_**Frank Herbert**_ "Confine yourself to observing and you always miss the point of your life. The object can be stated this way: Live the best life you can. Life is a game whose rules you learn if you leap into it and play it to the hilt. Otherwise, you are caught off balance, continually surprised by the shifting play. Non-players often whine and complain that luck always passes them by. They refuse to see that they can create some of their own luck." --Darwi Odrade [[[ FRANK HERBERT ]]] Frank Patrick Herbert was a US writer who was born in Tacoma, Washington, and educated at the university of Washington, Seattle. He worked as a writer and editor on a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a fulltime writer. He began publishing sf with "Looking for Something?" for Startling Stories in 1952. During the next decade he was a infrequent contributor to the sf magazines. He never made significant impact with work below novel length. His emergence as a writer of major statue commenced with the publication in ASF in 163-4 of "Dune World", the first par of his DUNE series. It was followed in 1965 by "The prophet of Dune"; the two were amalgamated into Dune, which won th first Nebula for best Novel, shared the Hugo , and became one of the most famous of all science fiction novels. Sequels soon began to appear. Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976) addresses a recurrent theme in Herbert's work - the Evolution of Man, in this case into SUPERMAN. These two novels, along with the first one were assembled as The Great Dune Trilogy (1979). God Emperor of Dune (1981) followed, then Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapter House Dune (1986), these three assembled into The Second Great Dune Trilogy (1987). A movie based on Dune, Dune, was released in 1984. Frank Herbert deals with many thing in his novels. Cybernetics in Destination: Void(1966), genetic engineering and immortality in The Eyes of Heisenberg(1966), high order of intelligence in The Saratoga Barrier(1968), alien intelligence in Whipping Star(1970). Much of Frank Hebert's work makes difficult reading. His ideas were genuinely developed concepts, not merely decorative notions, but they were sometimes embodied in excessively complicated plots and articulated in prose which did not always match the level of thinking, so that much of his writing seemed dense and opaque. His best novels, however, were the work of a speculative intellect with few rivals in modern science fiction. Frank Herbert died in 1986. Frank Herbert was a master of science fiction. He wrote about many things. Developed several new ideas and examined them thoroughly. The Dune chronicles is one of the best work in science fiction. His best novels were the work of a speculative intellect with few rivals in modern science fiction. Leaving behind him masterpieces that never will be forgotten Some of his works: <<Fiction>> o The Dragon in the Sea(1955), o The Green Brain(1966), o Destination: Void(1966), o The Jesus Incident(1979) (with Bill Ransom), o The Lazarus Effect(1983), (with Bill Ransom), o The Ascension Factor(1988), (with Bill Ransom), o The Eyes of Heisenberg(1966), o The Heaven Makers(1968), o The Santaroga Barrier(1968), o Whipping Star(1970), o The Dosadi Experiment(1977), o The God makers(1960), o The White Plague(1982), o Man of Two Worlds(1986), o Hellstrom's Hive(1973), o The Priest of Psi(1980), o Eye(1985) <<Non Fiction>> o Survival and the Atom(1952), o New World or No World, o Threshold: The Blue Angels Experience(1973), o Without Me You're Nothing:The Essential Guide to Home Computers(1980) [[[ DUNE ]]] The book Dune is the most famous of Frank Herbert work. A landmark in science fiction history. Dune is a novel of extraordinary complexity. It encompasses intergalactic politics of feudal nature. Its primary impact lay in its treatment of ecology, a theme which it brought to the forefront of modern science fiction readers' and writers' awareness. The desert planet Arrakis(Dune) with its giant sandworms and Bedouin-like inhabitants, the Fremen, clinging to the most precarious of ecological niches through a fanatical water conservation, is possibly the most convincing planetary romance environment created by any sf writer. This is a speech taken from the beginning of the movie DUNE... The beginning is a very delicate time. Know then that it's the year 10191, the known universe is ruled by the Padishah emperor Shaddam the IV. In this time the most precious substance in the universe is the SPICE melange. The spice extends life, the spice expands consciousness, the spice is vital to space travel. The spacing Guild and its navigators who the space has mutated over four thousands years, use the orange spice gas, which gives them the ability to fold the space, that is travel to any part of the universe without moving. The spice exist on only one planet in the entire universe, a desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts the people know as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy, that a man would come, a messiah ... who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis, also known as DUNE... Brian: The