Having read Dune: House Atreides, I am forced to agree.

Rob, in the same vein...

The Dune series by Frank Herbert has also been extended, after his death, by his son Brian Herbert (in collaboration with Kevin Anderson).

As an avid fan of Dune I started reading these extensions with interest, however, I was disappointed. The new books are good enough yarns in their own right but they are not a patch on the originals. Frank wrote with such power and authority and the universe he created was imaginative, exotic and yet real, peopled with fascinating and complex characters.

Whether Brian is cashing in or just doing his best in his father’s footsteps is an open question. Maybe elements of both are true but the fact remains – Frank was the master and Brian, unfortunately, is not in his class, even with the help of K.A.

Many have accused Christopher R. Tolkien of 'cashing in' on his father's (J.R.R. Tolkein's work, but as a scholar of sorts of Tolkein, I've found much of what he's done very illuminating in both understanding Tolkein's ideas and his struggles with the masses of material he produced. I suspect this all boils down to intent: are 'heirs' (of whatever sort) earnestly trying to bring more of a great writer's efforts to light, or are they after a fast buck?

I’ve not read Vonnegut for years and would be very interested in anything new although from my current perspective his writing might seem a little adolescent now.

I’ve nothing against posthumous publications but it does need a sympathetic editor. One of my favourite books is posthumous – ‘The Salmon of Doubt’ by Douglas Adams.

I'm interested in reading anything that Vonnegut has had a part in producing. I guess I don't have an opinion fully formed concerning posthumous publications.

Check back later. Maybe one will develop.

Vonnegut's publisher announced Friday that a collection of unpublished stories will come out in November:

http://sfscope.com/2009/04/unpublished-k...

I guess I'm interested, but I'm always suspicious of posthumous releases. They can seem a bit like "cash-ins". I heard the David Foster Wallace posthumous release might not get released because editing it without the author involved in the process wouldn't work.

What do you think? Under what circumstances should posthumous releases take place? Under what should they not? Do you have examples of successful/unsuccessful posthumous releases?

(My apologies if we've talked about this already...I know the DFW issue was discussed, but I don't think posthumous releases in general were.)

What do you think?