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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
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:
Complicated
One of the darkest Dune stories so far, this is a stark contrast against the more hopeful atmosphere of House Atreides. The Harkonnens' descent into deeper tyranny as the story progresses is a morbidly fascinating backstory behind the Atreides vs Harkonnen feud in the original novel, which I would love to reread knowing more about the conflict (especially Gurney Halleck's arc and his chemistry with Paul Atreides/Paul Muad'Dib). Not to mention characters I previously didn't care much about, like Dr. Yueh and Pieter de Vries, are much more fleshed out here.
There are times where it feels like a horror novel, more akin to Shaun Hutson than Frank Herbert, but it's these varied tones and styles that keep drawing me deeper into the expanded Duniverse. I like that the authors are trying something a little different with each entry, rather than more of the same.
Needless to say I'm looking forward to House Corrino.
There are times where it feels like a horror novel, more akin to Shaun Hutson than Frank Herbert, but it's these varied tones and styles that keep drawing me deeper into the expanded Duniverse. I like that the authors are trying something a little different with each entry, rather than more of the same.
Needless to say I'm looking forward to House Corrino.
These prequels are readable and scratch the itch for a casual dune fan. They lack the portentous prose of a Frank Herbert novel and the focussed plotting instead going for a miniseries style where the reader dips into the early lives of familiar characters. There are surprises and clever twists all to distract from the fact that we know where all this is going and that is welcome. A couple of subplots particularly with Hallick and the Baron’s benevolent brother which drew me in mostly because they’re likeable characters facing up against difficult challenges and making interesting choices. The universe of dune is a ruthless one and therefore it’s not a series for everyone but I feel quite satisfied with this particular trilogy because the story of feuding demagogs with he power of minor deities recalls classic Hollywood epics, real world history and the most memorable sci fi and fantasy series. I think the writers lean a bit heavily on fridging as a plot device which means you could sometimes have skipped the book and just assumed correctly why josh brolin was so angry in that movie but the female characters for the most part have agency and are as important in moving the political landscape forward in the Duniverse. Good airport reads/listens and indeed I got through big chunks of the first two volumes of the prelude to Dune trilogy in Hamburg airport. Somewhat guilty to admit I found them more engaging than the main series.
This is the middle book. If you read the first book, and you want to read the last book, you have to go through this book.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I looooved this! Really getting into the lore of Dune now, makes me want to start all over again!
The narrator isn't half bad but the redundancy of the book almost drove me nuts. I could have used a whole lot less of the repeated explanation details like a couple of chapters less. Other then that its not bad just not quite up to the level of Frank Herberts Dune book I'm afraid but still worth listening to while I crochet
This book was filled with action that keeps the plot moving forward. Rarely is there a dull moment. And yet I still found myself less eager to pick it up the further through the book I got. Gone is any illusion of morally grey characters. In this prequel the bad characters are very bad. There's a particular character who commits horrific acts just because he can on whatever whim he's following and this just started to grate on me. There comes a point where the shock value wears off because you come to expect it from them and it leans more towards the 'there he goes again' feeling.
There continues to be some really good world building in this book. I enjoyed seeing more of the process that creates the guild navigators. You can start to see how it is all coming together and getting the characters in place ready to reach the point where the main Dune series starts. The exploration of the Bene Gesserit breeding programme was well done and very interesting. It feels like it links well with Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse with the more in depth look at the Bene Gesserit.
There were a couple of places where the writing quality slips. There is a character or two that they needed to get rid of before the events of Dune, but it felt like they didn't really know how to do that well, so just got rid of them.
I really enjoyed the parts following Duncan's training to be a swordmaster. They were some of my favourite parts of the book. It is great to see his character develop into the man that is so important later on.
Leto's story was also really interesting; they masterfully wove in a way to get Jessica there and get her to give Leto a son, which shows Paul's origins. I really like Leto's character, so this part of the book had some of the most emotionally striking scenes. Gurney's story was the most surprising as it was absolutely brutal. It was quite well done, but I just don't like his character much.
Overall this was an enjoyable read that makes me want to pick up the next book, but I do hope that the story picks back up again.
There continues to be some really good world building in this book. I enjoyed seeing more of the process that creates the guild navigators. You can start to see how it is all coming together and getting the characters in place ready to reach the point where the main Dune series starts. The exploration of the Bene Gesserit breeding programme was well done and very interesting. It feels like it links well with Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse with the more in depth look at the Bene Gesserit.
There were a couple of places where the writing quality slips. There is a character or two that they needed to get rid of before the events of Dune, but it felt like they didn't really know how to do that well, so just got rid of them.
I really enjoyed the parts following Duncan's training to be a swordmaster. They were some of my favourite parts of the book. It is great to see his character develop into the man that is so important later on.
Leto's story was also really interesting; they masterfully wove in a way to get Jessica there and get her to give Leto a son, which shows Paul's origins. I really like Leto's character, so this part of the book had some of the most emotionally striking scenes. Gurney's story was the most surprising as it was absolutely brutal. It was quite well done, but I just don't like his character much.
Overall this was an enjoyable read that makes me want to pick up the next book, but I do hope that the story picks back up again.
The story is intricate and fascinating....but I find some of the narrative is lacking is style. I have yet to read the original Dune (I'm trying to go in chronological order) and I've heard that Brian Herbet's work is far inferior to his father's. While it's generally not poor writing, and the story is well portrayed and the flow is good, there are times when I feel things could be more descriptive, or better phrased. Additionally, the characters, while all having an important place in the story, sometimes seem to not have much depth to them, or rather sometimes feel like they aren't evolving, and it's hard to enjoy the story when the characters appear underdeveloped. Other than that, though I enjoyed it!