Dune: House Atreides

This is the first volume of Brian and Kevin’s Houses of Dune prequel trilogy. It reads better than the Legends of Dune trilogy that precedes it in chronological (not publication) order. I found the Legends trilogy to be mostly mean spirited with lots of wanton carnage. I suspect that was done by the authors to set the tone for why humanity bans all thinking machines. So this first book in the Houses of Dune trilogy was a refreshing change from that and, although still plot driven, had characters that seemed to this reader to be a little more fleshed out and not as cartoonish as in the Legends trilogy. Still not up to the standards of Frank Herbert but still worth reading for a Dune fan.

Ever wonder what the spinning corpse of Frank Herbert sounds like? If so, then you've probably not read the new Dune novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

Now, there was a time when Dune was my favorite science fiction series. I loved the vast culture, the socioeconomic overview, the religions, the everything. And, I was sad when I discovered that Frank Herbert passed away leaving his last book unfinished.

Before I got into Dune, I loved reading Star Wars novels. And who hasn't read a star wars novel without hearing the name "Kevin J. Anderson"? I, of course, stopped reading Star Wars novels when I realized that they were mostly formulaic, and that I didn't want to devote my limited bookshelf space to glorified fan show more fiction. Also, I got tired of the fact that KJA would always "push the envelope," introducing characters more powerful than Luke Skywalker, giving them ships capable of destroying the universe, and then letting them gallivant through the galaxy doing whatever they want until they learn a valuable lesson.

So, when I heard that Brian Herbert was using KJA to write more Dune books, my heart sank. Nevertheless, I decided to pick up the first one and at least give it a shot. Maybe Herbert learned a little about writing from daddy, and was only using KJA as a big name to sell the books.

Wrong. I'm not sure what percentage of this book is actually written by Herbert, but it reads exactly like every other KJA book I've had the misfortune of reading: like glorified fan fiction. And sure enough, KJA introduces characters that are MORE POWERFUL than Paul Atriedes, and able to do all sorts of amazing feats, and this all happened before Paul was EVEN BORN!

Here's some fan fiction of my own: "After the publication of Dune: House Atreides, the mystical forces of the universe were so unsettled that they shattered the barrier between life and death. The zombie Frank Herbert rose from his grave, and would have eaten the brains of the people who wrote and published the piece of crap that had word "Dune" in the title, had they any brains to eat. Instead, he shambled over to his Underwood and pecked out the rest of Dune 7, which was promptly published to wide acclaim. As he returned to his grave after a particularly harrowing signing, he dragged along a large burlap sack with the muffled sounds of screaming coming from within. After that, there were no more glorified fan fiction books being published by a particularly prosaic writer."

You'll probably like this book if you love the spoonfed dreck that KJA normally defecates onto paper. Otherwise, you'll probably only read this book if you LOVE Dune, and will read anything with the word "Dune" in the title, and named your first child "Frank Herbert Paul Maud'Dib of Dune Jones." And if she can forgive you, maybe you can forgive Brian Herbert. show less

I was at first hesitant when I learned that someone was going to "mess with" Frank Herbert's siminal Dune series. However, I like Kevin J. Anderson and it's always better to try a continuation by an author whose work you already enjoy. I am so glad I took the plunge! This prequel was excellent and I think it captured the spirit of Frank Herbert's work. Leto and Jessica are especially well done, but the machinations of the Bene Gesserit steal the book. I positively loved learning the background on how Jessica was conceived, how Leto won her heart and all the events that lead up to Paul.

The authors clearly stayed within canon when dveeloping the plot and though the writing style is not the same as Frabk Herbert's, I found it much easier show more to read. The novel flowed well. Overall, I highly recommend this to fans of Dune, though purists will no doubt find some issues with it. show less

Way more enjoyable than “Children of Dune.” I couldn’t follow that one when I was a teenager; tried again now that I’m pushing 60... still couldn’t focus. House Atreides isn’t perfect, but it is entertaining. Sue me, I like backstory.

This prequel deals with the youths of the "older generation" in Dune: Duke Leto, the Crown Prince Shaddam, Vladimir Harkonnen and his viscious nephews, Hasimir Fenring,Pardot Kynes, Stilgar, Duncan Idaho, and the Atreides retainers, clarifying the universe in which Paul Atreides-Muad'dib inherits. Connections Mere hints in Herbert's classic are developed at length in a natural, unforced manner, making the reader want to re-read the series with renewed insight. Masterfully done.

Not bad, but it's got problems.

I liked Dune, the novel, and I also liked the recent movie. I was interested in the comic, but find it has some of the same problems as the later novels in the series. There is often too much going on and the level of detail starts to chip away at the grandeur of the Dune universe.

I didn't like the galactic emperor being a doddering old man who is too easily worked over by a pair of chuckleheads. One of them is his son, suspect #1 in any regicides, and certainly someone that a wily ruler with 100+ years in power would keep an eye on. They poison the emperor through a childishly simple B&E on his bedroom. Really? The emperor of the the known universe doesn't have locks on his windows and cameras in his show more room?

There is also a lot of hoping around. GoT manages to do that well, with more characters, but I felt a little choppy here. The imperial palace, the factory world IX, Dune, Bene Gesserit scheming, and the Atreides home world is a lot to cover in one volume.

The art is only ok and the dialogue is a little flat. I'll give #3 a try, but I'm not enthused. show less

After I began to read all the various Dune novels in chronological order, I was worried the Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson books would burn me out. So many people have given them such drastically negative reviews, I was unsure what would happen. First I read the Legends of Dune trilogy, which I enjoyed quite a bit as a space opera on it's own, but now I am getting into the direct prequels and was worried they would fall flat. Thankfully I discovered the book was very enjoyable, even more so than the Legends trilogy. They are not quite as good as Frank Herbert of course, but very few writers in history have been. This book focused a bit more on politics than action, a stark contrast to the Legends of Dune trilogy, and while I thought show more this would be boring it ended up providing a really interesting view of the Dune universe leading up to the original novel. Overall the novel did a great job fleshing out the various characters, one could easily read this without ever touching the original novel and not feel confused or lost. I still do not understand the hate and vitriol people have for Brian Herbert deciding to continue the story his father created, and feel he definitely does the original series justice. Even if you don't like the books, they do nothing to take away from the original. I for one am glad he decided to finish the original series and write various other books in the Dune universe. show less