The Road to Dune by Frank Herbert

The Road to Dune Reviews

• 
  Andrew

  This is an interesting book but I will warn you that you really do have to be a fan of Dune to appreciate this book. Now this is not as dumb a statement as it sounds you see Frank Herbert was a very complex person who was passionate about certain things - it can be seen in his writing but also in his research and perseverance to see things through.
  Ok so why be a "real" fan to appreciate this book. As has been told and retold many times the genesis of the new or extended Dune books came about when boxes (and I mean BOXES) of notes and additional material was discovered by Brian Herbert. What came about as a result of painstaking and almost Herculean dedication to catalogue, annotate and piece together all these fragments was to provide not only a picture of the Author but also the true scope of what he had planned for the universe of Dune. So this book really gives a glimpse in to that body of work - so you have essays, stories, correspondence, on all aspects of the books and the journey Frank Herbert took to get there. It also explains why there is so much more of the story being told by his heirs Brain Herbert and Kevin J Anderson. Now as fascinating as all of this is it can be at times hard work to wade through it all but I can assure you its worth it if nothing else to help you gain a whole new appreciation for the universe of Dune
• 
  Chris Haught

  This was a very entertaining collection of deleted scenes, short stories, and letters about the novel Dune and its sequels. It's definitely one for the Dune enthusiast and probably won't be much use to the casual fan.
  
  "Spice Planet" takes up most of the first half of the book. The cover advertises this as a "new" novel by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson. In reality, it is a short novel length work that they put together based on an outline by Frank Herbert. This outline was a very early draft of what would eventually become Dune. Dubbed "the alternate Dune" novel, this is really an early vision of what might have been. The story itself is much different than what Frank Herbert eveutnally published, though there are many recognizable plot points and characters that are kept in the final product. This story on its own was a fun read. The writing is bad in places and quite adolescent in many spots. It seems to lack any kind of editing, which surprised me since Kevin J. Anderson is also a professional editor as well as author. It read like a rough draft. But that being said, the story was very engaging. The characters had cheesy dialogue, but were otherwise well detailed. Perhaps the parallels to Dune helped make them likable, but "Spice Planet" on its own is an entertaining story. But let's all be thankful that Frank Herbert kept expanding on his ideas and polished them up to produce the true masterpiece that Dune was.
  
  The letters of Frank Herbert and those sent to him about the Dune publishing experience were interesting. It was cool to see the path that the novel took before being accepted and finally published. And you know some of those publishers that rejected the manuscript have to be beating their heads on the wall to this day.
  
  The deleted scenes. Well, I compare this section to the typical part of a DVD that has extras. The scenes that were cut from Dune were interesting to read, but there really wasn't anything awe inspiriing. In short, they were cool to read but the original novel didn't lose anything by having them cut. I won't say the same about the scenes from Dune Messiah, though. The last two "alternate ending" chapters included here were very interesting, beautifully written, and quite surprising. I think the original Dune Messiah ending was just fine as it was, but these two scenes show how it could have ended. They would have been a good way to end the novel as well, except that they would have screwed up the next novel, Children of Dune.
  
  The short stories. Now, these were fun to read. The first one, "A Whisper of Caladan Seas" tells the story of a troop of Atreides fighters in the Harkonnen attack in Dune. It's sad and poignant, while giving an air of mystery and intrigue. The writing is a little jagged, which is understandable as it is the first collaboration work between Brian and Kevin.
  
  The other three short stories deal with the Butlerian Jihad era, occuring some 10,000 years before Dune. These focus on the war between the "thinking machines" and the oppressed humans. I feel sure that Herbert's orginal ideas for this era were a big influence on later works by movie producers such as Battlestar Galactica, The Terminator and The Matrix. These three stories serve as an appetizing introduction to the Legends of Dune series written by Brian & Kevin. As entertaining as they were, I've pushed those books up on my TBR. Great stuff! These stories probably pushed The Road to Dune up to a 4-star rating for me, from the 3-star I was thinking it would get until I read those.
  
  My only complaint about this book: the paperback edition was released about a year later and it included a new short story left out of the hardcover edition: "Sea Child". Those that buy the more expensive hardcovers should not get less than those that wait a year and buy the cheaper edition. The only way I can get that story now is to buy the paperback. I don't want to spend that kind of money on a single short story, and I don't want to give up my copy when I have the entire Dune library in hardcover. They did this again with the release of their next book, Hunters of Dune. They should at least make those stories available for free as ebooks or something to those that bought the hardcovers.
• 
  Casey Wheeler

  This book is composed primarily of sort pieces of fiction comprised of an alternative story line for Dune from Frank Herbert's notes, deleted chapters and scenes from Dune and Dune Messiah and four short stories tied into the prequels to Dune written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. It will only make sense if you have read the appropriate books from the Dune series and are a fan of the series.
• 
  William Sayers

  If you've read all the Dune books and want a fix, then here it is. Just don't expect another Dune book!
  Contains a version Dune before Herbert re-wrote it. Interesting but not as good.
• 
  DS25

  Il libro è una collezione di materiale interessante, una specie di Tolkenarium di Herbert. Serve anche a capire la brillantezza e l'unicità dei primi due libri di Dune, con scelte finali dell'autore che coinvolgono molto più delle alternative presenti in questo libro.
  Inoltre, per chi vorrebbe provare a pubblicare, è un incitamento: Dune è stato rifiutato 15 volte, prima di essere pubblicato da parte di una casa editrice locale che si occupava di manuali agricoli.
• 
  T.I.M. James

  Yet another Dune book released by the duo of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, but this one is a lot different from their normal milking of the cash cow.
  
