Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

This is a Buddy Read for Dune: The Heir of Caladan by Mark Cain starting on September 10, 2025.


Happy Reading!

Thank you!

Frank Herbert's Original Dune Chronicles:
1. Dune (Jan 10) [link]
2. Dune Messiah (Feb 10) [link]
3. Children of Dune (Mar 10) [link]
4. God Emperor of Dune (Apr 10) [link]
5. Heretics of Dune (May 10) [link]
6. Chapterhouse: Dune (Jun 10) [link]

Prelude to Dune Trilogy
Published 1999-2001
Chronicles the events that lead up to the first book.
1. House Atreides (Aug 10) [link]
2. House Harkonnen (Sept 10) [link]
3. House Corrino (Oct 10) [link]

The Legends Trilogy
Published 2002-2004
Takes place millennia before Dune--documenting the war that caused the suspicion of machines in the first place.
1. The Butlerian Jihad (Nov 10) [link]
2. The Machine Crusade (Dec 10) [link]
3. The Battle of Corrin (Jan 10) [link]

~~Skipping February~~

Schools of Dune
Published 2012-2016
Picks up close after the Battle of Corrin, continuing with the history of the Dune universe. Also said to be the basis of the upcoming HBO series...
1. Sisterhood of Dune (Mar 10) [link]
2. Mentats of Dune (Apr 10) [link]
3. Navigators of Dune (May 10) [link]

Audio: Some Hoopla might have them, not on A+
Ebook: Some Hoopla might have them, some on Open Library, not on KU

~~Skipping June~~

The Caladan Trilogy
Published 2020-2022
Takes place after House Corrino but before Dune.
1. Dune: The Duke of Caladan (Jul 10) [link]
2. Dune: The Lady of Caladan (Aug 10) [link]
3. Dune: The Heir of Caladan (Sept 10)

--Skipping to Next Year and rebooting--

Start weaving in Frank Herbert books in January
Heroes of Dune Trilogy w/main Dune series:
Published 2008-2023
Fills in gaps between the original Dune books
0. Princess of Dune (2023) (follows the lives of Irulian and Chani before Dune) (Dec 10) [link]

======Following BRs have yet to be requested:======
1. Dune (Jan 10)
1. Paul of Dune (2008) (picks up right after the end of Dune) (Feb 10)
2. Dune Messiah (Mar 10)
2. The Winds of Dune (2009) (picks up right after Dune Messiah) (Apr 10)
3. Children of Dune
4. God Emperor of Dune
5. Heretics of Dune
6. Chapterhouse: Dune

Dune Sequels
Published 2006-7
Picks up after the end of Chapterhouse: Dune and FINALLY continues the story--based on "Dune 7" manuscript, and incorporating details from the Butlerian Jihad onwards... GR calls them Dune #7 & #8
1. Hunters of Dune
2. Sandworms of Dune

It's about time to pitch a full Dune read to the main group, or go ahead and schedule that first one in Jan or Dec...

We're doing Princess in December, Frank Herbert's Dune in January, and mentioning in BR invite thread for others that want to join on the smaller BR of Frank's books, and optionally join us for expanded books in February/April... otherwise they can just read January/March/May/June/July/August...

Request through March/June, and alert

That was the plan, anyway...

Yeah, you should pitch that to the group in the Invite thread. I think it's just you and me (and maybe Choko) who you pitched that to.

I'll put in the request for Princess in Dec for now.

I pitched it... or announced it, as pompously as possible :D

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Beautiful! Epic! I loved it! I would have commented on the page, but you were comment 48, and it often kicks over at 50. Didn't want your epicness getting lost.

Just started... time to finish this off...

I thought Leto's letter to Paul was stolen at the end of the previous book (view spoiler)[to leave him vulnerable to a smear campaign for infiltrating the drug operation (hide spoiler)]

Shaddam is an egotistical asshole, as usual...

Fenring doing Fenring stuff, the may or may not align with Shaddam...

