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The Road to Dune Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,798 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Frank Herbert's Dune is widely known as the science fiction equivalent of The Lord of the Rings, and The Road to Dune is a companion work comparable to The Silmarillion, shedding light on and following the remarkable development of the bestselling science fiction novel of all time. Herein, the world's millions of Dune fans can now read---at long last---the unpublished chapters and scenes from Dune and Dune Messiah. The Road to Dune also includes the original correspondence between Frank Herbert and famed editor John W. Campbell, Jr.; excerpts from Herbert's correspondence during his years-long struggle to get his innovative work published; and the article "They Stopped the Moving Sands," Herbert's original inspiration for Dune. The Road to Dune features newly discovered papers and manuscripts of Frank Herbert, and also "Spice Planet," an original sixty-thousand-word short novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, based on a detailed outline left by Frank Herbert. The Road to Dune is a treasure trove of essays, articles, and fiction that every reader of Dune will want to add to their shelf.
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"As an author creates a work of fiction it is normal to do a lot of revising. Entire sections and chapters may be removed or added. It is also not uncommon for others to get into the creative act and that was the case with Dune. Frank Herbert's agent, editor and publisher made demands about revisions. They demanded that chapters be removed and the ending changed and so forth. After Herbert's death a lot of this excised material along with many notes were found in his papers. It was enough to show that Dune could have been a lot different. This book is a compilation of some of that material. Some of it has been rewritten and filled out by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and some of it is as Frank Herbert left it. Now, the decisions about what was to be removed was based on the opinions of not only Frank Herbert, but also his editor, agent and publisher. I am not one who thinks that all opinions are equal. If, for example, my doctor recommended surgery I would not seek a second opinion from my plumber. There is much to be said for the professional opinion, but how much is it worth when it is about a work of fiction? Well, it certainly determines what gets into print, but are there things that do not get into print but should? It seems to me that the opinion that really counts when it comes to a work of fiction is the opinion of the ultimate consumer, the reader, and that these professional opinions are valuable only insofar as they predict the opinions of the end consumer. Bearing that in mind, as an end consumer myself, my opinion is that a lot of these out takes are better than the final product. By the way, the book also contains some original Dune universe short stories by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson which are also far from shoddy."
— Roger (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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Scott Brick's narration is as fresh on the twentieth disc as it is on the first. His focus is unwavering, and his pace never falters as he maintains his enthusiasm for the story and its characters.
— AudioFile on Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, winner of the 2002 Audie Award for Best Science Fiction
The Road to Dune Listener Reviews
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" If there's anything Dune-related that Herbert Jr. and Anderson have done well, it's this anthology / behind the scenes non-fiction. Reading Frank's decades old draft of "Spice Planet" and seeing the early elements of the future Dune novel in it is really intriguing. And the rest of the material isn't bad either. "
— Peter, 2/20/2014 -
" Good - I would have liked even more detail in this book. "
— Sara, 2/5/2014 -
" I really liked the 'Spice Planet' (Duneworld) novel this book opened with. It wasn't nearly as long or complex (or good) as Dune, but had a lot of similar (and similarly exciting) material, but was set much more like a 50s/60s pulp sci-fi novel in complexity and length. I also enjoyed the letters between Frank Herbert and his agent, editor, and publishers which gave a very interesting insight into his goals in writing and the process of the writing of Dune. After that I thought the quality and cohesiveness of this book started to fall. There were many scenes and chapters edited out of early drafts of Dune (and Dune Messiah), and then several short stories by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, based on outlines and background envisioned by FH. The cut scenes were mildly interesting--especially the ones that had been cut from the later drafts of Dune--some of the early cut scenes didn't make much sense, or add anything to the original novel. I think the short stories would have made more sense in a short story book on their own, or in the writings nearest to which they occur (e.g. BH and KJA's 'Butlerian Jihad'). That being said, they didn't ruin the book... just seemed tacked on (like the excerpt of the then-forthcoming 'Hunters of Dune') in my opinion. I'm under the impression that there were other short story precursors to Dune that FH wrote... I think they would have fit marvelously in this collection. This book has piqued my interest in reading the FH biography, which I'll have to pick up at a used book store. "