  In many ways this is a fascinating read, presenting discovered material from Frank Herbert himself, allowing an insight, not only into the way that books come together, especially in the pre-digital age, but also in the way that Dune itself came into existence.
  
  The Road to Dune is divided into different parts, first and foremost the science fiction story/novel that was the precursor to Dune, unpublished but where one can clearly see Herbert’s imagination percolating as ideas fall into place.
  
  Duneworld is a SF romp, lacking much of the depth of the final novel, but is a fun read all the same. Apparently the manuscript was a rather vague affair and Herbert jr. and Anderson have reconstructed it. In the broadest strokes it tells the Dune story, but many of the names are different, or not quite the same – and then there are those that are the same and it is a warm glow to see that some of them made it through from these early stages.
  
  There are no Fremen (but there are Freemen!), no Bene Gesserit, so consequently no messianic outing, the main character is the Duke not his son and the properties of the spice are still being discovered.
  
  There are notes on Herbert as a journalist trying to get interest in an article based on something he had discovered from a scientific gathering, how sand was being knitted together by one certain type of grass, slowing or stopping erosion in deserts and uh, other sandy areas.
  
  It is obvious that the writer was incredibly intrigued by the idea and it is almost certain this was the genesis of an idea that would evolve into Dune.
  
  The next part of the book contains letters going back and forwards between publishers, both magazine and book, as interest is either shown or not shown in the novel. It is interesting to note that one of the reasons Dune was such a hard sell was the size of it, far too big apparently. 600 pages is probably quite standard for many novels these days, but back then it was excessive and broke the mould.
  
  There are also chapters from the first two Dune novels that were cut. These are interesting reading, and although perhaps irrelevant, give an insight into the way the book was written and edited. Had they been included, particularly those from Dune Messiah, would have given a totally different ending to the novel.
  
  The final part of the book are a selection of short stories, all written by Brian Herbert and Anderson, all set in the Duniverse , and all become hard to come by in their original published format. All the stories are solid and well told, with only one seeming to have no point. Even those that seem a little far-fetched are told well enough, for me they seem to step outside the elements that make Dune, Dune.
  
  It does not stop them from being entertaining and well told tales.
  
  This could be an invaluable guide and insight for anyone wanting to be a writer, showing different aspects of the publishing world, from the genesis of an idea, to the development, to the attempted publishing, unprecedented success and the continuing process of creation as others continue your work.
  
  In this instance though, it probably helps if you are a fan of the original novel.
  
• 
  John Bruni

  If you love Dune, this is essential reading. It explains how that novel came to be and all the trials and tribulations Frank Herbert went through to cement his vision. The correspondence is great. The short stories near the end are OK. It was interesting to see what got cut out of Dune and Dune Messiah. However, the thing I was really interested in was Spice Planet. This was the book Herbert originally wanted to write. He outlined it but never did it. His son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson wrote it from that outline, and it's pretty amazing. It's shorter, but it's pulpier. It's a swift punch in the gut. It's interesting to see how similar and yet how different it is to Dune. A lot of the political intrigue is gone, but we have just enough to feel the Dune-ness of it all. I didn't like the prequels all that much, but if you're a Dune purist (ie. You only count the ones Frank Herbert wrote), then this is very much up your alley.
• 
  David

  Read the bits I was most interested in (the letters of Herbert, his agent, and John Campbel) and I will return to finish the remainder at a later date.
• 
  Temujin Taylor

  Four stars but I’m obsessed so take that for what it’s worth. I particularly liked the last two short stories. Bene Gesserit sect of warrior whores? I’m in.
• 
  Suzanne

  A decade after the death of Frank Herbert, his son Brian and Brian's co-writer Kevin J. Anderson, stumbled upon a safe deposit box containing a cache of the author's unpublished manuscripts, Dune chapters and letters.  Brian Herbert relates their excitement, not just from the standpoint that they were preparing to continue writing about Herbert's Dune Universe, but also from the standpoint of a fan of the series.  They compiled these newly found writings, and published them in The Road to Dune.
  
  When I started reading this book, I completely understood their excitement.  The first piece is a novella called Spice Planet, which Dune was actually based on.  Some of the names were changed:  Leto Atreides was known as Jesse Linkam; his concubine Jessica was known as Dorothy Mapes; and Paul went by the name Barri.  But the story was terrific, and despite the name changes, any Dune fan would immediately slip into the comfort of familiar characters and places.
  
  I also enjoyed reading some of the missing chapters (although they might have been better added to subsequent publications of their respective books) and the letters responding to Frank Herbert's original publication of Dune.  This is definitely a must-read for any Dune fan.
• 
  Byron 'Giggsy' Paul

  great companion to Dune
• 
  Dustin the wind Crazy little brown owl

  The softly cutting soprano smell of sage climbed a desert night lush with stars, and there came a stillness so unaltered that the moonlight itself could almost be heard flowing across sentinel saguaro and spiked paintbrush.
  
  The Road to Dune is a rich supplemental volume for explorers of the Dune Universe!
  A blend of fiction and non-fiction components. A fitting tribute to the legacy of Frank Herbert and the world he created.
  
