Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read for Dune Fans, 20 Sep 2008
The Dune Encyclopeida was somewhat of a Holy Grail among Dune Fans for many years, especially before the days of Amazon and ebay. To this day, the book is still difficult to get hold of, with only a few tattered copies available for a reasonable price. If you are a serious Dune fan then this book should be high on your reading list, as it really is a fascinating tour through the world of Frank Herbert's brilliant sci-fi saga.
The book is essentially a collection of essays written by the late Dr. Willis E. McNelly, a professor of English and a friend of Frank Herbert.
First published in 1984, the book has been out of print for many years and was officially declared 'non-canon' by the Herbert Limited Partnership, run by Frank's son, Brian.
Certainly, many segments of the Encyclopedia run contrary to Brian Herbert's prequal novels, but having read McNelly's outlines of the Butlerian Jihad I found his ideas more interesting and plausible.
The book is also noteworthy in the way it expanded the Dune universe, explaining the origins and history of the great houses, and providing biographies of some of the figures from the novels, as well as those who are briefly mentioned in passing in Frank Herbert's original text. Other sections expand the information on the Fremen, Mentats, Spacing Guild, face dancers, and more.
What makes this Encyclopedia interesting is that it is actually set in the Duneiverse, with the author claiming to be a scholar who has analysed the writings contained in Leto II's libraries. This brings an interesting twist to the book, considering it is layered with deliberate anachronisms. One example would be the historical timeline given at the start of the book, which claims that Alexander the Great "created the first empire on Terra" or that London became the capital of the Terra Empire following the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Other highlights include a section on the chemical make-up of the spice melange, the anatomy of a spice worm, a short dictionary of Galach, a list of all the Padi-Shah Emperors, and an analysis of House Ordos,( that would later make an appearance in the Dune PC games). It should be noted that this book appears before the events of Heretics and Chapterhouse Dune, and as a result characters and events from those novels are not referenced.
Even if this book has been offically dismissed, it is still worth a read, simply because it's a fascinating addition to Frank Herbert's stories. Recommended for Dune fans!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely backgound material for Dune fans., 18 Dec 2006
Great work, even including a kind of parable about USUL, demons and the mouse. Explains all about the Duniverse (at least about the first four books, Heretics and Chapterhouse are not included, although the starvation and scattering are mentioned briefly). Interesting essay on worm metabolism, lots of theories about all the Atreides, a lot of information about the various Idaho Gholas, etc. etc. Also the truth of the Butlerian Jihad. Enjoyable reading all together.
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by Kevin Grazier
by Kevin J. Anderson
by Brian Herbert
by Brian Herbert
by Brian Herbert
