Book Review: Paul of Dune

Paul of Dune is the latest book by Herbert  and Anderson in the continuing expansion of the original DUNE series by Frank Herbert.  Frank Herbert wove an incredible series of books, and I really enjoy the Dune universe.  I like the complexity, and richness of the worlds, people, and politics.  As such, I'm a bit of a sucker for more Dune books.  If they write them, I will come.  Paul of Dune is no exception for me.  

Paul of Dune is set between the first Dune and the second book, 
Dune Messiah.  This new story fills in a little about what happened after Paul defeats Shaddam Corrino to become emperor and, in Messiah, when he known as a tyrant.  Since this story is more of a gap filler, than breaking new ground in the Dune universe, it's more of a story of political intrigue than revealing anything particularly new.  It seems to be more of a story about how Paul went from someone who had to be ruthless because of the situations he faced to someone who was pushed over the edge and became plain ruthless.  Still, you remain sympathetic to paul, in part because as a reader, you feel that he's  always forced along the path he followed, despite being a mass maker of war.  This story is really about assassination and the consequences of assassination.  In the original Dune story, there were attempts on Paul's life.  In this story, we revisit assassination attempts that profoundly affect Paul and other members of his House and we are witness to new machinations hoping to rid the universe of Paul.  

While I enjoyed this book, I found it a little lacking.  I'm not sure that this book is intended to be a one-shot book or a new series, but it reads like it's meant to stand alone.  As such, it seems to wrap up the story a little too quickly for my tastes.  Also, link many prequels, you more-or-less know the outcome to the  story before you read it - Paul is still emperor at the end - although it fills some gaps.  Many of the other Dune prequels out recently take place long before the original Dune book, in some cases many thousands of years, and thus can stand on their own because much of what occurs in those books are mentioned only in passing in the original books.  Nestling a book between two existing stories is much tougher to make compelling.  Never-the-less, I enjoyed this book because I wasn't expecting anything radically new and, thus, I wasn't disappointed.