heretics certainly was. I never got around to Chapterhouse. After the weighty concerns of the earlier books, Heretics was a surprise. I don’t remember much of it, but I do remember the story galloped along full of incident instead of picking its way along through inscrutable monuments and court intrigues.