March 2008 Interview

Kevin J. Anderson answers questions for FED2k.

>>You recently announced the release date of Paul of Dune, which is due out in September 2008, which is earlier than we first expected. Will the second book in the Heroes of Dune series come out in September 2009, to continue the one book a year rate, or will your involvement with the film and other projects of your own delay the release of Jessica of Dune?

We are just finishing the final text of PAUL OF DUNE for production (at the end of March) and the publisher has decided to move it more quickly through production to meet a September release date, as most of the other Dune books have been released. We haven’t even officially sold JESSICA OF DUNE or following books yet, so we don’t have any specific dates on those, and we don’t know exactly what or when our work on the film will be, so that may change the timing.

>>Between House Corrino and Dune, and between Dune and Dune Messiah, there are many unanswered questions. Some of the main ones that spring to mind are how House Vernius becomes the Ixian Confederacy, Duncan saving Paul from assassination on Caladan, and the Fenring's plot to replace Emperor Muad'dib with a Harkonnen heir. Will these ones be answered? Would it be possible to tell us any more information about the book?

Some of those are definitely answered in PAUL with the rest resolved in JESSICA, but there are still plenty of surprises and questions to explore.

>>What are your plans for after the Heroes of Dune trilogy? You mentioned before on the official website, that you were thinking about a trilogy based after the Battle of Corrin, dealing with the formation of the Great Schools, are you still considering this?

We’re still considering that, but it’s many years away. We want to keep our focus on the current books.

>>Your story of the young ghola Wellington Yueh in Hunters/Sandworms of Dune was my favourite aspect of the book, but when choosing the gholas to bring back in Hunters/Sandworms of Dune, what made you decide which ones to bring back? Why did you not bring back Gurney Halleck?

Those books were based on Frank Herbert’s “Dune 7” outline, which specified the basic storyline. I’m sure fans would have loved to see Gurney again, and Xavier Harkonnen, and Serena, and Shaddam, and many others, but they just couldn’t all fit into the book.

>>Finally, are there any more Dune computer games in the works? Before, after a Command and Conquer: Red Alert game is released, the same company then makes a Dune Real-Time Strategy game, such as Emperor: Battle for Dune, and with the announcement that Red Alert 3 is coming out in late 2008, does that mean we will see a Dune Real-Time Strategy game being released at the same time as the movie, or will there be a different style of Dune game?

We don’t have any control over the computer games.