Customer Reviews

Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I could call this book a "Family Biography" rather than only a bio on Frank Herbert. This is no surprise coming from the pen of his son, Brian Herbert and souldn't had implied something negative, nonetheless I feel that the result was not overall satisfactory, and an important opportunity missed by Brian Herbert.

On the good side, we get to know the intimate family life of Frank Herbert and specially his relationship with his wife Beverly and his sons.In this way we discover the man but we are far from discovering much of the writer. We hardly get any insights into many of his writings (the exception is of course Dune). I was eager to know about the origins of the Pandora Cycle, the Dune Sequels or many of the great short stories, but non of that is propoerly developed and sometimes it is only barely mentioned. We even get more details about Brian Herbert's own writings!, which seems to me a lack of sensibility on the author's part.

While not the best I would expect, "Dreamer of Dune" is certainly valuable for the most familiar aspects of Herbert which would have been unavailable otherwise. Nevertheless, we won't get the full picture of one of science fiction's grandest creators and I recommend to complement this title with other valuable sources to fully understand Herbert's achievement. Some recommendations are Frank Herbert by Timothy O'Reilly (found on the web at Tim O'Reilly's Web Page), The Maker of Dune, a collection of articles by Herbert himself on various topics and the academic works by William Touponce and Daniel Levack.

A reader usually does not pick up the biography of an author unless seriously interested in that writer's work. I've bought and read most of Herbert's works, and have found them uniformly fascinating and mind-expanding. What interests me most about SF writers I admire is the intellectual content--the level of depth they put into their writing--and I'm always curious about where they get their information. Unfortunately, Brian Herbert did not deliver those particular goods.

That said, I gave this book four stars because it moved me. This was a very interesting, smart man, and his works have greatly impacted my views and my writing. He presents his father from a truly unique perspective. Perhaps Hemingway's kids wrote about life with "the great man," but otherwise I haven't seen many sons-writing-about-their-fathers books. Maybe I was just affected by the father-son dynamic of the book. (Herbert had another brother, Bruce, who was apparently estranged from his father because he was homosexual). Perhaps, if viewed from that perspective, Brian Herbert's book deserves to be called a triumph. You can read it and respond to it even if you aren't a science fiction fan.

This, then, is the story of the Herbert family, a group of itinerant travelers who centered its collective life around the father in order to ensure the success of his career-as seen through the eyes of the "number one son." There is also a remarkable love story here, that between Frank Herbert and Beverly Stuart, his wife. Fans can get some idea of this love between husband and wife by reading the postscript of Chapterhouse: Dune. The death of Beverly tugs at the heart, as does the death of the great man himself, when it comes. You can empathize with Brian Herbert and his struggles getting to know and love his brilliant, driven, and difficult-to-know father.

There are flaws with the book, though. There are many places where passages repeat. I also found it odd how Herbert would alternate between calling Frank "Dad" or "Frank Herbert." Sort of like the discomfort one might feel hearing a friend address their parents by first name instead of "Mom" or "Dad." One gets the feeling that anything the author experienced personally was attributed to "Dad" while anything the author looked up was attributed to "Frank Herbert." And, of course, the author didn't deliver the goods when it came to some of the intellectual aspects of his father's work. Everyone asks an author, "Where do you get your ideas?" Brian Herbert answers a few of these questions with regard to Dune and other stories, but not enough. I suppose one would have to read a more "lit-crit" analysis of Frank Herbert's work to know where he acquired his unique, super-cerebral style or lofty political insights. Having read a couple of Brian Herbert's books, I'm afraid he doesn't know, either. The prequels he's written have not matched the father's work, much to my dismay.

So, bottom-line, if you want a good father-son story that just happens to involve a famous author you might like, by all means, read this book. If you're looking for an intellectual analysis of this SF colossus, you will have to look elsewhere.

After about 60 pages into this book, I was wondering - where were the editors at Tor when this was being made ready for publication? It is incredibly repetitious, there must be at least 4 different places where Brian Herbert writes that the seed idea for the Bene Gesserit was from Frank Herberts group of strong minded Roman Catholic aunts. Or, that a haiku is a 17 syllable Japanese poem. I could go on, but I think I've made the point.

As others have mentioned, it is more of a family biography than a biography of Frank Herbert himself. There is far more about Brian Herbert in this work than I expected (or wanted).

I think a good editor could have reduced this mess from a bloated 576 pages to a nice tight 300 pages.

It was only my curiosity about Frank Herbert and the love I had for the first few Dune novels during my youth that enabled me to persist, via skimming.

I certainly hope this will not be the "definitive biography" of Frank Herbert.

The book starts out with a captivating punch. Despite Brian Herbert's poor writing skills he starts off telling the most interesting stories about his father, and I found myself able to ignore the ridiculous amount of repetition, as others here have pointed out (I mean seriously, he obviously wasn't looking back on what he had written while he was writing, because he reintroduces the same facts and stories multiple times as if mentioning them for the first time). Then something horrible happened. Brian Herbert was born.

