Blunder Hunters of Dune: Prelude

What makes a beginning such a drag is that you have to be REALLY careful to take extreme care that everything is in balance. You know this, right? Well, all those Bene Gesserit sisters, you know, those Goth-wannabes in the black robes, well, they know it, too. 'Cause there's nothing worse than a lop-sided endeavor, you know? So get the balances right at the beginning....Like with Muad'Dib, you know, that Paul dude that this whole story revolves around, like he's the freaking center of the universe or something, talk about what a mind trip that must have been, everyone worshipping you and everything? Anyway, like Muad'Dib...everyone thinks he was born on Caladan, where he grew up, you know? But that's just because someone wasn't careful and screwed up a beginning somewhere. Paul was really born on Kaitain, you see, 'cause that's where all the action was. But all the confusion that one little mistake caused. Wow. Now you see what I'm talking about?

—from "An ADD Teen's History of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

ONE OF THE TECHNICAL defects of Hunters of Dune as a book is its lack of a Table of Contents. But when you actually look at the contents, you can understand why both the authors and the publishers were probably loath to include one. (A full and detailed one would have added somewhat to the length of the book, no doubt increasing the price? And a minimalistic one would have been next to pointless.)

Someone trying to create one for themself will find that the "X Years After Escape from Chapterhouse" divisions provide a ready starting point...but what are you to call them? "Chapters" feels a bit off, so I have opted for "Part I", "Part II", etc. Then there is the question of the subdivisions of each of these. Again, something in me rebels at calling something of at most 10 or so pages a "chapter", so I will refer to them as "Sections".

I am currently putting the finishing touches on the Table of Contents I will use in future posts as I begin my dissection of this sorry piece of...work. I hope to be able to post it tomorrow.

(Originally posted at 3:04 AM on 11/29/06)