Dreamer of Dune : the biography of Frank Herbert /

Arguably the most popular twentieth-century science fiction novel, Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) integrated social, ecological, and religious commentary into a new kind of world-building that captivated sf readers much as Lord of the Rings enthralled fantasy fans. Brian Herbert's heartfelt, if not highly polished, biography of his father portrays a man with large faults and virtues. Impatient with children, Herbert insisted on quiet and order to write, and when little, Brian and brother Bruce suffered their father's booming voice and such tricks as being hooked up to a homemade lie detector they were convinced revealed their every thought. While Herbert lavished affection on their mother, the boys felt dispossessed. Brian became a binge drinker, Bruce struggled with drugs and homosexuality. Half-sister Penny, child of a brief first marriage, enjoyed better relations with Herbert because she visited only occasionally. Herbert shone, however, when he encouraged Brian to write. Eventually father and son became companionable. Hard-won appreciation pervades a book also distinguished by commentary on David Lynch's film Dune and Herbert's passage from struggling to world-renowned author. --Roberta Johnson

Frank Herbert's oldest son (playfully called "number one son" by his father) paints an extraordinary portrait of the visionary behind the ecological SF classic Dune (1965), its bestselling sequels, the David Lynch film and many other works. Compulsively readable, despite the often extraneous detail, the biography explores the evolution of a "modern day Socrates" who "tore into... unexamined linguistic and cultural assumptions," extrapolating "words and traditions he thought might exist in the future." At age eight, Herbert, the child of impoverished, "on-again, off-again alcoholic" parents, announced, "I wanna be a author" and went on to sell his first short story at 17. Brian charts the influences on his father's masterpiece, from T.E. Lawrence and Jung to world religions, particularly Zen Buddhism. The author also depicts the symbiotic relationship between Herbert and his second wife, Beverly (Brian's mother), a talented copywriter, but admits that Herbert, an incessant nitpicker, never quite accepted "number two son" Bruce's gay lifestyle and regularly used a lie detector on both boys. Estranged for many years, Brian and his father eventually made peace, learning "how to talk story" and collaborating on Man of Two Worlds (1986) shortly before Frank's death from cancer at age 65. This moving, sometimes painfully obsessive biography is an impressive testament of family loyalty and love. A must-read for Herbert fans (both senior and junior), it includes family photos and a bibliography. (Apr. 14) Forecast: Brian Herbert is the author of The Dune Concordance, a trilogy of Dune prequels written with Kevin J. Anderson, as well as the first volume in a second prequel trilogy (also co-written with Anderson), Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (Forecasts, Sept. 9, 2002). The airing of a miniseries based on Children of Dune on the Sci-Fi channel in March will give this an extra lift. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Though subtitled a "biography," this is more of a personal memoir of the author's father, the well-known sf writer Frank Herbert. While Herbert does survey Frank's life-his childhood near and in Tacoma, WA; his hard struggle to become a successful and popular writer; his eventual triumph with the "Dune" series (which has become something of a family franchise); and his wife's debilitating illness and death-this book is almost as much about the son as the father. Herbert emphasizes his difficult childhood with a domineering father and then recounts their mostly changed relationship when the son became an adult. Unfortunately, this memoir frequently reads like a nearly unedited transcript of the author's daily journal: we get entire phone conversations, extended descriptions and analyses of his anxieties about and grievances against his parents, and long-drawn-out accounts of family meals, restaurant outings, and father-son talks. It also too often focuses on the trivial, such as Frank Herbert's obsessive dental hygiene habits. This book may please hard-core fans yearning for "inside" information about the writer, but it has limited value for those seriously interested in Frank Herbert's fiction. For extensive sf collections or where interest warrants.-Roger Berger, Everett Community Coll., WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Son Brian, who's continued dad's most famous saga (Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, 2002, etc., with Kevin J. Anderson), chronicles in endless detail the life of a writer who scaled new pinnacles in SF. Born in Tacoma, Washington, in 1920, young Frank didn't have much of a childhood; he was forced to care for a younger sister as his parents descended into alcoholism. At 19 he got a job on a newspaper, at 21 he enlisted in the Navy, was dumped by his first wife, and received an honorable discharge without seeing combat after a grotesque accident in 1943. Back in the Pacific Northwest, Herbert wrote for newspapers and politicians, drove like a maniac, and in 1946 married Beverly Forbes, a psychic of Scottish descent. He treated their three children (Brian was the eldest) with a curious combination of angry neglect and exquisite cruelty. Whatever he did, he did with his entire being, from uprooting the whole family to live in Mexico to single-mindedly acquiring information for his work in progress. From his modestly successful first novel, The Dragon in the Sea (1956), he developed the Dune vision, which consumed him for the next seven years. Twenty-three publishers rejected the completed text before Chilton published a hardcover edition in 1965. Chronically short of money, Frank wrote stories and novels and eventually extended the Dune saga. Four Dune movie deals fell through before David Lynch in 1984 completed a nearly five-hour film, gutted to two (and doomed) by a studio power struggle. During all this, Brian slowly and painfully endeavored to understand his father and build a relationship with him; clearly, however, intimidation and hero worship lingered until Frank's death from a pulmonary embolism in 1986. Repetitious and flabby (Frank can't stay in a hotel without Brian telling us the room number), with the same Dune minutiae endlessly recycled. Nonetheless, a fascinating picture of this furiously energetic, driven, determined, sometimes childlike genius. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.