At this point the story takes an incredibly self-indulgent turn. Brian cries endlessly about how his father mistreated him, but as it turns out, he didn't even start reading his father's books until he was in his twenties! He makes vague, weak excuses for this, but the impression I got was one of a lazy child with an Oedipus Complex who was too busy getting drunk as a teenager to bother with such things as supporting his father.

The bulk of this book comes off as more of a memoir than a biography. You hear things from Brian's point of view, clouded by his judgment and opinions. I hardly felt I learned anything about Frank Herbert by reading it, except for the various dates his books were published, and that he was apparently an atrociously horrible father *sarcasm*.

The details are all in petty, meaningless dates and times. A disturbing portion of the book reads like this. "At 6:30 PM on January 15, 1976, Jan and I ate dinner with my father and mother at (insert name of hotel here). Frank Herbert (since he constantly switches between calling him "Dad", "father" and "Frank Herbert", apparently arbitrarily) ordered a bottle of expensive aged wine. He told jokes like I've described him doing a million times at a million insignificant hotel dinners throughout this book, and it was an altogether pleasant night." Given the way he skimps on describing Frank's early life and his years struggling to get published while raising two kids, you would think he could skimp on all of these painful hotel dinners and just give us the essentials of what was going on, but no, every second after Brian becomes friends with his dad in his adult life is described in ridiculous, pedantic detail. Its about as interesting as reading an itinerary.

To his credit, he manages to paint an emotional portrait of his family... right before he screws that up by cheaply plugging his own witless writing. Rather than ending the book with a poignant comment on his father, as he leads you to believe he will, it ends with talk of the new "Dune" (and I'm not putting that in quotes because its a title) books he and Anderson have been crapping out on a yearly basis. Shameless self-promotion at its most loathsome.

Don't waste your time with this book unless a rattlesnake bit you in the eye and you need to bleed the venom out. It does have its moments and I will say it wasn't a complete waste of time, but I heaved a sigh of relief when I hit page 536. I am a big fan of everything Frank Herbert has ever written and his son doesn't have half the talent he did.

Not quite, although I did tire of hearing about what a rotten father Frank Herbert had been to Brian. I don't idealize Herbert and can see the need to be true to how his children experienced him, but as my other reviews indicate, I am not a fan of people bringing relentlessly into print recurrent complaints that ought to be voiced within the family, between friends, or in therapy. Nevertheless, to see the two reconciled was warming to read; both fathers and sons will appreciate many of the obstacles involved.

I was going to comment at length on the poor editing job (the main reason I only gave this book a 3) but reviewers below have already done so. An obvious catch would have been asking the author to decide between Dad, Father, Frank, and Frank Herbert. The frequent shifts made my eyes sore. (I should own up here to a negative impression going in to this biography: when I wrote the author to ask a question about Chapterhouse, he responded only with a pitch for his own serializations. This lost him a potential customer.)

Many interesting connections are drawn between Herbert's personal experiences and various themes in his books, particularly the Dune books. For those alone it's a worthy read, and may enhance your appreciation of the original series. There are also many interesting anecdotes about Herbert's life and the sense of jovial humanity that shines through in his writing.

The book is clear and very readable and organized in chronological fashion to make Herbert's life story unfold in a meaningful and easily understood order. The death of brave Beverly and the family's reactions were particularly moving, and upon hearing at one point that the author could not continue writing, I too put down the book for a moment, feeling the pain in the words.

Not but two minutes ago, I read the last page of this book. I had only recieved it a few short days ago, and throughout those few days, I could hardly put this book down. As a fan of the senior Herbert, I began collecting the Dune series in hardback, and wanted this book to add to my collection, little had I known that it would be so influencial to me. As I read this book, I laughed, felt the onset of tears, I anguished over the last days of Beverly Herbert, and felt immense sorrow when Frank passed away so suddenly along with Brian, Jan and the rest of Herbert's loving family. Reading this book showed me the quiet bond that can grow between father and son, and made me think of my own relationship with my father, and how one day, I too will have to face the pain of losing a parent. Dreamer of Dune isn't just a powerful book that I'd heartily reccomend to any fan of Dune, it's a window into the life of the man behind the stories, an incredible glimpse into the events that shaped his amazing imagination. I can't reccomend this book enough.

When you know inside information about the life of a man who's influenced the literary community, you can't help but let that seep into your writing. Especially if you're writing a biography about this man. Add to that the fact that you're his son, and you've got a triple-whammy!

Brian Herbert (a successful author in his own right) shows us the powerful life of his legendary father, Frank Herbert, in Dreamer of Dune, the biography of Frank Herbert's life.

The story surrounds Frank Herbert from his humble beginnings in small town Washington, to his rise to the head of science fiction's most coveted awards (the Nebula and Hugo awards).

Brian Herbert takes us on an emotional rollercoaster ride as Frank and his family go from starving in Mexico, to eating caviar in Hawaii. Then we get let down again as Bev, Frank's love of his life, passes away.

