Scan barcode
maggiefaerie's review
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
michaeldebonis's review
2.0
At the end of this saga I have to ask myself why. Why did I read nearly 2,000 pages of this mediocrity? I fear there is no good answer.
These books just get worse and worse.
These books just get worse and worse.
ultimatumman's review
3.0
Book was good and interesting, it just took too long to get to the the climax. The Battle of Corrin, the name of the book and final battle, didn't even start to happen until there less than 100 pages left. Things didn't develop very well throughout the book and changes happened very fast and not gradually. It was a decent finish to the trilogy. Probably would have been better if I had taken a break between The Machine Crusade and this one. That's a lot of pages to read in a row.
suzemo's review
2.0
Here, go read this review; it pretty much sums up my feelings.
According to Goodreads, I read this in 2008, and I don't remember ANY of it. And after reading/listening to it "again," I'm pretty sure I'll forget it all over again as it's one of the worst written, cliched, forgettable, and boring books I've ever made it through. I gave it two stars because I'm feeling generous, and it did finish on a "high" note - the last passage was pretty decent writing, too bad the rest of the novel didn't follow... er, precede, suit.
Everything I complained about before, the previous novels is still true in this one. And I have to believe that this is the worst of the prequel novels written by Anderson & Herbert, because I have the rest of them and I don't remember them being quite as bad.
Cardboard, and in some cases - ridiculous characters (see the linked review), lack of world building, telling, not showing, etc. I was looking forward to the set up for the Atreides/Harkonnen feud, which we got, but it required BOTH characters to, well, be completely uncharacteristic of what had been previously established. It's just weird, and felt very forced.
Anyway, if you're a completionist (me) or a glutton for punishment (also me, sometimes), go for it, if not, stay away from this book.
According to Goodreads, I read this in 2008, and I don't remember ANY of it. And after reading/listening to it "again," I'm pretty sure I'll forget it all over again as it's one of the worst written, cliched, forgettable, and boring books I've ever made it through. I gave it two stars because I'm feeling generous, and it did finish on a "high" note - the last passage was pretty decent writing, too bad the rest of the novel didn't follow... er, precede, suit.
Everything I complained about before, the previous novels is still true in this one. And I have to believe that this is the worst of the prequel novels written by Anderson & Herbert, because I have the rest of them and I don't remember them being quite as bad.
Cardboard, and in some cases - ridiculous characters (see the linked review), lack of world building, telling, not showing, etc. I was looking forward to the set up for the Atreides/Harkonnen feud, which we got, but it required BOTH characters to, well, be completely uncharacteristic of what had been previously established. It's just weird, and felt very forced.
Anyway, if you're a completionist (me) or a glutton for punishment (also me, sometimes), go for it, if not, stay away from this book.
vegetakira1234's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
bennettmorris's review
1.0
A dumb, bloated mess. Don't read the Legends of Dune series. I wish I hadn't wasted my time.
laileanah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
2023 Reread:
This wraps up the beginnings of the Dune Universe we're familiar with: Sword fighters of Ginaz, The Mentats/twisted Mentats, the Sisterhood, the Navigators, Holzman technologies, the Fremen, the Sandriders on Dune, Crysknives, the creation of House Corrino, Suk doctors, etc.
Also, the original rift between House Atreides & House Harkonnen that led to the legendary feud that dominates the novel Dune.
This is interesting if less well written than the later installments from Frank Herbert.
Original review:
A luke warm finale to a medium ok prequel trilogy.
This wraps up the beginnings of the Dune Universe we're familiar with: Sword fighters of Ginaz, The Mentats/twisted Mentats, the Sisterhood, the Navigators, Holzman technologies, the Fremen, the Sandriders on Dune, Crysknives, the creation of House Corrino, Suk doctors, etc.
Also, the original rift between House Atreides & House Harkonnen that led to the legendary feud that dominates the novel Dune.
This is interesting if less well written than the later installments from Frank Herbert.
Original review:
A luke warm finale to a medium ok prequel trilogy.
shane_tiernan's review
4.0
This is the last of a trilogy (Legends of Dune) that sets the stage for many of the key elements in the original Dune series. I read the first book (The Butlerian Jihad) in early 2005 and the second book (The Machine Crusade) in late 2006. I've also read the first two "house" prequels (House Atriedes and House Harkonnen) but I don't think that series is as good as this one.
These are huge books (actually did them all on audio about 22 CDs each) but I can honestly say that I don't remember being bored at all while reading (listening to) them. In this trilogy you get the origins of the Mentat's, Suk Doctors, Spacing Guild, Swordmasters, the Atriedes-Harkonnen blood feud and the Bene Gessert!
Many reviewers (on amazon at least) have skewered these books but really that is so predictable. If you want to read -Dune- then read -Dune-, don't pick up the author's son's attempt to recreate the magic with a chip on your shoulder ready to hate it. If you don't want to like it then you won't.
The only negative things I can say about this last book is that some of the origin stories were kind of crammed in at the end.
Also Vorien's reaction to Abelard's attempt to save the hostages at the end didn't really ring true to me. It seems like Vorien would have mellowed out after everything was over and forgiven him but they need him to hate Abelard so that they could start the Atriedes-harkonnen feud.
These are huge books (actually did them all on audio about 22 CDs each) but I can honestly say that I don't remember being bored at all while reading (listening to) them. In this trilogy you get the origins of the Mentat's, Suk Doctors, Spacing Guild, Swordmasters, the Atriedes-Harkonnen blood feud and the Bene Gessert!
Many reviewers (on amazon at least) have skewered these books but really that is so predictable. If you want to read -Dune- then read -Dune-, don't pick up the author's son's attempt to recreate the magic with a chip on your shoulder ready to hate it. If you don't want to like it then you won't.
The only negative things I can say about this last book is that some of the origin stories were kind of crammed in at the end.
Also Vorien's reaction to Abelard's attempt to save the hostages at the end didn't really ring true to me. It seems like Vorien would have mellowed out after everything was over and forgiven him but they need him to hate Abelard so that they could start the Atriedes-harkonnen feud.
ghost_mutt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
taylor_rains's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75