  Favorite Passages:
  
  Forward
  Frank believed that poetry was the apex of human language; he also believed that science fiction was the only genre whose subject matter attempted to define what it is to be human.
  ______
  
  In the Old English, "poet" was "shaper" or "maker." Frank Herbert was a Maker on a grand scale, the most loyal friend a person could ask for - and a funny, savvy, first-class guy. He continues to be missed.
  
  
  Preface
  Once we started the laborious process of sifting through these thousands of pages, we felt like archeologists who had discovered a verified map to the Holy Grail.
  And this was just the material in the attic of Brian Herbert's garage.
  It didn't include the two safe-deposit boxes of materials found more than a decade after Frank's death . . .
  In addition, Frank had bequeathed dozens of boxes of his drafts and working notes to a university archive, which the university generously opened to us.
  . . . .
  The wealth of newly discovered material was a Dune fan's dream come true.
  
  
  SPICE WORLD - The Alternate Dune Novel
  The spice is a lens through which one can see the entire universe.
  _____
  
  Adaptation is an art form, and it is the single-most important aspect of being human.
  _____
  
  "I'm alive! I can see the future and the past. But which is which?"
  
  
  The Letters of Dune
  ESP is one of my interests to the extent that I have done considerable reading on it in what I would call the quasi-scientific end of the field.
  
  
  ALIA & THE DUNCAN IDAHO GHOLA
  These things I tell you: the sequential nature of real history cannot be repeated precisely by prescience. We grasp incidents cut out of the chain. That is why I deny my own powers. Eternity moves. It inflicts itself upon me. Let my subjects doubt my majesty and my oracular visions. Let them never doubt eternity.
  ______
  
  "When force closes the mouth of inquiry," Duncan said, "that is the death of civilization."
  
  
  THE HUMAN DISTRANS
  Paul thought of the ancient ritual, mystical, tangled with folk memories, old words, old customs, forgotten meanings - a bloody play of ideas across Time. Ideas . . . ideas . . . they carried a terrifying power. They could blot out civilizations or become a blazing light in the mind to illuminate lives across the span of centuries.
  
  
  BLIND PAUL IN THE DESERT
  His mind quested, Mentat fashion. Patterns of knowledge glistened there. Mermaid hair might wave thus, he thought, beckoning . . . beckoning the enchanted hunter into emerald caverns . . .
  His life seemed to stretch out as long as the existence of the universe. Prescience already had granted him an infinity of experiences. But the real flesh condensed, lay finite and reduced his emerald cavern to stilltent beginning to drum with the pulse of a wind. Sand chattered like pecking birds against taut surfaces.
  _______
  
  Well-remembered stars occupied their positions in the sky, but they no longer represented directions to him nor could he think of them as signposts. There was merely space all around him laid out against an enormous background of Time. The stars peered past him and through him like the empty eyes of his subject people. They were the sealed eyes of ignorance, always seeking to avoid their responsive status as human senses. They were the eyes from which nothing escaped.
  
  
  A Whisper of Caladan Seas
  Listen to the hypnotic, throbbing songs of unseen murmons hiding in a fog bank that ripples across the calm waters.
  _______
  
  In the velvet shadows of a crisp night on Dune, Fremen scavengers dropped over the ridge of the Shield Wall into the rubble. Stillsuits softened their silhouettes, allowing them to vanish like beetles into crevices.
• 
  Jeremy Gallen

  This combination of fiction and nonfiction opens with a long list of acknowledgements, including members of the Herbert family, and opens with a foreword by Bill Ransom that mentions Frank Herbert lived a fun life and was humorous, hailing from the Puyallup Valley in Washington State. The fathers of Herbert and Ransom were in law enforcement, with the latter moving to Port Townsend in the early seventies. William Faulkner is said to be one of the influences of Herbert, with the writer’s wife Beverly Stuart Herbert dying of cancer while Ransom went through a divorce, with the memories of Herbert and his wife living on.
  
  Following the foreword and the preface in which it is said that Frank Herbert kept much documentation on the Duniverse and partially-written manuscripts is a precursor to the original Dune entitled Spice Planet, with Brian Herbert saying that he researched his father’s mythology carefully before formulating his own Dune stories, with Spice Planet having many different names for the characters that would ultimately find their way into the initial Dune. The novel itself opens with a fictitious quote in its first chapter, as do subsequent sections, with protagonist Jesse Linkam suspecting that the news must be important with an Imperial vessel touching down in Catalan��s spaceport.
  
  Jesse is a foremost aristocrat, and wants Counselor Ulla Bauers to accept him as he is. The Counselor wants Jesse to pack for a return to Renaissance, with Grand Emperor Wuda wanting him to give a report on the production of spice on Duneworld. Dorothy Mapes is Jesse’s concubine and business partner, and it is mentioned that Jesse’s father, among others, nearly brought House Linkam to ruin. Bauers’ ship transports Jesse and his entourage to Renaissance, a wealthy planet, where the Emperor sees both Jesse and his chief rival, Valdemar Hoskanner, with a spice production contest proposed between the antagonistic Houses, which Jesse accepts.
  
