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Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
01/11/2007 . Source: Rod MacDonald 
Audio CD. pub: Audio Renaissance. 9 hours. 7 CDs. Price: $34.95 (US), $43.95 (CAN) ISBN: 978-1-4272-0236-9) - read by: Scott Brick, Katherine Kellgren, Euan Morton and Simon Vance. Buy Dune Messiah in the USA - or Buy Dune Messiah in the UK  check out websites: www.audiorenaissance.com/www.hbpub.com and www.duneaudio.com
This is the second book in the 'Dune' series from Frank Herbert. When he started writing the original 'Dune' back in the sixties, Herbert was relatively poor. The success of this and subsequent sequels made him a lot more money but, as with most artists, the real money only comes when you are dead. Now, with audio books readily available, more dollars are coming in.
Herbert wrote six 'Dune' novels and countless others were written by others thereafter. All sorts of spin-offs became commercially available, including an after-shave called Old Spice and a pop group with five girls called the Spice Girls (well, maybe not). Unfortunately, I'm old enough to have read the originals when they came on the market. 'Hellstrom's Hive' was my favourite Herbert novel but I must confess I didn't really like 'Dune' or the film version which came out in 1984.
Why didn't I like them? Basically I found the novel was a bit bogged down in nomenclature and I couldn't be bothered looking up the glossary every couple of pages. The film, while unlike the novel in complexity, was a bit of a catastrophe. Apart from that, I've had no other contact with 'Dune' since then and the prospect of having to listen to 7 CDs of 'Dune Messiah', the first sequel, was a bit daunting. I needn't have worried, I actually enjoyed the experience.
This unabridged version is really very good. Sometimes, I must confess, I fall asleep while listening to audio books. I didn't have a problem with this version because the readers were good at their job and kept my attention throughout.
People listen to audio books in all different circumstances, sometimes whilyou must have been living on a different planet. Most people listening to the CD audio version will have already read the book. My job is to tell you that the audio version is worth getting. I think it enhances the written text and, maybe because I'm indolent, it makes it easier to follow.
While the 7 CDs are fine, it's about time unabridged audio books were put out in a more compact format such as DVD. It should also be available as an MP3 download. In 20 years, the whole caboodle will appear on a tiny chip.
What I can say, after listening to this excellent audio version, is that I have discovered an interest in the 'Dune' series which I didn't possess before. I'm now going back to 'Dune' and will no doubt listen to the other books, most of which are available in audio or will become so in the near future.
Rod MacDonald
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