Feels very dated, but would have been amazing if written and published by Frank Herbert back in the 1980s. Beware, the story does not end in this book... ( )

I've read a lot of Dune books and there were only one or two that I didn't like and both of those were written by Frank Herbert. I know a lot of people want to hate any "new" Dune books, but obviously they're doing okay because there are at least 4 trilogies of books that have been put out by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

I wish I would have read this right after reading Chapterhouse, I think it would have been even better. I love the sweeping expanse of this universe and the timeline that spans thousands of years also enjoyed the links to the prequels in this one. So only one more to go on the original/base series and I'm looking forward to find out how it all wraps up. ( )

These last two Dune books are so hard to rate. In the one hand I'm thrilled to get the end of the saga, but the quality of the writing is a pale shadow of what Frank Herbert gave us. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are not great at this. They were the ones that got ahold of the notes and made it happen, though, and for that I'm grateful.

Chapterhouse ends in a mighty cliffhanger and these books do resolve that, but they do it sloppily. This story is by turns boringly drawn out, painfully on-the-nose, and filled with exposition. In this way, Hunters is like a lot of modern science fiction, more concerned with the things thought up than the story being told.

There are some revelations that strike at irregular intervals, like the footsteps of a Fremen Frank Herbert across the otherwise barren landscape of these pages. Or perhaps his notes are like the waters of Dune, rare and treasured, and just plentiful enough for us to survive.

If you are not a giant fan of Dune, do not bother with these books. If your interest waned in books 5 and 6, don't continue on. If you are just dying to know the end so you can close that door in your mind, maybe you should read the Wikipedia page instead. If you do read it, expect a story from a lesser storyteller, an echo of the original like a Ghola unawakened. ( )

Giving this travesty a one star as there is nothing below that ( )

This is part one of a two part conclusion to the main Dune series based on notes and an outline by Frank Herbert. I've heard and experienced much trepidation regarding this, but thankfully, as long as I'm mostly focused on the ideas rather than the writing, I got through it without any wounds. :)

This is the continuation of the epic struggle between the Honored Matres and the Face Dancers and the Bene Gesserit and an even greater foe that implacably hunts all of them down. And when I mean "They", I mean all of humanity.

I have to admit that the reveal of the great foe of us all is a rather cool surprise and brings the whole series full circle in chronology in a very nice way. For those of you in the know, I know I just gave it away, and for the rest of you, you'll probably never know what I mean, but tough. :) It's a really exciting time for Dune Fans and perhaps a little info will get you guys back in the groove and taste this melange-laden treat.

There's also another tidbit that takes up a huge portion of the text that is pretty much awesome, especially for some fanboy who has, at the time of this writing, read the original Dune 14 times.

Oh, crap. Did I just do it again? It's so hard to say what I love about this novel and what I'm already going to love about the one that completes it because the "big secret" is also an ENORMOUS part of everything in the books. Think Gholas. Think a lot of Gholas. Think about awakening a lot of Gholas from a secret cache of genetic materials stashed away by a Master. And think about using these peeps as the last ditch effort to save the faltering and fractured humanity.

Woah. Serious Woah.

Good conflict, great characters, delicious ideas that tie together the entire franchise in a really big way. That's where this book is.

Now, I do miss Frank's way of writing. It's much denser, much more clever, full of unique insights and wisdoms, and thousands of wonderful idea-laden easter eggs that sometimes never get explored but still make us pause and wonder.

On the other hand, Brian and Kevin do have the whole clarity and pacing thing down pretty good. I can appreciate what they do well even when I miss the old master who did NOT do the whole pacing thing well at all. :) He sacrificed pacing for ideas and I was pretty good with that. :) Alas.

However, this book isn't that much of a stinker if you're focused heavily on getting to the idea reveals and you like good characters and love to see old classic characters interact in fantastic new ways. :)

I do recommend this for all old fans. It's also closure. :) ( )