  As an advance guard for the new Linkam operations, General Esmar Tuek and a hundred Catalan men arrive on Duneworld, with William English as a spice-crew manager, having been a prisoner on the penal planet Eridanus V, although the Emperor and Hoskanners offered him amnesty. It is further said that sand geysers and giant sandworms threaten spice operations. Dorothy Mapes is ultimate introduced, who wants full devotion to Duneworld, and while she and Jesse aren’t officially wed, they have a son named Barri, alongside an entertainer named Gurney Halleck, with the young boy missing Catalan.
  
  Throughout their spice operations, the Linkams suspect Hoskanner sabotage, alongside natural crises such as sandworms attacking, although despite these dangers, Jesse brings along Barri to help survey spice operations. Sure enough, Imperial ambassadors find Linkam spice operations to be below standards, and Jesse thus seeks to rectify working conditions, with propositions for dealing with the sandworms as well. There are some occasional twists in the story towards the end, with the novel ending on a positive note alongside the maxim that true nobility is not a birthright, but rather must be earned by individuals.
  
  The book moves back to nonfiction with the section “They Stopped the Moving Sands,” with Frank Herbert flying to Florence, Oregon in 1957 to write an article for the USDA about sand dune stabilization, potentially useful for Sahara Desert inhabitants, with sand dunes in the State swallowing cities, roads, and so forth. It was proposed that European beach grass could stop the destruction of the dunes, with more than eleven thousand other grass types proposed but ineffective, although Herbert’s report was criticized for more describing the adversity of the sand dunes rather than the battle against them, and the author urged to give the story to a more interested American editor.
  
  Following this is a series of letters between Frank Herbert, prospective editors, and fellow authors, with the original version of Dune said to be rejected due to daunting length, and the final product barely resembling the final product. Herbert’s ambitious novel won several awards, with the writer himself having an interest in climate ecology. Afterward is a series of unpublished scenes and chapters from Dune and its sequel Dune Messiah, such as interactions between protagonist Paul Atreides and various characters, deleted chapters, and so forth.
  
  After that comes a series of short stories beginning with “A Whisper of Caladan Seas,” which when published in 1999 marked the first Dune story written since Frank Herbert’s death thirteen years earlier, occurring concurrently with the Harkonnen attack on Arrakeen in the original Dune. The narrative itself occurs on Arrakis in the year 10,191 of the Imperial Calendar, with soldiers for House Atreides surviving an onslaught in a Shield Wall, with characters such as Elto Vitt and his uncle Sergeant Hoh Vitt. The short story does a nice job describing the conditions of the conflict and reveals backstory for the Vitts, ending on a negative note.
  
  “Hunting Harkonnens” introduces the world of the epic Butlerian Jihad that long predates the original Dune, with ancestors of the Atreides and Harkonnens families battling machines with human minds. The short story opens with a Harkonnen craft leaving family-held industries on Hagal, Salusa Secundus as their destination, with Ulf Harkonnen as the pilot, having an adult son named Piers and a wife named Katarina. Cymeks, hybrid machines with human minds, attack, with Piers punished by being sealed in a lifepod that ejects from his family’s ship, and he lands among Caladan primitives. The narrative is ultimately enjoyable.
  
  “Whipping Mek” occurs between The Butlerian Jihad and The Machine Crusade, opening with a Jihad warship arriving at Giedi Prime with expectant news of victory against the machines, although Vergyl Tantor believes the defense of the Peridot Colony didn’t go well, with Xavier Harkonnen as his adoptive brother, and the Jihad beginning with the infant son of Serena Butler and Xavier, Manion, killed by machines. Vergyl himself has a wife named Sheel, with the defeat at Peridot seen as a moral victory, and Xavier not wanting his friend to involve himself in the war, although he does allow him noncombat roles in repair and recharging, the titular mek making for practice against battle with machines. Another enjoyable prequel story.
  
  “The Faces of a Martyr” occurs between The Machine Crusade and The Battle of Corrin, with the mention that mad scientist Rekur Van fled a lynch mob on his homeworld, with missing soldiers and Zensunni slaves said to be carved up to provide replacement parts for wounded warriors. Meanwhile, the robot Erasmus studies human emotion, finding their inherit goodness and hatching a plan to clone Serena Butler. Vorian Atreides receives an invitation from the widow of the Grand Patriarch, Camie Boro-Ginjo, who blames Xavier Harkonnen for her husband’s death. The story satisfactorily ends with a recall of sacrifice by friends.
  
  “Sea Child” is the final tale in the book, occurring at the terminus of the Dune saga, with initial mention that Bene Gesserit punishments must have inescapable lessons, the Honored Matres conquering the planet Buzzell, and Sister Corysta, a disgraced Reverend Mother, caring for a phibian baby, which she doesn’t want to turn over to Monaya. The surviving members of the order are tortured for the location of the world of Chapterhouse, hidden homeworld of the Bene Gesserits, with further backstory exposed in the Famine Times after the death of Leto II, God Emperor of Dune. A bittersweet ending concludes this enjoyable Dune short story.
  
  The anthology is dedicated to Beverly Herbert, with her husband Frank having completed Chapterhouse: Dune when she was dying in Hawaii, with Jessica Atreides based on her. Overall, this is an enjoyable book that gives some insight into the Duniverse, with the novel Spice Planet being a good precursor to the final version of Herbert’s original Dune. It even warrants rereads when those such as this reviewer choose to read the Dune saga in chronological order, and is definitely a good diving board for the average reader into the beloved science-fiction saga.
• 
  Cathy Hunter

  This is a very difficult book to rate. Some parts I loved and others had to skip over.
  
