Herbert's Other Works

[Spade]

Anyone have any opinions on these books sitting on my shelf that haven't been read yet?

The Santaroga Barrier
The Dosadi Experiment
Whipping Star
The Jesus Incident (w/ Bill Ransom)
Destination: Void

and isn't one a prequel to another or something??

 

[Perpetual Man]

Hi Spade,

I think I enjoyed all of the Frank Herbert books, except The Dosadi Experiment (I believe this is the sequel to Whipping Star, which is the one book I have not read, so it might explain that)

Destination Void is a good read, but rather slow going (I found it so when I read it many years ago) But I have read it again, so it was good enough to make me read it twice!
Although not in proper terms it is a prequel to The Jesus Incident, which in itself is the first part of a trilogy, the later parts being The Lazerus Effect and the Ascension Factor.

Again I read these twice and really enjoyed them, probably some of my favourite Herbert material outside of Dune.

If you are really enjoying his work, worth trying the White Plague as well.

 

[Snowdog]

I thoroughly enjoyed Whipping Star and It's my favourite Herbert book after Dune. It is indeed the prequel to The Dosadi Experiment. I personally didn't like The White Plague, though it is certainly thought-provoking.

 

[Fried Egg]

"The Dosadi Experiment" is the only Frank herbert book I've ever read and I didn't like it. It's put me off reading anything else of his.

 

[MilesTeg]

Hahaha! I think its so funny that you all didnt like the dosadi experiment, because I feel the same way, it was the only frank herbert book I have ever read that I didnt enjoy. Too much legal jargon, I couldnt understand a word of it. The Santaroga Barrier, on the other hand, now thats a story. One of my personal favorites, I highly recommend it.

 

[Jackolsman]

I am a bit new to FH's works but I have loved Dune and have The Jesus Incident sitting on my bookshelf.

Would any of you recommend reading Destination: Void before reading the aforementioned Incident?

 

[iansales]

I don't think it's necessary. But it is quite a thin book, so it's up to you. I seem to recall that The Jesus Incident was a better read than Destination: Void, though.

 

[Chun the unavoidable]

Go back a way and look for "Dragon in the Sea" or "Under Pressure", the original title. It's a during-the-apocalypse novel. He also wrote a non-SF gem, "Dreamcatcher".

 

[iansales]

Er, Soul Catcher.



(I second the recommendation for The Dragon in the Sea.)

 

[Chun the unavoidable]

Oops, got that one wrong, didn't I? Most of Herbert's work seems to be concerned with the errors in comunnication between individuals - "Soul Catcher" is a more mainstream exploration.

 

[The Wanderer]

Oops, got that one wrong, didn't I? Most of Herbert's work seems to be concerned with the errors in comunnication between individuals - "Soul Catcher" is a more mainstream exploration.

I've read 'Soul Catcher' I still remember moment when I read the ending, my location

Other than that of his other works, 'The Green Brain' is quite a Picturesque little book - some marvellous sequences of descriptive writing in it

I'd like to read 'Hellstrom's Hive' and 'Santaroga Barrier'

 

[iansales]

I like The Green Brain. It struck me as one of his best written works.

 

[Foxbat]

The Godmakers is another Herbert book worth reading. Along with Whipping Star and The Green Brain, it's probably some of his best work outside Dune.

 

[j d worthington]

Hellstrom's Hive... whooo, boy! Yes.....

If you can, find a copy of the film The Hellstrom Chronicle first, as it was the inspiration for the book. And I do recommend the book. Very good, and very chilling.

 

[iansales]

I found The Godmakers disappointing - it read like the fix-up it in fact was. Whipping Star has its moments, but I remember the sequel, The Dosadi Experiment, being better. And I must reread Hellstrom's Hive one of these days - I recall being impressed by it when I first read it.

 

[TedKeller]

Hellstrom's Hive is one his books that could have been written by early Koontz.

 

[Brian G Turner]

The Dragon in the Sea

The Godmakers is another Herbert book worth reading. Along with Whipping Star and The Green Brain, it's probably some of his best work outside Dune.

I've been meaning for some time to pick up another Frank Herbert, so thanks for the recommendations.

 

[Onyx]

I've re-read Destination Void, Dragon in the Sea (Under Pressure) and Dosadi Effect many times. Great novels.

 

[J-Sun]

Following the thread title, more than the years-ago OP, to "discuss Herbert's works aside from Dune and its sequels," the list I'm looking at may not be complete but it looks like I've read:

• Destination: Void
• The God Makers
• Hellstrom's Hive
• The Dosadi Experiment (weird case of reading the sequel without reading the original Whipping Star)
• The White Plague
• Eye (collection)

All I can say (because I don't remember most of them specifically, but agree with Snowdog on The White Plague) is that if it weren't for Hellstrom's Hive, I'd think Dune made Herbert a one-hit wonder. To me, he writes a clotted prose that's hard to get into (thick, heavy, awkward) and, while idea-filled, his tales don't have much else (and it usually takes very little else after ideas to win me over). I don't recall the novels being especially bad, but just not particularly good. (Perhaps because the deficiencies are magnified in relation to the smaller scope, his short fiction is worse.) I don't even recall Hellstrom's Hive that well but I think it had a much tenser, zippier plot than usual. As TedKeller indicates, it's more thriller-like SF.

I did pick up Under Pressure aka The Dragon in the Sea aka 21st Century Sub years ago (I think after reading or re-reading Clarke's The Deep Range and Clement's Ocean on Top and maybe Allen Steele's Oceanspace and wanting another underwater adventure). I'm hoping it will either be less clotted than Herbert's usual or that that style will serve the story in this case. Sounds cool, anyway.

 

[Foxbat]

I read Hellstrom's Hive a few months ago and found it to be quite chilling.Certainly worth a read