Before Dune , After Frank Herbert

When Dune was published in 1965 it took the literary world by storm. Combining ecology, politics, and religion in one many-layered package, Dune was science fiction of an order never before seen. When author Frank Herbert passed away in 1986 after completing five sequels to his master work, fans lamented the end of the complex Dune universe. But in 1999 Herbert's son Brian and acclaimed science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson returned readers to the world of Dune with a remarkable trilogy of prequels. This was followed by another trilogy, Legends of Dune, the final volume of which, The Battle of Corrin, is now available.

Brian Herbert is the son of science fiction legend Frank Herbert and an accomplished author in his own right. He's written several books, including Man of Two Worlds with his father, the Hugo-nominated Frank Herbert biography Dreamer of Dune, and the nonfiction The Forgotten Heroes.

Kevin J. Anderson is a bestselling science fiction writer who's written books in the Star Wars and X-Files canons. Besides the Dune prequels, Anderson's most recent titles include the three books of The Saga of the Seven Suns series.

Amazon.com: Brian, what was it like living with the man who created arguably the most celebrated science fiction novel of all time?

Brian Herbert: My father was very much a disciplinarian. His father was a deputy sheriff, highway patrol, here in Washington State. So, his own father laid the discipline down on him and he laid it on me pretty good. I certainly didn't come off it for the worst, though. A lot of people come up to me at signings after reading Dreamer of Dune and say, "It was nice that you got to get close to your father."

My mother and father met at the University of Washington. They were the only writers in the class who'd sold a story. She'd sold a romance story and he'd sold an adventure story. That's really how they were--she was the romantic and he was the adventurer. Early in the marriage, my mother gave up her writing career. She had writing skills but gave them up for his talent.

Amazon.com: Did he read to you from Dune as you grew up?

Herbert: He didn't read me bedtime stories. I had to overhear it. My dad was an incredible storyteller and I used to eavesdrop. I'd listen to all these great stories and then try to retell them to my school class for show & tell. Sometimes they were a bit off-color, too.

"Dune is to science fiction what The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy." --Brian Herbert

Amazon.com: Did you enjoy Dune when you first read it?

Herbert: I thought it was the greatest book I'd ever read. I could not believe I'd missed it. I like to say I helped him write it by staying out of the way. I could identify with the relationship between Duke Leto and Paul. Dad would say he was proud of me but didn't tell me directly; he'd tell other people.

Amazon.com: Kevin, how did you get involved in the Dune prequels?

Kevin J. Anderson: Brian was considering doing more Dune books for 10 years, but because Chapterhouse Dune ends with such a heartwarming dedication to his mom, who died during its writing, he wanted to leave it there. Before that, Frank had talked to Brian about doing a Butlerian Jihad book, but because of scheduling problems and Frank's career, they didn't get to do it. The years passed and lots of writers approached Brian to do these, but Brian had put them all off. Understandably to me, as it's not something you'd take lightly. These are big books.

Finally, he'd agreed to edit a collection of stories set in the Dune universe, and I was one of the people invited to write for it. At the same time I was also a huge Dune fan.

I first got Dune when I was 10 but didn't read it for the first time until I was 12. It's 400 pages long! But it had this cool picture of a sandworm on the cover. When I finally read it, I was blown away. Then I read it again in college and was blown away again.

Herbert: Kevin told me when we first started getting together that he went back and read it again and was wondering if it would hold up after so long.

Anderson: And it did! I reread it every time we're going to do a Dune book. Dune has so many different layers to it that it's never the same as the last time you read it.

Herbert: Dad used to say you could read Dune on so many layers. It's just a masterful novel. He always said, "If you have a pot full of messages, you want to layer it. Don't bore your readers."

"I've written Star Wars stories, and that's pretty big stuff, and I did some X-Files books. So I was used to walking on sacred ground, but Dune was an order of magnitude different." --Kevin J. Anderson

Amazon.com: So, back to the question, Kevin. How did you sign on to write the prequels with Brian?

Anderson: I always write with a tape recorder, often while I'm backpacking. I was wandering around Death Valley and got to thinking about Dune .

Herbert: You got mad at me that day, didn't you?

Anderson: I was wondering why Brian didn't finish the story, whether he was ever going to finish the Dune story. I wondered if he was ever going to finish it, or if I could pick it up and finish it.

So I sent him a letter. The first sentence was "What you just heard was a shot in the dark." He waited a month or two before calling me up, and his worst fears were confirmed because we hit it right off. Right away we started riffing on things. My wife said, "You guys started talking another language after just five minutes on the phone together."

Originally we were talking about capping off the end of Chapterhouse Dune . But it had been so long since Chapterhouse that we felt that if we jumped into it the story might seem out of place. We needed something to reawaken interest in Dune itself. So we came up with doing an immediate prequel with the familiar characters.

Amazon.com: Have you found that your books spark new interest in other Frank Herbert books besides the original Dune ?

Anderson: People are reading ours and then they go back and read the other Frank Herbert books. I get so many letters from folks saying, "I was never able to read the others, but now I've gone back and I love them."

"It's not as good as Frank Herbert writing the story, but it's as good as anyone can do right now." --Brian Herbert

Amazon.com: Did Frank Herbert leave any notes or an outline that you've used to write the prequels?

Herbert: Years after my father passed away we got a call from the attorney who handled his estate, saying that they'd found two safe-deposit keys. We were thinking maybe there were some jewels in there or something. But it turned out that there's nothing of value in there… but the notes for Dune 7 . [laughs]

Anderson: Then Brian was cleaning out his garage to make an office space and he found all these boxes that had "Dune Notes" on the side. And we used a lot of them for our House books.

Herbert: Dad always called my mother a "white witch." Then, after Kevin and I met, I got the call about the safe-deposit boxes. Then I found the notes. I felt that my mom was making sure Kevin and I got along and was watching over me.

Amazon.com: Science fiction readers can be pretty fanatical about stories they've come to love. What's the fan reaction been like for these new Dune books?

Anderson: I've written Star Wars stories, and that's pretty big stuff, and I did some X-Files books. So I was used to walking on sacred ground, but Dune was an order of magnitude different.

Herbert: Dune is to science fiction what The Lord of the Rings is to fantasy.

Anderson: There was a lot of reaction. "How can you do this?" There was a fan group on the Internet that decided we shouldn't do this. There were 60 of them on Amazon and they put 60 one-star reviews up saying, "We don't even have to read them." I was the Dummy of Dune and Brian was the Anti-Christ.

Herbert: But after they read the books they apologized. We actually got apology letters. The fans immediately started saying thank you for continuing the series. They love the Dune universe, and they just don't want us to foul it up.

Amazon.com: Writing a novel with two authors seems like such an awkward task. How did you manage it?

Herbert: You have to check your ego at the door.

Anderson: We get together twice a year and spend a weekend brainstorming. We write each other. We talk it out. I have a physics degree so the more scientific stuff, the world-building stuff, is mine. The more philosophical stuff is Brian's because he has a degree in comparative religion.

Herbert: Our writing styles are similar, so that helps, too. We send chapters back and forth by computer and make changes to it. Because it's on the computer there's no red pen marking it up.

Anderson: These go back and forth 12 or 13 times. We're confident that when you read them you won't be able to tell who wrote what chapters.

Herbert: We have a ghostwriter, too. We had all those notes of Dad's. He's in there.

Amazon.com: Would Frank Herbert have enjoyed the prequels?

Herbert: It's not as good as Frank Herbert writing the story, but it's as good as anyone can do right now. We're not going to milk this. We're not going to carry on too far. We still feel the great passion, the great energy for the story.