  First I would say if you are intending to read the Dune books in order, as I have chosen to do, leave this one until after you have read all of Franks books, or at least until after you have read Dune Messiah. The list I had placed this book after Paul of Dune but it just doesn't belong there. The different charcater, extra chanpetrs and alternative ending are somethign to enjoy after you have finished the originals.
  
  After the preface you have an alternative dune novel names Spice Planet. It was basically like reading about a parallel universe where name were different but roles remained mostly the same.
  
  Part One followed the original Dune storyline quite closely but there was enough different to amke it a good read. Some interesting fact around the great worms surfaced, whether they are true of the on Arakis I cannot tell.
  
  Part Two had a storyline that strayed from the one in Dune (or was it Dune strayed from tis story as I believe Spice Planet was one of the original drafts) A very clever way to deal with the worms is developed that I almost wish had made it to the final cut.
  
  I really enjoyed this alternative story even though it lacked some of the depth of the final version, although having read every book up until Dune maybe I just had the benefit of a deeper understanding of those characters. If Spice Planet were released as a short story unrelated to Dune I would probably give it 4 stars.
  
  After this fairly short novel we move on to communications and explanation of how Dune came to be - this part did not interest me at all and I found myself scanning over it but mostly not reading it.
  
  Then we have a section containing unpublished scenes and chapters. Many of these I enjoyed and others I am glad they were left out. There is no running story, just snippets from the book so for a lot of the time you are trying to re-orientate yourself as to what is happening in this particular scene.
  
  The section of short stories at the end contains some but not all of the short stories that often sit between the main books. As I have already read them all I did not read them again. Each one has been rated individually as I finished them and most gained a 4 or 5 stars for their fast and fun content.
  
  This books is definitely a book to be read after you have enjoyed the originals. It is not part of the storyline at all and if you are to read it I would recommend you leave it until last.
• 
  Lamadia

  This is hard to review because it's not a regular book. This volume collects unpublished chapters from Dune and Dune Messiah. It also has the first three short stories written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson after they started writing the prequels. The bulk of the book is a novella that is written by Brian and Kevin from an outline by Frank Herbert that is an original version of the story that would become Dune.
  
  This novella is interesting for anyone who wants to learn about what Frank Herbert was thinking when he started this world and how a writing process can change so much and improve so much. On its own, Spice Planet (the name of the novella) isn't very good, but as insight to the writing process and the world of Dune, it was fascinating. First of all, everything is very different. There were no schools (Bene Gesserit, Suk, Mentat, etc.) and the plot is exceedingly more straight forward. So much so, that it lacks what makes it great. Also, the son (now named Barri) is not a major character in the book. It is the father character (Jesse) the entire way through who is the protagonist, and this character was split in the later version between father and son.
  
  Something I found incredibly intriguing is the original idea for the ecology of the planet. It is rather different and surprising. Knowing now that Frank Herbert did tons of research into desert ecology while writing Dune, I wonder if these changes were made to make a more realistic ecology for the planet.
  
  As for the extra chapters or revised chapters, they were also really interesting, but a lot like watching the deleted scenes on a DVD. You generally get why it was edited out and the unfinished version that you see doesn't make you wish it was still in. However, many of these chapters were written before the final version of the story was set, and so they give you different ways that the story might have gone. The different endings to Dune Messiah in particular are very interesting.
  
  So while the content of the book isn't very good on its own, if you want to further your understanding of Dune, then it's incredibly enlightening. It also gives you hope that if your novel currently looks more like Spice Planet, you can still change it and make it into something amazing.
• 
  Dane Cobain

  This book is interesting because it has a little bit of everything, perhaps most notably a novella-length story that was essentially an early draft of the first Dune book. It had different names and concepts and yet was also recognisable, and that made for a super strange and super enjoyable read.
  
  That novella is probably the highlight here, although there are also some cracking little short stories for you to enjoy and which bridge some of the gaps that naturally came about with the original Dune series. Those are worth checking out as well.
  
  But for me, I think the stuff that I enjoyed the most was the non-fiction sections which took a closer look at how Frank wrote the books in the first place. I think it’s a writer thing; I just love to see how people came up with and executed their ideas. I think it’s a great way of picking up some inspiration, and it also allows you to take a peek behind the curtain, as it were.
  
  Still, there’s only so much to say about this one, and I don’t think it was anywhere near as good as the actual entries in the wider series. It’s really more of a book for the completionists which just brings together a bunch of random stuff that didn’t have a home anywhere else. Being a completionist myself, I’m glad that this thing exists, but taking it objectively as a book, it’s definitely not in the same league as the rest of the Dune saga.
  
  When I finished reading it and looked back at it, it was 100% the novella that stuck with me the most. It was fascinating to see the early ideas for Dune, as well as the way that spice started out as a leisure drug, rather than as something that made navigation possible.
  
