In September 2023, two new non-fiction books were published to capitalize on what was originally intended to be the theatrical release of Denis Villeneuve’s mega-budget sequel Dune: Part Two. Unfortunately, that film’s launch date was postponed to early 2024, leaving both books stranded with no obvious thematic tie-in, except each other.
I’ve previously reviewed A Masterpiece in Disarray by Max Evry (linked at the end of this article), a lengthy tome devoted to the first filmed adaptation of Frank Herbert’s celebrated science fiction novel – the troubled 1984 production directed by David Lynch. Although The Spice Must Flow takes its title from a line of dialogue originating in that Lynch movie (not in the Herbert novel), author Ryan Britt’s book provides a wider overview of the Dune phenomenon, covering all of Frank Herbert’s novels from the series and all three live-action adaptations to date.
| Title: | The Spice Must Flow: The Story of Dune, From Cult Novels to Visionary Sci-Fi Movies |
| Author: | Ryan Britt |
| Published: | 2023 |
| Format: | Softcover Book |
Despite its broader focus, The Spice Must Flow is a much slimmer book than A Masterpiece in Disarray. Published only in softcover format, the book comes in at 246 pages before the Acknowledgements, Source Notes, and Index – which puts it at a little less than half the length that Evry spent on just the one movie.
Of that, most attention is paid to Frank Herbert’s original novel, from its conceptual origins in research Herbert did into desert ecology for a non-fiction magazine article he never wound up writing, to its initial publication (under the title Dune World) as a multi-part serial in the pages of Analog magazine, to its eventual final form as a full-length novel that would win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for science fiction writing in 1966. Of interest (though perhaps common knowledge to hardcore fans) is the fact that, awards notwithstanding, the novel actually wasn’t particularly successful during its first publication. While it did well enough for Herbert to pen some sequels, the series didn’t break into the mainstream until the third book, 1976’s Children of Dune, upon which the original finally made it onto bestseller lists as well.
Britt spends progressively less time covering each of Herbert’s five sequel novels, and has a somewhat dismissive attitude toward the later ones. To be fair, that mirrors my own opinion of those books. He also doesn’t go into much detail about the numerous prequel and spin-off novels written by the author’s son Brian Herbert and co-author Kevin J. Anderson, beyond acknowledging that they exist. (Again, I wouldn’t want to waste time on those either.)
When it comes to the movies, Britt talks about early, aborted attempts to bring the first novel to theater screens by Chilean filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky, Planet of the Apes producer Arthur P. Jacobs, and Alien director Ridley Scott. All of this information is well known by Dune fans, and is covered in much greater depth in the Evry book, but Britt does an adequate job summarizing the details for readers with a more casual interest in the subject.
The same applies to everything he has to say about the 1984 David Lynch film, which he likes a great deal but has clearly not spent years obsessively researching to the degree that Evry had. As far as that goes, I can’t really hold it against him. Evry’s work is very daunting in its single-minded dedication, and it isn’t fair to expect that out of everyone.
Britt may be one of the few writers to give much serious consideration to the 2000 cable TV miniseries adaptation Frank Herbert’s Dune and its 2003 sequel Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune. He has a much higher opinion of both productions than I personally do, but I see this as his being such a fan of Dune in general that he tries to see the value in anything connected with it.
On that note, by the time The Spice Must Flow gets to Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 Dune: Part One, I regret to say that the book lapses into outright fanboyism with seemingly no trace of objectivity in its fawning adulation. Of course, I must admit that my saying that is strongly colored by my own bias against the film, as well as my exhaustion at the unrelenting bombardment of over-the-top hype for Dune: Part Two at the moment I’m writing this article during that sequel’s opening release weekend.
In any case, the other complaint I might lodge against The Spice Must Flow is that the book is written in a very informal, chatty tone that would seem more appropriate for a blog or web article (which is what Britt primarily writes for, in publications like Den of Geek and Vulture) rather than a published book. Yes, I fully recognize how hypocritical that may sound considering that I’m writing this review in much the same informal tone here in my own blog. However, if I’m expected to pay $15-18 for a physical non-fiction book, I generally like it to be a little more serious and academic than something I could read on the web for free.
All that said, as a Dune fan, I enjoyed The Spice Must Flow and found it a very breezy, quick read. If not as impressive an achievement as A Masterpiece in Disarray, which was released one week earlier, the book has enough of a different focus to make for a worthwhile companion piece.
Buy at: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Related
- David Lynch’s Dune
- Denis Villeneuve’s Dune
The Video File Blog 
Are you gonna review dune part two?
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Probably not until it comes out on video.
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Kevin J. Anderson, eh? I think he wrote some ‘Star Wars’ novels, too.
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Yes, same guy.
I tried to read their first Dune prequel when it came out. It was not good. I couldn’t finish it. I guess those books must sell well, as they’ve certainly published enough of them, but I haven’t had any desire to try again or see if they ever improved.
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