— Andrewcharles420, 1/27/2014 -
" I only got to read this once before I foolishly lent it out and never got it back. I can't say enough about this book. Being given a "behind-the-scenes" look at Herbert and his work was a real treat, not to mention the included short-stories that blew my mind away. especially Herbert's original take on the Dune universe, which reads like an exercise in writing by perhaps one of the most gifted writer's to have ever put an idea down on a page. "
— Ethan, 1/23/2014 -
" I really enjoyed the alternate version of Dune as well as the other interjected stories, but the letters section grew tedious for me. It was still a very interesting read. "
— Linda, 1/1/2014 -
" A fine collection of short stories and letters about the world of Dune. Very cool. =) "
— Bradley, 10/23/2013 -
" What a disappointment. Save yourself the time and just read the original book. "
— Josh, 7/13/2013 -
" Nice to see the extras and how the Dune novels developed over time. "
— Allen, 2/12/2013 -
" Not what I was hoping for. "
— Megan, 10/13/2012 -
" A biography of the life of Frank Herbert and how he came up with Dune. I would rather just read the Dune books than read about him making the Dune books! "
— Lori, 9/5/2012 -
" hardcore dune freaks only. "
— Adam, 8/30/2012 -
" Meh, Brian Herbert makes another quick buck off his dad's masterpiece with Kevin J. Anderson's help by trying to pull a Silmarillion. "
— Thomas, 8/17/2012 -
" How fun it is to see a draft. It was both interesting and made me appreciate the final version so much more. "
— Dusty, 7/25/2012 -
" It is interesting to see the evolution of a great story, although some of the deleted chapters and early short stories force mental back flips to see how they were intended to fit in. I enjoyed it. I wish there was more about Frank Herbert himself. "
— Jeremiah, 11/9/2011 -
" An interesting collection of letters, notes, unpublished chapters, and short stories that provides background information on the series and Frank Herbert himself. The two short stories at the end were published elsewhere - I think in the Butlerian Jihad trilogy. "
— Kevin, 8/12/2011 -
" really enjoyed seeing how Dune was originally written "
— Ron, 5/7/2011 -
" A fine collection of short stories and letters about the world of Dune. Very cool. =) "
— Bradley, 1/23/2011 -
" I enjoyed reading this a few years back. The novel BH and KA created out of Frank Herbert's original outline was pretty interesting, though it was much more of a traditional space opera than Dune ended up being. Thank goodness we didn't end up with "House Linkham" though... <br/> <br/>db "
— Dave, 1/14/2010 -
" An interesting collection of letters, notes, unpublished chapters, and short stories that provides background information on the series and Frank Herbert himself. The two short stories at the end were published elsewhere - I think in the Butlerian Jihad trilogy. "
— Kevin, 5/18/2009 -
" I really enjoyed the alternate version of Dune as well as the other interjected stories, but the letters section grew tedious for me. It was still a very interesting read. "
— Linda, 5/12/2009 -
" Most interesting is the first half of the volume, featuring a short version of Herbert's initial concept for "DuneWorld" "
— Brian, 12/14/2008 -
" Meh, Brian Herbert makes another quick buck off his dad's masterpiece with Kevin J. Anderson's help by trying to pull a <em>Silmarillion</em>. "
— Thomas, 9/20/2008
About the Authors
Frank Herbert (1920–1986), winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards and a #1 New York Times bestselling author, was born in Tacoma, Washington, and worked as a reporter and later as an editor for a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first science fiction story was published in 1952, but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication of “Dune World” and “The Prophet of Dune” in Analog. The stories were amalgamated in the bestselling novel Dune in 1965.
Brian Herbert, the son of Frank Herbert, is a New York Times bestselling author who has won the New York Times Notable Book Award. He has been nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. In 2003 he published Dreamer of Dune, a moving biography of his father that was a Hugo Award finalist. Two of his recent novels are ecological thrillers—Ocean and The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma.
Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 180 books, fifty-eight of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson is the director of the graduate program in Publishing at Western Colorado University, and he and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press. There are twenty-four million copies of his books in print in thirty-four languages. His most recent novels are Bats in the Belfry, Skeleton in the Closet, Persephone, and Princess of Dune (with Brian Herbert).
About Scott Brick
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.