  But it was cool because it had a lot of the ideas that later came up, including the classic Duke Leto line where he gave the order to, “Damn the spice, save the men!” Although of course, he wasn’t called Leto Atreides at the time. That didn’t come until later, like Paul’s powers.
• 
  Silvio Curtis

  So Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson found Frank Herbert's early drafts for Dune and Dune Messiah, including a long and very deviant outline for the original novel. I hoped they would publish them in a format something like Christopher Tolkien's History of Middle-Earth series. They didn't. They rewrote the early Dune variant into a complete novel, but one with no value whatsoever - none as part of the Dune canon, of course, and also none as insight into how Dune developed, because there's no way to recover the actual outline from Herbert Jr. and Anderson's rewriting. The deleted chapters from later but rejected drafts are barely treated any better. At least they aren't rewritten, but Herbert and Anderson don't give any indication of what kind of draft each was part of, let alone what motivated the changes. Then they include some of their own Dune short stories, connected with their ginormous prequel project, but not particularly relevant here. The only decently illuminating reading here was a summary of Frank Herbert and his agent's correspondence with prospective publishers and others before and immediately after Dune was published, including Herbert's ill-fated proposal for a magazine article on sand dune stabilization that started the whole thing, but that's a paltry few tens of pages out of nearly 500. If Christopher Tolkien's work is like a carefully documented archaeological excavation of his father's writings, this is more like a looter's collection.
• 
  George Kasnic

  The Road to Dune is an incredible book.
  
  But do not be mislead, this is not a prequel, nor is it really an expansion of the Dune universe. Instead it is a glimpse into the evolution of everything Dune, a view of its pre layered subtlety, an origin story of the idea itself, not an origin story of the universe created.
  
  The lead novella, Duneworld, contains characters familiar but not really. Names which morph onto the mantles of other characters in Dune are present, but are different protagonists with different motives, roles, and presentations. And missing from Duneworld are the native Fremen, as is the foundational presence of environmentalism. It is more of a space opera in some ways, but having been to Dune, you see its harbingers in Duneworld.
  
  The innocuous and nondescript reporting piece which ignited Dune in Herbert’s mind is presented. What a brilliant individual! Also included are chapters dropped to keep serialization within contracted length, alternate endings, paths not taken, and several short stories bridging several of the prequels.
  
  This book is for those interested in the creative process of Frank Herbert, of the spall of ideas, of paths not taken, and potentialities not reached. If you enter the path with that in mind you will be transported to a wondrous place, but a place not Dune, more of a place from which to consider Dune.
  
  Happy wandering.
  
• 
  Katy

  I picked up my first copy of Dune in 1973, and have re-read it, and the following books by both Frank, and his son, Brian, around every 5 years or so since then, so I guess I am classed as a real fan of Frank Herbert's seminal work - which means that finding this book was such a treat for me.
  
  I really loved reading the alternate endings to his works, but what really fascinated me, were the letters he wrote to various people, which gave an insight to his thought processes.
  
  I really enjoyed Spice Planet, seeing the embryo of Dune in the story. The deleted, and unpublished, scenes and chapters threw a real glimpse of Frank's life as an author, and how he worked so closely with various editors, in order to make his work both fit their criteria for publishing, while still keeping the heart of his stories as close to his imaging as possible.
  
  His complex thought processes really showed in his short stories, too, and I loved reading something new of his, so long after his passing.
  
  Bill Ransom, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson have done us all a tremendous favour, in gathering these works together, to be enjoyed, and thought about, whenever we read them, and I was so happy to have found this book, before I read the series once again - so much of it made me wonder how differently they would have been read, with the alternate writings!
• 
  Andrew Bulthaupt

  I listened to this book via Audible.
  
  The Road to Dune is a collection of letters to and from author Frank Herbert giving context to the popular series, as well as a very early draft of the story, a selection of deleted scenes from the books, and a few short stories from his son Brian Herbert and collaborator Kevin J. Anderson. All told, it's a very insightful look into the creation of the classic series.
  
  I think the most interesting part of the collection is Spice Planet, an early version of the Dune story that clearly set the stage for what was to come later. Many of the proper nouns are different, but key elements are still present. The overall gist of the story takes a different twist at the end, and the duke's son isn't quite as important, but it's still a compelling tale.
  
  The letters offered some insight into the author, his life, and the struggles it took to get Dune published. It was a nice peek behind the curtain.
  
  The short stories at the end were my first exposures to Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's work on Dune, and I definitely enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to diving into their full-length novels that expand the universe.
  
  The Road to Dune is a great read for any fan of the series who is interested in learning more about the universe Frank Herbert created.
• 
  John Keegan

  I found the BH/KJA version of Spice Planet to be a fairly passable work, though I would have preferred to just see what Frank's material looked like instead. And I was already familiar with the short stories, so that felt like unnecessary padding.
  
  However, the most egregious thing to me was the presentation of the "alternate or additional chapters". They are all presented as Frank's work, but several of the chapters are very clearly the writing style of BH/KJA: simplistic language, unnecessary repetition, etc. Coming on the heels of examples of Frank's actual writing style, it is infuriating to have them claim that this is Frank's work, when the differences are striking.
  
  What's worse is that the deception wasn't needed; had they simply stated that they were writing these chapters based on material that was found, ala the infamous "notes", then most would have accepted it as such. So why the deception?
  
