The Worlds Of Frank Herbert [Paperback]

Frank Herbert (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Berkley (May 15, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425064832
• ISBN-13: 978-0425064832
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,568,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first sf story was published in 1952 but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication in Analog of Dune World and The Prophet of Dune that were amalgamated in the novel Dune in 1965.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Short stories by early Herbert, June 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The worlds of Frank Herbert (The Gregg Press science fiction series)

This is a collection of eight short stories originally published from 1961 to 1967, so essentially pre-Dune. By today's standards these stories are rather slow and convoluted, but not bad, with some rather alien aliens. The story on women in military uniform actually looks rather modern (instead of forty years old: some things never go out of date!).

This book will probably be liked by those who liked "Whipping star". Better than "The Godmakers".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pre-Dune Frank Herbert, September 6, 2007

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Worlds Of Frank Herbert (Paperback)

This is an interesting book for fans of Frank Herbert. These short stories are classic sci-fi, but show the master in his developmental stages.

At times, the stores seem ill-fitted to the genre of short story sci-fi. The conversation has Herbert's elliptical, convoluted style with the characteristic thoughts in italics, something that would be familiar to readers of the Dune series. As a critical reader, you could see how this type of dialog and exposition would fit a novel, a long novel better. Eventually, Herbert moved from novels to full-blown long books in series, really one long work. It's fun to contrast this with an author such as Robert Silverberg, whose novellas are in my opinion, his best work and show off his writing like a small but perfect gem in a restrained but elegant setting. Herbert needed room to expand and grow. The short story shows him ill-at-ease in the confines of a story, but clearly developing grand themes.

One reward--the first story is about Jorg X. McKie, saboteur extraordinaire and the Bureau of Sabotage's real activities. The Pan-Spechi, humanoid aliens who move their ego between five members of a creche, are more fully drawn out in this tale, so readers of "Whipping Star" and "The Dosadi Experiment", two of Herbert's most successful novels outside the Dune series will be able to get some insight and background. One senses there were other Jorg X. McKie tales that never saw the light of day or were never written, an interesting thought. What if "Dune" hadn't taken off. Perhaps McKie would have been Herbert's greatest creation. A treat for Herbert fans, even if the rest of the stories are a bit clunky.

4.0 out of 5 stars Eight Steps Into Herbert's Universe!, August 23, 2010

By 

Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Worlds Of Frank Herbert (Paperback)

Frank Herbert (1920-1986) wrote his masterpiece "Dune" (1965), generating a recognizable turning point in sci-fi literature.
The variety of themes he touched influenced many genre authors thereafter: ecology, political-religious interaction, genetic manipulation, longevity drugs and secret sisterhoods and brotherhoods.
"The Worlds of Frank Herbert" has 1970 as publication date. It comprises eight short stories published between 1961 and 1967 in prestigious sci-fi magazines.
The collection allows the reader to perceive the portentous imagination of Frank Herbert and at the same time why he was better novelist than short-stories writer. IMHO Herbert needed more than a few pages to fully exploit his creativity.

"The Tactful Saboteur", first story in the collection, is a very peculiar one and the best of the book. The backdrop is the ConSentient universe, common environment for "A Matter of Traces" (short story 1958), "Whipping Star" (novel 1970) and "The Dosadai Experiment" (novel 1977). In this scenery humans coexist with several alien races and the Government needs to be slowed down in order to preserve "Sentient Rights".
The story centers on Jorj X. McKie "saboteur extraordinary" of the Bureau of Sabotage who is in search of a missing colleague and mixed up in several schemes.

"The GM Effect" explores genetic memory in a very compact and thrilling tale. I just love this one!

"The Featherbedders" shows Herbert's classical wit to device unexpected plots that run deeper and deeper from a superficially anodyne situation.

The rest of the stories give you an idea about Herbert's imaginative universes!

I recommend this quite short book to sci-fi lovers (especially Frank Herbert enthusiasts) and general public too.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.