trouble is, a fellow named Ed Kramer kept after me. An accomplished editor and sponsor of science fiction/fantasy conventions, he wanted to put together an anthology of short stories set in the Dune universe -- stories by different, well-known authors. He convinced me that it would be an interesting, significant, project, and we talked about co-editing it. All the details weren't finalized, since the project had a number of complexities, both legal and artistic. In the midst of this, Ed told me had received a letter from best-selling author Kevin J. Anderson, who had been invited to contribute to the proposed anthology. He suggested what he called a "shot in the dark," asking about the possibility of working at novel length, preferably on a sequel to CHAPTERHOUSE: DUNE. Kevin's enthusiasm for the Dune universe fairly jumped off the pages of his letter. Still, I delayed answering him for around a month, not certain how to respond. Despite his proven skills, I was hesitant. This was a big decision. By now I knew I wanted to be involved closely in the project, and that I needed to participate to such a degree in order to ensure the production of a novel of integrity, one that would be faithful to the original series. Along with J. R. R. Tolkien's LORD OF THE RINGS and a handful of other works, DUNE stood as one of the greatest creative achievements of all time, and arguably the greatest example of science fiction world-building in the history of literature. For the sake of my father's legacy, I couldn't select the wrong person. I read everything I could get my hands on that Kevin had written, and did more checking on him. It soon became clear to me that he was a brilliant writer, and that his reputation was sterling. I decided to give him a telephone call. We hit it off immediately, both on a personal and professional level. Aside from the fact that I genuinely liked him, I felt an energy between us, a remarkable flow of ideas that would benefit the series. After obtaining the concurrence of my family, Ke in and I decided to write a prequel -- but not one set in the ancient times, long before DUNE. Instead we would go to events only thirty or forty years before the beginning of DUNE, to the love story of Paul's parents, to the Planetologist Pardot Kynes being dispatched to Arrakis, to the reasons for the terrible, destructive enmity between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, and much more. Our concept quickly grew to three books, a trilogy. Before writing a detailed outline, we set to work rereading all six Dune books my father had written, and I took it upon myself to begin assembling a massive DUNE CONCORDANCE -- an encyclopedia of all the characters, places and wonders of the Dune universe. Of primary concern to us, we needed to determine where Dad had been heading with the conclusion of the series. It was clear that he was building up to something momentous in DUNE 7, and without intending to do so he had left us with a mystery. There were no known notes or other clues, only my memory that Dad had been using a yellow highlighter on paperback copies of HERETICS OF DUNE and CHAPTERHOUSE: DUNE shortly before his death -- books that no one could locate after he was gone. In early May, 1997, when I finally met Kevin J. Anderson and his wife, the author Rebecca Moesta, new story ideas fairly exploded from our minds. In a frenzy the three of us either scribbled them down or recorded them on tape. From these notes, scenes b gan to unfold, but still we wondered and debated where Dad had been going with the series. In the last two books, HERETICS OF DUNE and CHAPTERHOUSE: DUNE, he had introduced a new threat -- the reviled Honored Matres -- who proceeded to lay waste to much of the galaxy. By the end of CHAPTERHOUSE, the characters had been driven into a corner, utterly beaten . . . and then the reader learned that the Honored Matres themselves were running from an even greater mysterious threat . . . a peril that was drawing close to the protagonists of the story, most of whom were Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers A scant two weeks after our meeting, I received a telephone call from an estate lawyer who had handled matters involving my mother and father. He informed me that two safety deposit boxes belonging to Frank Herbert had turned up in a suburb of Seattle, boxes that none of us knew existed. I made an appointment to meet with the bank authorities, and in an increasing air of excitement the safety deposit boxes were opened. Inside were papers and old- style floppy computer disks that included comprehensive notes for an unpublished "DUNE 7" -- the long-awaited sequel to CHAPTERHOUSE: DUNE! Now Kevin and I knew for certain where Frank Herbert had been headed, and we could weave the events of our prequels into a future grand finale for the series. We turned with new enthusiasm to the task of putting together a book proposal that could be shown to publishers. That summer I had a trip to Europe scheduled, an anniversary celebration that my wife Jan and I had been planning for a long time. I took al ng a new laptop computer and a featherweight printer, and Kevin and I