Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson Sands of Dune: A Collection puts together four short novellas in Frank Herbert’s famous universe.
There is a nice introduction in which the storytelling origin for each of these little pieces is explained. Interesting in its own right from a writing point of view, this is a greater peek into the process for tie-in fiction and one is often given.
“The Edge of a Crysknife” follows decades of action by one woman, Mapes, as she works with the fremen to expel the various Imperial overlords from the planet Dune. It is an interesting little slice of history from the world, and a look at the lives and losses of those involved in a resistance movement. There is a brief claim that the lead is the first woman to qualify as her type of resistance fighter, which raises questions given how long the movement supposedly has existed.
Overall this is a very nice little story, one which does run right up to the novels proper. Ironically in a small way bringing that Shadow so close hurts the story, as rather than merely making the struggle seem difficult or impossible, instead reads like a carefully manipulated march towards a certain result without fuppy foreshadowing. The results are entertaining, but feel like they just slightly fail to move beyond.
“The Waters of Kanly” featuring a subtitle “From the Lost Years of Gurney Halleck” contrasts as more of an prefuel to the Frank Herbert work. Starring the titular character, this is a revenge heist story. Specifically, the character in question decides to get some of his revenge by using a group of smugglers and very carefully gathered allies to hijack a shipment of off-world water intended for use by the Harkonnens.
These structure and the style of storytelling in this piece will be familiar to anyone who regularly takes in heist tales. This is not a bad thing, and it is an excellent way to keep reader attention. The ensuing twists of what could go wrong or right about such an event will entertain almost any reader.
Both of these stories focus heavily on revenge in terms of themes. While this can be seen as true of the original Dune and many related stories, that is if anything of benefit in making these feel connected to the greater work.
When it comes to work set in a long and established universe, a question of how well the new pieces fit cannot help but enter some readers minds. This has become a particular point of contention with works following Frank Herbert’s Dune. While many of the novels published after the death Frank Herbert have created a great deal of contradiction or consternation amongst various fans, that is much less of a concern with this volume. The stories are short and, while interacting with the world of that settings seem to be as much appreciation of it as additions.
Sands of Dune is if anything an improvement on previous doing works by this creative team. While not a long volume, each short little story is tantalizing and enjoyable. Not every reader will love the pages inside, but like good tribute fiction it should be appreciated by those who seek it out. It was curious reader it is well worth picking up for a curious reader, and even for many of those who disliked previous follow-ups to the work of Frank Herbert.
(Tor 2022)