Throughout the biography, Brian expertly weaves the life that would lead Frank Herbert to write his magnum opus: Dune. His newspaper days, working for senatorial candidates, ecological research and travels all helped shape the world of Dune that would emerge onto the literary world and shape the science fiction community for decades to come.

A well-written biography with some touching information on a man who may still remain and enigma to many fans. Enjoy.

Brian Herbert's biography of his father Frank Herbert, the author of the "Dune" saga, reveals a few things we always knew about him, confirms some of our guesses, and uncovers some shocking facts about the man.

Brian paints his father as a devoted husband, good cook, natural genius, rugged outdoorsman, thrill seeker, curious learner, incessant nitpicker, financial klutz, child disliker, and a bit of a homophobe. He praises his father for his deep love and affection to his mother Bev, but also makes it clear his father, while never abusive, had little patience around children, even to the point of strapping his own kids to a lie detector. Brian Herbert could not make peace with his father until he was well into adulthood. His other son never did.

Much of the beginning is very laudatory, how daring and great of a woodsman old Dad was, yada, yada, yada ... Not until the actual publishing of "Dune" does Brian ever show any depth to his account beyond what you would read in a child's history paper.

When he comes to his mother's illness, however, the roots sink in deep. You feel the emotional damage and toll it took on the whole family. You know by reading about Bev's death that Frank has mostly died on the inside as well, and he passes on soonafter.

His descriptions of the home life in Xanadu and Kawaloa are so vivid and beautiful I wondered what's become of those estates. I couldn't help but wonder why the elder Herbert disliked Ronald Reagan.

Reading the biography made me appreciate more of what Frank Herbert wrote. It's an odd coincidence I read about his dog and the clams at the same time I read in "Chapterhouse: Dune" about Duncan's dog and the clams. You see where the writer lives in his work all the more.

In Dreamer of Dune, Brian Herbert, AKA "Number One Son," provides an in-depth look into the mind of the man who produced Dune, several sequels, and a number of other worthy books. Frank Herbert was a man of great genius--obvious from his writing--who also had many failings, particularly as a father. The book wonderfully describes Frank Herbert's deep love for his wife, Bev, and his feelings for his children and friends, the genesis of his book themes, his work habits, early life, and much more. Dreamer of Dune is a big book, but it's a quick and interesting read (I finished it in just a couple of days). Some minor irritations include the author's misspelling of Sterling Lanier's book "Hiero's Journey" as "Hero's Journey," plus other groaners like describing how he awoke in the morning "with a full stomach." The author also has the strange habit of repeating information that was covered earlier in the text, plus, as mentioned by other reviewers, a penchant for covering unworthy trivia. Highly recommended, though, for the Frank Herbert fan.

After reading "Dreamer of Dune" I did what seemed to be the obvious thing - picked up "Dune" and began to re-read it, after quite a few years. I was struck by two things: how fresh and vivid the whole amazing work still seemed, and how little the passage of time had caused problems with the technological trappings. That showed how careful Frank Herbert had been not to get drawn into simple extrapolation, but had focused on truly original concepts all based on humanity, not on things: the Mentat, the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit, the Bedouin-like Fremen.

Now, putting that extraordinary achievement in context with the biography written by his son, one can easily see why he could not have been a very "good father" and why he had little time for small children, why he insisted in being undisturbed when he worked. What intense focus it must have taken to spin out that unfolding story and keep it absolutely true to its essence. To winnow through and select the right cultural references from Greece and Rome. As Brian Herbert comments, he was a voracious reader and student of pretty much everything. Contrast this with the son who didn't even read his father's books when he received them! Frank Herbert would never have made Brian's mistake, mentioning a Hawaiian clerk talking in "pigeon English." [Pidgin is the word.]

"Dreamer of Dune" is certainly a worthwhile read for anyone who has been entranced by the Dune saga, and Brian has come to write pretty well, though his biography needed his father's tight editing hand, sadly of course unavailable. Others have mentioned the frequent repetitions that could have been cut back, and there are some little oddities that don't seem to make sense: for instance, in an early trip to Mexico a favorite black-and silver fountain pen got destroyed, Brian commenting that this was a shame because his father always wrote in longhand; but we have already learned that even before Brian was born his father and mother both had their portable typewriters with them in their mountain cabin, and later there are frequent references to the typewriters and then word processors...and then much later the black and silver pen makes a re-appearance. The sort of little thing that Frank would never have allowed in his writing.

The portrait is large and detailed, but by its nature cannot really take us inside the mind of one of those special beings who are destined to spend their lives in thrall to the muse. Although the Dune series is center stage, the list of Frank Herbert's published writings fills 14 pages of not very large type. For all who wonder if they maybe can or should write, this shows what is to be someone who simply cannot not write. The pen, or keyboard, was his destiny: the love and support of his wife Beverly was the enabler: all else was secondary.