Reviews - Dune Harkonnen Hanedanı

Dune Harkonnen Hanedanı by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson

108 reviews for:

Wow. What a disappointment. I love strong middle works in a trilogy, a la Empire Strikes Back or Two Towers. However, the weak writing and character development we see in the first book continues into this one. The depth of thought and focus of craftsmanship that Frank Herbert displayed in Dune is not evident in these prequels.

shahittosarmat's review against another edition

4.0

The second book in the prelude trilogy to the Dune saga, the writing duo of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson return to peel back the mythos behind the three guest houses that make up the first three stories of the Dune saga and their struggles - House Harkonnen, House Corrino and House Atreides.

The book picks up a few years after the events of the first book House Atreides, to provide updates on events that continue to occur as a result of the various conclusions from the first book. Duke Leto and his guests from the exiled House Verinius live on Caladan, where the Duke is content on staying on his home planet, but where the political machinations of the Imperium still find him. We see more of the terraforming of Arrakis, and the brutality of the Harkonnens on display. We also see the stalemate of the Emperor, and his inability to further consolidate his power and keep the Imperium in control.

While their writing style is more to inform readers of the motivations and events of the events that led up to the Dune Saga rather then creating engaging dialogue and memorable prose for the reader, the duo are able to inform readers of some of the grey points that Frank Herbert left in his world building for the Dune stories.

My criticism for the second book was the stringent white washing that the duo employed for their book, taking religious and cultural norms from our time and mashing them together for their timeline - a tradition carried on from Frank Herbert. Yet while Herbert senior did in a more nuanced manner, the duo were not strategic about the usage, and indeed it shown in the haphazard way it appeared in the narrative.

Still an interesting prequel series, and I can’t wait to see how it will conclude with the third and final book in the prequel series.

anakinologist's review against another edition

3.0

Imagine this is a 3.5^^
I loved this one a little less than House Atreides, but it was still really interesting. Incredibly depressing. Brian & Kevin added some VERY INTERESTING lore for Leto...

thegr8estangell's review against another edition

3.0

challenging slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Finished another Dune book. Dune:House Harkonnen was comical with how “evil” the Harkonnens are. It’s laughable. I rolled my eyes so many times at the stupid shit they did. There were some very interesting parts of it though. Duke Leto’s motivations become so much more clear and understandable in this one. Why Paul is the way he is makes more sense too. Duncan Idaho and Gurney Haleck’s friendship comes into focus. How Leto falls in love with Lady Jessica makes more sense. You learn why Raban is called “the Beast” (he strangles his father and snaps his neck) His real name is Glossu? Which is fuckin dumb. Oh, and btw when Dr. Yue diagnoses The Baron’s space AIDS you learn he is uncircumcised. So that’s… that I guess. There are a lot of really cool things that happen and a lot of really dumb things that happen in this book