  It reinforces my overall feeling that a treatment of Frank's notes in the vein of Christopher Tolkien's "Middle Earth" series of books would have been far more palatable to most fans.
• 
  Joshua Horvath

  This was a disappointing read. I was looking forward to reading Herbert's article, "They Stopped the Moving Sands" and reading the letters of Frank Herbert sections of this book. Admittedly before starting the book Road to Dune, I was not clear on the fact that the article, "They Stopped the Moving Sands" was not ever completed. But what appears in this book isn’t even an outline, it is merely a letter proposal that was shot down. The letters of Frank Herbert section was very sadly short and not particularly illuminating. The deleted and alternate scenes from the first three Dune novels are not particularly noteworthy. Honestly, one of the only real highlights of the book was Bill Ransom’s preface reflecting on his relationship with Frank Herbert, which was a lovely read. The rest of the tome is Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson fan fiction. Ultimately this book seems like a disappointing cash grab by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, revealing little of Frank Herbert or his road to the creation of one of the greatest novels ever.
• 
  Al Wright

  The deleted scenes from Dune and Dune Messiah included here are interesting enough, though it's easy to see why they were axed from the final versions. Aside from an alternate ending to Dune Messiah which completely changes the meaning of the story, the rest is exposition which will only draw the interest of the most die hard Dune fans.
  
  Frank's material is in short supply here, with Spice Planet being a "what if" version of the original Dune manuscript written by Brian and Kevin rather than the early draft pages of the original novel for which I was hoping. That being said it still makes for decent entertainment while it lasts. Unfortunately the short stories included here are rendered obsolete by Tales of Dune, which contains them in expanded form with other stories.
  
  Overall, The Road to Dune has some nice fan service for any hardcore Dune fans (especially of the first two books) but doesn't offer much outside of that.
  
• 
  Rafal Jasinski

  Jeśli wierzyć dwóm panom, K.J. Andersonowi i B. Herbertowi, i w oparciu o ilość zbędnego materiału, jaki udało im się wyprodukować na bazie "domniemanych", często "cudem odnalezionych", zapisków Franka Herberta, to można uznać, że twórca "Diuny" był jedynym swego rodzaju pisarzem, który odniósłszy ogromny sukces na polu literatury science-fiction, pisał był więcej "do szuflady" niż z myślą o publikacji.
  
  Przyjmując w dobrej wierze, oświadczenia niechlubnych spadkobierców znakomitego pisarza o tym, z jakim zaangażowaniem kompletowali szkice, konspekty i porzucone przez twórcę "Diuny" skrawki wydanych i niewydanych części monumentalnej sagi, sięgnąłem swego czasu po "Legendy Diuny". Z trudem zachowawszy zdrowe zmysły i w poczuciu wielkiego niesmaku, dane mi było zdzierżyć dwa pierwsze tomy grafomańskiego popisu, bodajże najbardziej obrazoburczego duetu autorskiego w historii literatury science-fiction.
  
  To było złe! Okropne! Używając analogii - twórczość K.J. Andersona i B. Herberta była dla oryginalnej "Diuny" tym, czym dla "Gwiezdnych Wojen" była trylogia prequeli. A może czymś dużo, dużo gorszym?... Nie zważając na krytykę i falę oburzenia licznej rzeszy fanów, ale mając za motto stare powiedzenie, że "pieniądz nie śmierdzi", Anderson & Herbert Junior, popełnili jeszcze kilka "gwałtów" na oryginale, dopisując prequele, midquele, sequele (w których, komiksowym zwyczajem, wskrzesili i ogołocili z resztek honoru, postaci ukochane przez fanów oryginalnego sześcioksięgu) i masę szmirowatych opowiadań ze scenkami rodzajowymi z życia, nic nieznaczących i nic niewnoszących do kanonu, postaci.
  
  Od ostatniego zetknięcia się z pisaniną dwóch dżentelmenów, którzy posiadając prawa do spuścizny Franka Herberta, zapewniło sobie całkiem przyzwoite źródło potencjalnie niewyczerpanego dochodu (o dziwo, istnieją na tym świecie ludzie, którym ich podejście do science-fiction i świata "Diuny" się podoba i gotowi są za te bazgroły płacić) minęło kilka lat a ja podleczyłem się troche z traumy, w jaką wpadłem po przeczytaniu "Legend Diuny" (i szoku, po zapoznaniu się ze skrótowym opisem tego, co wyczyniało się w kontynuacjach). Kiedy ukazała się "Droga do Diuny", opis której sugerował, że w tej książce więcej znajdzie się źródłowego materiału, który wyszedł w stu procentach spod ręki Franka Herberta, postanowiłem na chwilę powrócić do uniwersum "Diuny". Pomyślałem, że może z wiekiem, kiedy trochę zramolałem i umysł mi się stępił, lżej mi przyjdzie przełknąć pisaninę Kevina i Briana, a dodatki od Franka Herberta zrekompensują mi ból obcowania z ich radosną twórczością?
  
  Niestety, jedyną rzeczą, jaka stanowi jakąkolwiek wartość tej książki są właśnie oryginalne teksty Franka Herberta. Dzięki zestawieniu usuniętych, z powodu ograniczeń objętościowych, materiałów z "Diuny" i "Mesjasza Diuny", z sąsiadującymi z nimi tekstami autorstwa Andersona & B. Herberta, WYRAŹNIE widać, jaka przepaść jakościowa dzieli poziom pisarski ojca "Diuny" od jego marnych epigonów. Wycięte fragmenty z pierwszego i drugiego tomu oryginalnej (zwanej teraz "Kronikami Diuny") serii są naprawdę interesujące i rzucają sporo światła na proces twórczy pisarza. Najbardziej interesującym dodatkiem jest oryginalne, w mojej skromnej opinii, znacznie lepsze - czemu Frank je odrzucił? - zakończenie "Mesjasza...". Nieco mniej zajmującym, ale też ciekawym dodatkiem jest kopia korespondencji z wydawcami, przyjaciółmi i agentem autora, która unaocznia, jak niewiele brakowało, by jedna z najważniejszych książek współczesnej literatury fantastycznej w ogóle się nie ukazała, tylko dlatego, że była zbyt głęboka i obszerna.
  
