Dune: House Atreides: House Trilogy, Book 1

First, I should say that I’m not a sci-fi reader: it’s just doesn’t feed me the way well written, emotionally charged fiction can. Frank Herbert’s Dune series, however, is exceptional in that regard and I’ve been rereading those books again and again over the years. I like the story line well enough in House Atreides, but it’s written by sci-fi writers, not great fiction writers. Their characters never speak in the first person, there’s no interior monologue, and as a result I didn’t really care that much about them. There’s no comparison with the way Frank depicts the overarching sorrow within Leto II as his transformation steals more and more of his humanity, as an example, with anything that happens in the current volume. What made Dune so exceptional were the deep observations and questions about what it means to have faith, how do we best express our truest humanity, and ultimately, how do we choose love over everything else that tries to seduce us. This book isn’t even in the same genre.

Satisfactorily authentic. Except for the focus on Duncan Idaho from the beginning, this felt more like a prequel to Dune than a prequel to all six Dune novels, which was fine for me because I remember Dune a lot better than the books that followed.While the writers were playing in Frank Herbert’s sandbox, they are playing almost entirely with his toys without bringing many new toys of their own, so this lacks the outflow of rich invention that is part of what makes Dune such a mind blowing experience. This is not the case with the story, though. There aren’t many new inventions, but the story is intriguing and compelling.I guess you could say Frank Herbert invented the car and drove it well. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson don’t put anything new under the hood, but they do drive it really well.Finally, I liked the way that the writers put little summaries of the story inside the story. For some people this may be repetitive or seem like dumbing it down, but for me it was welcome. I didn’t have too much trouble following the Dune books when I read them as a younger man, but I am now a lot busier, and appreciate these little moments where something like, “Leto considered the events that had brought him here. He wondered why X had happened, and when that had led to Y, he regretted having to do Z which had led him inexorably to this point.” Sure, it feels a little contrived, but these guideposts let me get right back into the story after a hard week and I appreciate it.

I had a blast reading this book.PROs- Great way to get a richer history of Dune (Houses, schools, the empire as a whole)- Very nice development of Leto Atreides as a main character- Some really cool new characters and development of other well known ones- Fremen in particular you get a lot of detail of them as a people.- Overall good writing with some scenes just top notch (check CONs)CONs- Not Frank Herbert, you can tell that right away- No inner dialogue, no plans within plans :(- Characters most of the time unidimensional- Some really bad scenes where resolution feels frantic, pushed, not elaborated.I just got House Harkonnen hoping for more details of the Dune universe.Get the book, you won't regret itENJOY

I love science fiction, and I read the entire Dune series by Frank Herbert many years ago. When his son started writing the newer books to fill in his father's gaps, I jumped into them and I have devoured each new chapter as soon as it became available.This book tells the story of Duke Leto Atreides and is the first of the new series. The events happen a generation before the original Dune book and together with the other two (House Harkonnen and House Corrino) they give a great introduction to the original books, providing much better background to everything that follows.

Frank Herbert's Dune series was noted for starting off with an incomparable first book and rapidly going downhill. While Dune: House Atreides isn't as good as the original Dune, it is much better than all but the first two books, lacking the crazy departures and tangential plots of the later books of the original Dune series.We get to meet Duke Leto as a young man, before he becomes Duke Leto, Count Fenring and Emperor Shaddam before he becomes Emperor Shaddam, and Barron Harkonnen as a young, strong, but still very twisted specimen. We also see Duncan Idaho as a boy, who becomes perhaps the only character in science fiction to travel to another planet looking for someone and not arrive on their doorstep as if the planet's surface area covers only a couple of square miles. He actually has to travel to the other side of Caladan to meet the Old Duke, and isn't just dropped into his lap once he gets off the ship. That by itself is mildly notable.In short, the entire book is filled with rich descriptions of the Dune universe, as well as storylines that compliment and help complete the original.

I’m still rather suspended in shock and amazement for the breadth, depth and majesty of this accomplishment. The mastery with which this story was created and written is quite humbling, while gripping me in the wonder of the storytelling, and how it wraps around the complex worlds and sheer genius of the Dune saga. Now I both have to continue these massive and compelling Dune prequels, as well as go back and read Dune and all of the other books in the series, again, after so many years. Joy!! What many hours to look forward to, immersed in these fascinating worlds! This is really solid, good reading. Take a dive! You will not be sorry.

What can I say. Im a Dune fan and I collect all the books. They are worth a read. Really good stories. Reading all the books in order of time line is a must. I love the new as well as the old.

read

A brilliant addition to the Dune series. A worthy successor to Dune and Dune Messiah which knocks spots off Chapter House and Heretics. Reads like Frank Herbert before he got caught by his own verbosity. A big well done to Kevin and Brian and thank you from the bottom of my heart for not writing the sequel(s) to Chapter/Hertics. Let the story hang poised for ever on the verge of another monumental trilogy.

well worth the read

I had lost hope a long time ago with the Dune series. The first 3 original books were amazing then they lost track and wallowed around. This Dune: House Atreides book has re-imagined things amazingly well. I am not sure where the shift occured but my hunch is that Kevin J.Anderson's influence on Brian Herbert has clearly made a big difference.