These get quite gruesome and genuinely harrowing at times, yet I find them really comforting too!! I enjoyed this just as much as House Atreides and I'm moving on to House Corrino straight away.
adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

2023 Reread:
 This is a solid book. Not great. I dislike that the secret of the Tanks is revealed, but otherwise, this doesn't too far stray from the original Dune cannon. 
 I find many story elements to be underwhelmingly written. I HATE the narrative regarding the conception of Lady Jessica. I was hoping for a more complex scheme from The Sisterhood. 
 I was equally disappointed with the way Leto & Jessica's 'love' story is treated. Why Jessica betrayed The Sisterhood is a major plot point of the original novels, and this is just like the Great Value version of what I was expecting. 
 I don't buy their love story. It doesn't make sense that Jessica would defy her training in that short an amount of time for really nothing. They don't seem very attached. Leto isn't charming and the scheme to get her into the house is a stretch and silly. If The Bene Gesserit were this clumsy I don't think they'd have the power they have. 
In all fairness Jessica having a boy when she was supposed to have a girl AND the Sisterhood not bothering to call her in. Much less bother to check out her kid for the first 15 yrs of his life are a weak plot point in the original Dune novels to begin with. Still, this prequel enhances this plot failure rather than corrects it. 
Count Fenrig is disappointingly written, he's a complex character but he's the equivalent of the twisted Mentat, Piter who is also simplified in these prequel novels.
 It's definitely the Great Value version of 80's style mustachioed villains evilly twisting their mustache while scheming. 
It's a meal but the original Dune novels are an expensive satisfying meal at an expensive trendy restaurant and these novels are White Castle burgers, running you directly to the toilet in gastric distress.
 🤷🏾‍♀️
 
Original Review:
 My favorite book in this trilogy. 

I liked this book A LOT better than House Atreides. Events slowly start to pick up and (thankfully) many years pass in this book, unlike the first book which only had a few years pass. Sure, I had my problems with it but it still kept me interested to see the characters grow up and finally mature. I really enjoyed Liet's tale on Dune. Although, it was obvious from the first description, who Chani's mother would be with the repeated usage of "elfin" annoyed me.



The only perspective lacking was there wasn't enough of the Corrinos in this one, there were a few but I was hoping to get more of Shaddam's ploting and personal character. And finally Jessica arrives! I was happy to have her finally have her in House Atreides. This book isn't Dune, but it is a nice companion piece if you are a fan and enjoy the many cast of characters.




This almost spoiled my love of the Dune series, not quite but almost. They have almost made me wary of non-canon books in general.

They didn't feel like Dune books, the majesty just wasn't there
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
adventurous dark tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes

I love the Dune universe and I am very happy for the work that Anderson and Herbert have put in to finishing the original series and adding to it. I think they’ve really managed to keep to the spirit of Frank Herbert’s original work, though their style differs somewhat. This entry is no exception. I’d rather have it than not have it.

That said, I don’t understand why every entry in an epic has to get as close to 1,000 pages as possible. This book could easily have been 300 pages shorter. The quality of epic-ness resides in the scope, grandeur, and themes of a tale. Not in the number of pages. A 433 pages book would have still been epic.

So much better than the first one, it’s really captivating.
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes