[Karellen]

In 1998 I started reading the original Dune novels. I made it up to God Emperor of Dune and then gave up. It was not a series that I was enjoying.

Over the years, because I had the original books, family and friends had been gifting the extended Dune novels by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, but I could not bring myself to read them. Some of these books have been sitting on my bookshelf for over 20 years, unopened.

Three months ago, I thought I would give them another try. And I was determined to read them in the correct storyline order.
The Universe comprises 6 original novels, 17 extended universe novels and 12 short stories.
The following spoiler lists all the books in the Dune Universe in their correct storyline order. The only exception is Princess of Dune as it is not yet released, so it is a bit of a guess as to where it fits in.

A total of 3,730,824 words...

Spoiler:

  <ol>

    <li>Hunting Harkonnens</li>
    <li>The Butlerian Jihad</li>
    <li>Whipping Mek</li>
    <li>The Machine Crusade</li>
    <li>The Faces of a Martyr</li>
    <li>The Battle of Corrin</li>
    <li>Sisterhood of Dune</li>
    <li>Mentats of Dune</li>
    <li>Red Plague</li>
    <li>Navigators of Dune</li>
    <li>Imperial Court</li>
    <li>Edge of a Crysknife</li>
    <li>House Atreides</li>
    <li>House Harkonnen</li>
    <li>House Corrino</li>
    <li>Wedding Silk</li>
    <li>Princess of Dune</li>
    <li>The Duke of Caladan</li>
    <li>The Lady of Caladan</li>
    <li>The Heir of Caladan</li>
    <li>Dune</li>
    <li>Blood of the Sardaukar</li>
    <li>A Whisper of Caladan Seas</li>
    <li>The Waters of Kanly</li>
    <li>Paul of Dune</li>
    <li>Dune Messiah</li>
    <li>The Winds of Dune</li>
    <li>Children of Dune</li>
    <li>God Emperor of Dune</li>
    <li>Heretics of Dune</li>
    <li>Chapterhouse: Dune</li>
    <li>Sea Child</li>
    <li>Treasure in the Sand</li>
    <li>Hunters of Dune</li>
    <li>Sandworms of Dune</li>

  </ol>

I have to admit that the extended universe stories were better than I expected. I have always been a fan of Kevin J. Anderson (well, up until he dropped sci-fi and moved into fantasy), so I had no problems with his novels.
I breezed right through the first 24 books quite easily and found them very enjoyable.
Book 25, Paul of Dune, was a bit of a letdown. It seemed a bit confused. There were two storylines across two timelines, but there was no real connection between them. It was like two stories had been written, then minced together. They should have been separated and released as two novelettes.
Into the original novels, I started to struggle a bit. At first I wasn't sure if I had simply had enough of the Universe, or whether the stories themselves were not enjoyable. Dune Messiah, was a struggle, along with Children of Dune and Gods Emperor of Dune.
Then I slammed into a wall with Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune. I really struggled through these, but I forced myself to continue as I was so close to the end.
The final 4 books I was able to pick up the pace again, and enjoyed them.

Has anybody else read the full Dune Universe?