Eye

Eye is a collection of short stories that showcase the genius of Frank Herbert. Many of the main themes of his popular Dune series are seen in each of the stories. One of these is a small section entitled "The Road to Dune" containing illustrations of some scenes from the Dune universe, namely the palace of Arakeen. Even though I'm an intense Dune fan I found the story of the Bacit and the Tegas to be my favorite. Eye is a smattering of worlds and ideas all from the same mind that created Dune. It does not disappoint.

Years ago my younger brother brought this book home. I was so intrigued by the cover art that I decided to borrow it. I never returned the book to him. I have reread this book several times over the years and I have given many copies as gifts to close friends. As a language arts teacher, I find "Try To Remember" to be profoundly thought provoking. But "The Tactful Saboteur" and "A Matter of Traces" are favorites as well because they are so insightful. I highly recommend this collection because the stories are intelligent and entertaining. An excellent read! A great selection for a book club.

Cheers to iBooks for apparently being the only major publisher who cares about resurrecting classic sci-fi for the current market. They've put several books by R. Zelazny back in print, and they seem to be on the road to reprinting Berkley's Masterworks of Sci-Fi & Fantasy series, of which this book was one, originally released in the mid-80s. This short-lived series, consisting of story collections by the pros of the genre, was amazing. The care that was put into the product is something readers don't get today. Not only did you get a good selection of stories, but also many extras such as fantastic artwork (both covers and interior), informative story intros (as with A.C. Clarke), or biographical sketches (as with Fritz Leiber). "Eye" has a good intro by Herbert discussing the Dune movie, and you get the brief titular story, which is an excerpt from an Arrakian tour guide, complete with illustrations of characters and landmarks. Jim Burns provides the art, which includes a piece for each story, as well as a beautiful cover. The stories are not the literal "best" of Frank Herbert, but they are enjoyable, certainly much better than other stuff coming out today.

Anybody who's read the in depth novels of Frank Herbert will understand my enthusiasm directed toward this book. Frank Herbert could get a little....well...overly philosophical at times. This caused quite a few within his fandom to sigh and/or scratch our heads and say, "I wonder what he means by that?" But here, in 'Eye,' we get to see the short version of his ample mind....'Eye' is a collection of short stories by Frank Herbert. Since Mr. Herbert's genre has almost always been Science Fiction, these stories are also. And to top off this wonderful collection, it's been illustrated (on the cover and with sketches inside) by Jim Burns, a world renowned British artist. The cover alone makes it worth your while to buy, as does Mr. Burns explanation in the back of the book as to why he chose this subject material in this color scheme. The 'Walking Tour of Arrakis' with its multiple sketches and descriptions were outstandingly and tastefully done. But let's get to the meat-and-potatos of this book: Frank's mind. It starts out with Mr. Herbert's feelings about the making of the movie, Dune. Most insightful. Then we quickly move on to 'Rat Race,' a 25 page short story about first contact with aliens on earth and how that might come about. And how these aliens might perceive us. Freaky! Then we move on to a short version of 'Dragon in the Sea,' which actually became a novel and a series. The interesting part of this story is it shows Mr. Herbert's past experiences within the Navy. Then on to 'Cease Fire' which was undoubtedly my favorite story and only 19 pages long. Here Mr. Herbert shows us what he's famous for: diving into the human pysche and human power struggle from governments but doesn't do it overly-so. Thank Shai-halud!All the stories are worth mention but I feel I'm already lengthy in my review. But pick up a copy of this book for your Science Fiction loved one this Xmas season. They'll love you for it. And you can ogle at the beautiful artwork.

Herbert was as good at producing tight short stories as epic, far-reaching novels. The story "Murder Will In" is the best "body-stealer" tale I've come across. His terrific "Devil in the Sea" (aka Under Pressure) is, for some reason, only half published in this book! What a dumb mistake!