exchanged FedEx packages all summer long. By the time I returned at the end of the summer, we had a massive 141 page trilogy proposal -- the largest that either of us had ever seen. My allied DUNE CONCORDANCE project, the encyclopedia of all the marvelous treasures of the Dune universe, was a little over half completed, with months of intensive work remaining before it would be finished. As we waited to see if a publisher would be interested, I remembered the many writing sessions I had enjoyed with my father, and my early novels in the 1980s that had received his loving, attentive suggestions for improvement. Everything I had learned f om him -- and more -- would be needed for this huge prequels project, which we were entitling "Prelude to Dune." -- Brian Herbert ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Kevin: I never met Frank Herbert, but I knew him well through the words he wrote. I read DUNE when I was ten years old, and reread it several times over the years; then I read and enjoyed all of the sequels. GOD-EMPEROR OF DUNE, hot off the presses, was the very first hardcover novel I ever purchased (I was a freshman in college). Then I worked my way through every single one of his other novels, diligently checking off the titles on the "Other Books By" page in each new book. THE GREEN BRAIN, HELLSTROM'S HIV , THE SANTAROGA BARRIER, THE EYES OF HEISENBERG, DESTINATION: VOID, THE JESUS INCIDENT, and more and more and more. To me, Frank Herbert was the pinnacle of what science fiction could be -- thought-provoking, ambitious, epic in scope, well-researched, and entertaining -- all in the same book. Other science fiction novels succeed in one or more of these areas, but DUNE did it all. By the time I was five years old, I had decided I wanted to be a writer. By the time I was twelve, I knew I wanted to write books like the ones Frank Herbert wrote. Throughout college, I published a handful of short stories then began to write my first novel, RESURRECTION, INC., a complex tale set in a future world where the dead are reanimated to serve the living. The novel was full of social commentary, religious threads, a large cast of characters, and (yes) a wheels-within-wheels plot. By this time, I had enough writing credits to join the Science Fiction Writers of America . . . and one of the main benefits was the Membership Directory. There, before my eyes, was the home address of Frank Herbert. I promised myself that I would send him the very first signed copy. The novel sold almost immediately to Signet Books . . . but before its publication date, Frank Herbert died. I had avidly read the last two Dune books, HERETICS and CHAPTERHOUSE, in which Herbert had launched a vast new saga that built to a fever pitch, literally destroyed all life on the planet Arrakis, and left the human race on the brink of extinction -- that's where Frank Herbert left the story upon his death. I knew that his son Brian was also a professional writer with several science fiction novels under his belt. I waited, and hoped, that Brian would complete a draft manuscript, or at least flesh out an outline his father had left behind. Someday soon, I hoped that faithful DUNE readers would have a resolution to this cliffhanger. Meanwhile, my own writing career did well. I was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and the Nebula Award, two of my thrillers were bought or optioned by major studios in Hollywood. While I continued to write original novels, I also found a great deal of success in dipping my toes into established universes, such as STAR WARS and X-FILES (both of which I loved). I learned how to study the rules and the characters, wrap my imagination around them, and tell my own stories within the boundaries and expectations of the readers. Then in the spring of 1996 I spent a week in Death Valley, California, which has always been one of my favorite places to write. I went hiking for an afternoon in an isolated and distant canyon, wrapped up in my plotting and dictating. After an hour or so I discovered that I had wandered off on the wrong trail and had several extra miles to hike back to my car. During that unexpectedly long walk, out in the stark and beautiful desert scenery, my thoughts rambled over to DUNE. It had been ten years since Frank Herbert's death, and by now I had pretty much decided that DUNE was always going to end on a cliffhanger. I still very much wanted to know how the story wrapped up . . . even if I had to make it up myself. I had never met Brian Herbert before, had no reason to expect he would even consider my suggestion. But DUNE was my favorite science fiction novel of all time, and I could think of nothing I would rather work on. I decided it would do no harm to ask. . . We hope you enjoyed revisiting the Dune universe through our eyes. It has been an immense honor to sift through thousands of pages of Frank Herbert's original notes, so that we might recreate some of the vivid realms that sprang from his researches, his imagination, and his life. I still find DUNE as exciting and thought-provoking as I did when I first encountered it many years ago. -- Kevin J. Anderson [More on dune][1]