A Game of Authors

by Frank Herbert

A previously unpublished thriller by the author of Dune

Murder. Mystery. Mexico.
American journalist Hal Garson finds himself in a deadly game of authors when he travels to Mexico on the hunt for a killer story.
With only a desperate letter to follow, he ignores the warnings of death and danger that he will find and travels to Ciudad Brockman, where monsters lurk behind friendly faces and swim hungrily below the lake searching for blood.
Garson unearths a lethal game infused with conspiracy, murder, and spies, and winds up in a crossfire with a dangerous crime lord. Along the way, he finds people who may not want to be found…including a mysterious and beautiful woman.
One question lies heavy on Garson’s mind… Who can be trusted?
This heart-stopping thriller by Dune author Frank Herbert offers something for everyone, if you dare to travel with Garson.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction

148 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2013

About the author

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.

Reviews

[Alyssia Cooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the opening few pages, I wasn't really that impressed by this. I found it rather stilted and struggled to engage with the setting or the characters. Thankfully, this changed the further I got into the story. I'm not sure if this would count as a novel or a short story, but either way, once I had ploughed through those first few chapters I found myself honestly intrigued. The characters are perhaps a little more two dimensional than in the previous couple of unpublished novels I have read by Herbert, but he still creates a compelling narrative and I found myself entwined in it.

In reality it's a simplistic narrative, but it's well told and brings the events to life. The surroundings of border town Mexico are brought to life around you and many of the characters are brought to life through both description and dialogue. They are perhaps caricatured at points, but that didn't impact on my enjoyment of the narrative as a whole. This isn't as good as High-Opp, but it's better than Angels' Fall... and if this is the standard of Herbert's unpublished stuff, I really need to read Dune.

[Joshua · Rating 2 out of 5]

These unpublished Frank Herbert novels are so bad. I got them expecting not quite Dune, but maybe something still good. But it seems Dune was a bit of a one hit wonder.
This book is just bland. The characters are one-dimensional, the plot is as basic as you can get and at times just nonsense, and the thematic messaging is all over the place. I really have no idea what Herbert was trying to do with this book.
It kept me intrigued enough for the 2nd star. Thankfully it was short, which is maybe the only thing it has going for it.

As an aside, I've found it interesting trying to find how these books influenced Dune. The first book has the whole "is the hero really the hero" arc that comes to fruition in Messiah. The second one I think explored the idea of indigenous knowledge and guerilla war which became the fremen. But in this one, I couldn't find any meaningful connection. I suppose that the background politics is not what it initially appears? But that is a stretch.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't stop saying it, but man was this four unpublished novels set by Frank Herbert a real find.

You can certainly tell that Herbert isn't at the height of his powers, but his salient characters, tension building, and psychological interplay are all here.

Mostly I just love that I've read two stories now based in Latin America by him. Not what I would have expected, but well done. This particular story takes place in Mexico and has Communist guerillas, ex-Pancho Villa raiders, American ex-pats and journalists all running around in a fun, if slightly far-fetched tale.

If you find this set for sale for the Amazon Kindle, you'd be remiss not to get it. Pick these up off the shelf!

[Terry Misfeldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing find! I thought I had read everything Frank Herbert had written...until I discovered Word Fire Press and ordered A Game of Authors. Fascinating and suspenseful story-telling by the master of science fiction. Romance. Murder. Intrigue. Definitely the type of story that is hard to put down once you begin. Loved it!

[Steef · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea what Herbert was trying to achieve by this and I can see why it was never published during his life. Other than some of the other reviewers, I thought the beginning was a bit promising, but further on I just had the feeling I was reading the plot to an A-Team episode.

[Dayo Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as tidy as Dune but still a good one from a master

[Jimmy Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not Frank Herbert's finest work. It was so-so with not much in it.

[Neil Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is an average Cold War anti-communist tale (with the twist of the main protagonists being authors) and would have got 3-stars, but it is elevated to 4-stars by the writing ability of Frank Herbert. Wonderful writer. Wish he was still around and still writing.