Hot water, Cheney on the hunt, a review of "Legends of Dune"

Looks like my water heater problems are not over, as it is smoking a little. I suppose I do have to get it replaced now. Could be worse; I could be part of Vice President Cheney's hunt for the most dangerous game.

Anyway, thought I'd start something different by occasionally posting reviews of books that I've recently read (or movies seen, etc.). To start, I'll give this very high level review of the "Legends of Dune" trilogy (The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and The Battle of Corrin).

Firstly, these books, which take place centuries before the classic "Dune" series, are now where near as good as the classic series. The trilogy covers a period called the Butlerian Jihad, in which humanity is in a brutal war with the thinking machines (basically robots), their mastermind Omnius, and a handful of "cymeks" (big robots with human brains) called the Titans. It centers on some key members of the families so familiar in other "Dune" series, namely the Atreides and Harkonnens, but it touches on the Corrinos as well. It also deals with the origins of some of the integral organizations in the classic "Dune" series.
On the plus side, I think the books gave a fairly good epic feel, by covering several generations and really showing some change in the characters and situations over time. (Again, not nearly as epic as the original series.) Also, there are some interesting characters, including Vorian Atreides and te complex thinking machine, Erasmus. However, there are also a lot of characters that seemed like they were supposed to be important, but never really went anywhere, like the authors set up too much and then abandoned it as they went.
It wouldn't be "Dune" without politics, and they are here too, but frankly feel simplified and stereotypical. I would have liked more depth and realism.

My biggest disappointments are that the authors try to create the origin of every major element from the classic series (Suk doctors, Fremen, Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, Atreides/Harkonnen feud, etc.) into a relatively short period of time (all within basically a hundred years), which I thought was very unlikely (the "Dune" saga spans tens of thousands of years at least) and completely unnecessary. Also, the sub-plot about Arrakis (Dune) is easily one of the most flat and dry (pun intended) stories in the series, which is ironic given the series' namesake. Lastly, when I read the original "Dune" books, I never would have pictured that the history was a giant war between humans and robots. Kind of cheesy, in my opinion.

Verdict? I really felt the authors (one of which is Frank Herbert's son) were really just riding on the coat-tails of the original books, and didn't do that great a job at it. There are some interesting things, and if you are familiar with classic "Dune" you'll either appreciate the tie-ins or find them not in spirit with the original books (some of this could just be my interpretation of the classic series too). If you haven't read the original "Dune" series, read those instead; they are much better books. If you are a die-hard fan of "Dune", you'll probably want to read the "Legends of Dune" trilogy (if you haven't already) for the details and history. If you are a fan of human versus machine stories ("Matrix" or "Terminator"), you might enjoy these as well. Otherwise, the only way I can recommend is if you are looking for an epic series that will keep you busy for a while (but again, read the classic "Dune" story first so as not to spoil your experience of that).