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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed Duncan Idaho's backstory and it was fun seeing the lesser explored planet of Ix, however the bulk of the narrative is more a case of watching the dominos being set up rather than watching them fall.
I raced through this. I like Duncan Idaho and he has a big subplot in this volume of dune prequel. I like imagining young Jason momoa standing up to the man. You go Jase.
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My main issue with this book is that every character feels like they are playing out their archetypes and never stray from them. The characters needed more depth.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
The audio recording was pretty screwed in places and the beginning of the book was so overloaded in detail that I almost ditched it but after the 10th chapter I was starting to get hooked. It was a good book overall but the first part almost killed me with boring detail which I think could have been better done. Other then that the narrator was good and projected his voice well which helped to keep me slogging through the worst of it and the bad spots of strangeness that resulted from screw ups in the recording. It definitely helped to understand the first book of dune I had listened to a while back and I actually almost wish I would have gotten my hands on this one first even though I'm not sure I would have survived the massive detailed part.
Work got in the way. Was returned to library
I absolutely loved the original Dune series by Frank Herbert, but was unsure how I felt about picking up any of the expanded universe books by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. I'm often wary about series that have been continued by other people following the author's death. In the end I decided to give them a shot, after all I love this universe so much and wanted to spend more time here. I started with this one purely because it was what my library had available.
It is clear from the outset that this book is written by different authors to the original series. The writing style is completely different. Gone is the deep philosophical writing that makes up most of Frank Herbert's style. This book is much more plot and action based. But you can clearly see the amount of time and research they have put in to recreating this universe as Frank designed it.
Reading this book was a different experience to reading the original series, but it wasn't any worse for it. I really enjoyed the story and, as someone who loves a backstory, it was really fun to see the younger years of a lot of characters that you recognise from Dune. In particular it was great to see Idaho as a child (for the first time) and how he came to work for the Atreides. I also liked seeing Leto and Duke Harkonnen and even Kynes story was interesting.
The world building has been expanded in a way that feels like a natural extension to what was already established. Similarly the characters are well developed, both those that already existed and the new ones.
I'm interested to see where this story is going, even though ultimately it will end up in the position where Dune begins, and so am excited for the next book.
It is clear from the outset that this book is written by different authors to the original series. The writing style is completely different. Gone is the deep philosophical writing that makes up most of Frank Herbert's style. This book is much more plot and action based. But you can clearly see the amount of time and research they have put in to recreating this universe as Frank designed it.
Reading this book was a different experience to reading the original series, but it wasn't any worse for it. I really enjoyed the story and, as someone who loves a backstory, it was really fun to see the younger years of a lot of characters that you recognise from Dune. In particular it was great to see Idaho as a child (for the first time) and how he came to work for the Atreides. I also liked seeing Leto and Duke Harkonnen and even Kynes story was interesting.
The world building has been expanded in a way that feels like a natural extension to what was already established. Similarly the characters are well developed, both those that already existed and the new ones.
I'm interested to see where this story is going, even though ultimately it will end up in the position where Dune begins, and so am excited for the next book.
This book was GREAT. I will say, one thing I have emphasized about this book when explaining it to friends is that it is a lot less dense than [b:Dune|44767458|Dune|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555447414l/44767458._SY75_.jpg|3634639]. Dune had a lot of world-building to get through, and lots of philosophy, politics, and religion to explain. This book had a lot more adventure, character development, and tricks and schemes, but added more planets and families into the mix to flesh out the world a bit more.
The Bene Gesserit scheme to produce a child with the Baron Harkonnen, who is a young, vain, hot stud(this took me a while to imagine, especially after having seen both the 2021 and David Lynch version of Dune LOL). This book describes the beginnings of how his body starts to fall apart. The takeover of Crown Prince Shaddam as the Emperor is explained in full. Leto is a young teenager, sent to Ix for his training. His father, Duke Paulus, shows off his bull-fighting matador prowess. Duncan Idaho is a young boy stuck on Geidi Prime, trying to escape Raban and his goons who hunt him down for sport. Pardot Kynes, the imperial planetologist, becomes one with the Freman.
With such a huge cast, it is a little bit hard to keep up with all the characters and their motivations. This book is pretty long also due to the fact that Herbert does remind readers of the characters and where we left off in the storyline. I did greatly appreciate this aspect, as it made it much easier to follow along.
The story I was least interested in was the story of the Ixian twins who both aspire to be navigators. However, the rest of the story lines kept my attention and the whole book really did feel like it took place in the Dune-iverse, despite being written by Frank Herbert's son. This prequel is written by [a:Frank Herbert|58|Frank Herbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591018335p2/58.jpg]'s son, and I did listen to the acknowledgements that explained the context how he took over. If anything it is easier to digest than the original first book and more action-packed and character-driven.
The Bene Gesserit scheme to produce a child with the Baron Harkonnen, who is a young, vain, hot stud(this took me a while to imagine, especially after having seen both the 2021 and David Lynch version of Dune LOL). This book describes the beginnings of how his body starts to fall apart. The takeover of Crown Prince Shaddam as the Emperor is explained in full. Leto is a young teenager, sent to Ix for his training. His father, Duke Paulus, shows off his bull-fighting matador prowess. Duncan Idaho is a young boy stuck on Geidi Prime, trying to escape Raban and his goons who hunt him down for sport. Pardot Kynes, the imperial planetologist, becomes one with the Freman.
With such a huge cast, it is a little bit hard to keep up with all the characters and their motivations. This book is pretty long also due to the fact that Herbert does remind readers of the characters and where we left off in the storyline. I did greatly appreciate this aspect, as it made it much easier to follow along.
The story I was least interested in was the story of the Ixian twins who both aspire to be navigators. However, the rest of the story lines kept my attention and the whole book really did feel like it took place in the Dune-iverse, despite being written by Frank Herbert's son. This prequel is written by [a:Frank Herbert|58|Frank Herbert|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591018335p2/58.jpg]'s son, and I did listen to the acknowledgements that explained the context how he took over. If anything it is easier to digest than the original first book and more action-packed and character-driven.
First prequal to the amazing Dune series, developed with love and care, creativity, but also respect. Perfectly aligned and true to the messages, atmospheres and revelations Frank Herbert vehicled through his own tomes.
If I disliked anything, it was the ease I had in reading Brian Herbert's particular style. It is inviting, making the characters easily relocatable, but I had grown accustomed to the heavy, dream-like narration of Frank Herbert in regards to Dune and it's universe. This incarnation of the dune characters and storyline lacks the "soul" behind Frank Herbert's narration; the feeling that the answer to all questions, all philosophical problems, lays between the lines, just out of reach, but it's presence nevertheless glowing.
If I disliked anything, it was the ease I had in reading Brian Herbert's particular style. It is inviting, making the characters easily relocatable, but I had grown accustomed to the heavy, dream-like narration of Frank Herbert in regards to Dune and it's universe. This incarnation of the dune characters and storyline lacks the "soul" behind Frank Herbert's narration; the feeling that the answer to all questions, all philosophical problems, lays between the lines, just out of reach, but it's presence nevertheless glowing.