  Resztę należałoby zbyć milczeniem. Reszta, bowiem, to kolejny festiwal kiczu w stylu charakterystycznym dla duetu Anderson & Herbert Jr. Najgorszym - zajmującym połowię objętości książki - dodatkiem jest "Planeta Przyprawy". Książka powstała w całości na bazie odrzuconego, pierwszego szkicu "Diuny". I jeśli - zaznaczam, JEŚLI, bo śmiem wątpić, że cała ta "bajka" o "oryginalnym, odrzuconym, szkicu" nosi w sobie jakiekolwiek znamiona wiarygodności - był to faktycznie konspekt Franka Herberta, którego na pewnym etapie postanowił się pozbyć, to trzeba przyznać, że powinien był go wrzucić do niszczarki, zamiast chować po - niestety - "cudem odnalezionych" skrytkach bankowych.
  
  "Planeta Przyprawy" a.k.a. "Diuna Beta" nie ma w sobie niczego, co stanowiło o sile kompletnego dzieła. Brak głębi, brak podłoża religijno-filozoficznego, brak jakichkolwiek komplikacji na linii fabularnej. Imiona postaci brzmią kuriozalnie i TAK BARDZO w stylu tych, jakie nadawali swoim bohaterom twórcy (mhm, twórcy) "Legend Diuny". W tej mikro-na-szczęście-powieści nie ma ani krztyny ducha twórczości Franka Herberta. Przyjmuję do wiadomości, że być może istniał jakiś szkic, na którym oparli swoja fabułę Anderson & Herbert Jr., ale jestem niemal całkowicie przekonany, że dziewięćdziesiąt procent tego, czym raczy nas "Planeta Przyprawy" to ich własna, ekhm, wizja.
  
  Cóż, w trakcie czytania powróciły stare traumy i dojmujący niesmak. Dlatego o wieńczących to wydanie opowiadaniach, których akcja dzieje się pomiędzy wydarzeniami z trzech tomów "Legend Diuny" (hura! wracają ulubione postaci, Vorrian, Erazm, Xavier i transformery, przepraszam, cymeki), oraz jedno, bazujące na wydarzeniach z pierwszego tomu "Diuny" i jedno z okresu po wydarzeniach opisanych w "Kapitularzu". Wszystkie nudne, nieciekawe i tak bardzo cuchnące Andersonem, ech...
  
  "Drogę do Diuny" warto przeczytać, pomijając wszystko, co nie jest oryginalną twórczością Franka Herberta. Reszta jest tak koszmarna, słabo napisana i niezamierzenie śmieszna, że można sobie ją bez straty opuścić. Ja poświęciłem się dla osób, które zamierzają sięgnąć po tą pozycję i przeczytałem całość, dlatego z czystym sumieniem mogę polecić 30% tej książki.
• 
  Roberto

  Érdekes volt ez a könyv.
  Különösen arra gondolva, hogy tartalmaz egy áttekintést A Dűne megszületését megelőző időszakról, illetve áttekintést arról, milyen nehezen jutott el az olvasókhoz könyv alakban.
  Elolvasható e kötetben az az eredeti, igen rövid sztori, ami egyféle magva volt az egész Dűne-univerzumnak, ami ugyan jelentős változáson esett át, de mégis a kezdetnek tekinthető, amiből, mint a fűszer a mélyből, kitört a teljes, végleges sztori.
  Néhány levelezés is olvasható a kötetben, a szerző és mások között, illetve az a cikk, ami {{a sivatag homokjának megkötéséről szól, Amerikában, és amiből az egész Dűne ötlete előjött}}.
  A könyv tartalmaz még néhány kihagyott részt, melyek sosem kerültek be egyetlen részbe sem, egy-két alternatív jelenetbefejezést, illetve pár novellát, melyek kiegészítik és színesítik a teljes képet.
  Érdekes volt.
  Örülök, hogy olvastam.
• 
  Joe Hoggard

  Three stars for general audience, 4 stars for fans of the Dune series who are interested in the early alternative draft of the first book, and an exploration of the extra bits: deleted chapters, publisher correspondence etc. What struck me is how similar the books were even though the final version was much richer and many characters are renamed. The early version was also quite a bit shorter and not as engrossing as the final work, but many of the themes are there from royal intrigue, feuding noble houses and a mysterious ecology on the desert planet but also more focus on the addictive spice drug. It all makes more sense knowing that Frank Herbert started down the Road to Dune with his interest in an article on controlling the growth of sand dunes which never was published.
• 
  Laura Ruetz

  If you aren't a die hard fan of the Dune books, both the original or the newer books, this might not interest you. It begins with what had been the origin of Dune, a story or novella, about Duneworld with different characters but a similar feel. It also includes letters from the author and more of a peek into what he had left behind in his notes including alternate endings and deleted scenes from the books that ended up not being used.