If I could see the future…

I’m two weeks into an as-yet inexplicable re-read of the Dune series.

*cough*

Frank Herbert’s Dune, I should say.

If you’re a fan of the series, then you already know that Frank Herbert passed away a couple decades ago. His son, Brian Herbert and author Kevin J. Anderson have been writing novels set in the Dune universe, based on his unfinished notes and manuscripts, which in some ways can be as cool as it is wrong.

When it comes to the issue of the works of an author being carried on after his death, something under my skin is irritated. The motives, be it the author’s dying wish, the pressing of the fans, or a financially driven incentive to see it through aren’t the factors that really bother me; it’s more of about the feel of the literature post mortem.

Bear with me on this.

Imagine a legendary musician (take a wild guess) passes before his time, and years later someone uncovers a treasure trove of his/her unfinished work. Sure, you can take said work to completion (inferred by the notes), but when it’s given to the public it just doesn’t sound the same. The voice that would have given the work a trademark identity is lost forever, and essentially it’s a new sound from a  new person, with the shade of its originator watching on (possibly in dismay). What if it was never meant to be published? I’m sure there are quite a few artists out there that if they found out they had 24 hours to live, would have their backyards ablaze with work they hoped never saw the light of day.

That’s just my opinion however, and as I said, it has more to do with the feeling of the work to me. In truth, I have yet to read any of the post- Frank Herbert Dune novels, but in all fairness I’m sure I will give some of them a go when I finish Chapterhouse: Dune. I think I’m just riled up because I’m wondering how The Wheel of Time (my favorite fantasy series of all time) will end, now that Brandon Sanderson (a damn good writer who I’m rooting for) is being forced to split Jordan’s massive finale into three books.

Or I could be upset because I netflixed Dune (David Lynch’s version from 1984), and I’m horrified by how bad it was and still is. I might as well have watched Legend of The Seeker.