Prequels Wish List

I have piles and shelves of paperbacks. Most are Sci-Fi and Fantasy series. I love a good series. One book is never enough about a good story for me. I love prequels. I love when a series takes me back to the history of the first books. I've been thinking about prequels as I read the latest books in my favorite series.

This might be gibberish to anyone who hasn't read them. If you like an intricate story that takes a while to read, give them a try. I'm attempting to avoid spoilers in case you do decide to check them out. I've listed the series in the order they should be read.

Dune - Frank Herbert. In my humble opinion, the best Sci-Fi series EVER. Frank died after the 6th book (Chapterhouse), and his son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson collaborated and wrote the rest based on Frank's notes. I have all 15 on the shelf, and another was just published. However, it seems it might not be worth getting just to fill out the series. The last one (Paul of Dune) was mid-point in the chronology and didn't give anything new. Rather boring, even. Reading customer reviews, it sounds like the latest is the same.

So anyways. Brian and Kevin wrote several prequels to the original Dune, and these were excellent. They explain a lot of things. Like what started the Butlerian Jihad. Why the Houses are enemies. Why "thinking machines" are outlawed. How the other elements of computerless technology came about. Where the Navigators came from.

The Butlerian Jihad
The Machine Crusade
The Battle of Corrin
House Atreides
House Corrino
House Harkonnen
Dune
Paul of Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse: Dune
Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune

I'm also adding the movies that were based on the books. The original movie "Dune" was the best in my opinion as it was more true to the book. The 2nd was produced as a 2-part mini-series by the Syfy Channel and includes "Children of Dune". I liked this as well but the characters weren't all portrayed as in the books. For instance, Paul was blonde. In the books and original movie, he's dark haired. His mother Jessica was an earthy rather plain light-complected woman, but in the books and original movie, she's the dark exotic beauty.

On my Wish List is a prequel about the Bene Gesserit. This was barely mentioned in the prequels and it's something that has always fascinated me. Who were these women called witches and how did they develop their abilities? And most important, when and why did they begin the breeding program that pretty much defined their existence and produced Paul and Leto?



The Black Jewels - Anne Bishop. Bishop is relatively new on the scene and she killed it with The Black Jewels Trilogy. I've read this series at least 3 times. Maybe more. Each time a new book in the series comes out, I have to go back and read one or two of the others. After the trilogy, she wrote Dreams Made Flesh which was a prequel of sorts in that it tells 2 stories about things that are mentioned in the first books. With the exception of the last book (Twilight's Dawn), the rest in the series are more like side stories. They do give some new information, but don't focus on the main characters in the core story.

Daughter of the Blood
Heir to the Shadows
Queen of the Darkness
Dreams Made Flesh (this could actually be read first since it includes 2 prequels)
Tangled Webs (side story only important because it's referred to in later books)
Twilight's Dawn
(the next 3 are side stories and a somewhat separate series)
The Invisible Ring
The Shadow Queen
Shalador's Lady

On my Wish List is a prequel far in the past. I want to know what the dragons did, why they died out, and why 2 survive? Why did one become human (sort of)? Who were the first recipients of the dragons' gifts? What exactly are the Jewels? Well, I know where they came from, but how is it that they store the Blood's powers, and why do some get the darker more powerful Jewels? Who (or what) is Geoffrey the Librarian? He seems to have been around for nearly as long as the dragons. Was he one of the first Blood? What about the caste system, and why isn't it about which Jewels are worn? It seems to be something inherited in some way, but what? I get the feeling that it's an animal aspect which might mean the Kindred became Blood before humans. The Eyriens have bat wings so they're not completely human. And the rites that bestow the Jewels, I want to know more about that. I want to know a lot more!


I have a Kindle now, and I'm loving it. It's kind of hard to go back to books, and especially hard to decide what to do about my series. Some of them are getting very worn. I'm thinking I will get e-copies of my favorite series when the budget allows so they will always be together. That could get expensive! I have some series over 20 books long! I'll talk about a few other series next time.

Good morning.