Who knows what Leto is doing undercover is such a large part of the plot...

Seems pretty obvious that (view spoiler)[the secret Harkonnen supply of Spice is going to come out eventually, and be why the Atreides get control of Arrakis for the first Dune book, but relationships are gonna be strained all around, leading to the events of Dune and further doublecrossing...

I wonder what happens with Fenring, I forget what his situation was in Dune... for now, he's protecting the Harkonnens, like when he killed that Mentat that was annoying him, since it aligns with his designs...

Meanwhile, Leto is struggling with his undercover role, as he learns things with the rebels... and the state of the illegal drug overdose shenanigans... (hide spoiler)]

I do remember Fenring playing a role in Dune, but can't remember the specifics... as a bad guy though, for sure...

The wiki says (view spoiler)[he's the interim Governor of Arrakis during the transition from Harkonnen to Atreides control... and the Governor of Caladan during the time House Atreides is disbanded until Paul ousts Shaddam as Emperor, and then he goes into exile with Shaddam on Salusa Secundus (hide spoiler)]

Useful summary...

Maybe it's just a matter of expectations, and everything I felt about how nothing big could really happen in this trilogy, but I'm in the final 90/30 minutes, and I feel like it's ending "not with a bang, but with a whimper" as the saying goes...

(view spoiler)[suicide, Leto resolves the misunderstanding, Harkonnens in trouble, etc etc etc (hide spoiler)]

My grandma called in the final minute of the book, for our weekly chat/checkin... I thought my file was corrupted for a second... before the ringing started transferring to bluetooth earbuds... it just paused mid-sentence...

LOL that's pretty amusing. And I guess the hazards of having a phone for audiobook player.

Yea... I managed to go 3-4 years listening on ipod separate from phone, before my foibles in May...

Reading this today. I keep thinking about what you keep saying--how the writers were constrained by having to hit a specific end-point here...

There was a line in the book recently... recapping some of the Bene Gesserit shenanigans in the last book, and how the character who had targeted Jessica had committed suicide after her failure... and I was thinking "nah, the authors had to kill her off to get back to normal..."

I felt like that plotline kinda fizzled after the craziness of that senile seer...

8 hours in, and (view spoiler)[Thufir Hawat saving Gurney was rather fun. I also get what you're saying about just enjoying it in the moment and *not* thinking about the later books...

Hawat gets rather the short end of the stick storywise... just captured and forced to work for the Harkonnens until he self-destructs... and in the new movies that plot was entirely cut... so it's nice to see him get a chance to shine here. (hide spoiler)]

Reading up on movies, Fenring was cut from most movies/shows... His Bene Gesserit wife Margot was in Dune Part 2...

Eh, I could care less about Fenring. Interesting about his wife though.

Finished! Agree with what you said about ending with a whimper. When the ending music started playing I was like... what? That's it? (view spoiler)[I also couldn't help but thinking that Paul was getting an awful lot of action at a young age... when he comes across as so innocent and naive still in Dune. Might have to consider these books as not canon. Even if it was cool to have him out rescuing people and winning fights and whatnot. It doesn't really fit the storyline.

At the very least, this seems to be Brian & Kevin's attempt to answer "why the Harkonnens lost Arrakis." But it could have been done in a lot fewer pages. (hide spoiler)]

Yea... it also seems to be about why the Bene Gesserit did that pain box test on Paul, instead of the easier one...

We endured... in with the good, out with the bad... take it all with a grain of salt...

Now we just have to re-read the Frank Books, and add in the interquels and sequels... almost the end of the road...

^_^

Speaking of which, it's should be safe to request those as we go, since the two of us will keep reading... seems like there were a couple folks interested in joining for the mains. Should I put in for Dune at least?

And even though some of the Brian & Kevin books had me shaking my head, I wouldn't say any of them were outright bad. Maybe redundant. But entertaining enough. I think the last two Frank books are somewhat worse.

Yea... The storytelling of the Frank books change so much .. and are very cerebral / philosophical