Rating: 
Summary: A worthy addition to the saga
Review: In this book, the authors take us back to the events that will ultimately lead to Frank Herbert's Dune. Indeed the novel seems focused on introducing and explaining all characters that will play an important role in the future. Without Paul Atreides and Arrakis, most of the original book's underlying mixture of religion, politics and sociology are lost, though the authors make a valiant attempt at preserving the original wheels-within-wheels plots that seem to involve all characters. Unfortunately it all seems straightforward. Thus, the book carries an enormous scope in characters and complexity. It's pace never quickens enough for the addictive reaction and it's ultimate conclusion is anti-climatic. Opposing Frank Herbert's genius at dropping subtle hints about the characters' machinations and goals that always left us hanging on his every word and more often than not re-reading passages to appreciate his mastery, here the characters reveal their thoughts and plots every step of the way. But it's unfair to compare it to Dune. I found the book interesting, shedding light to the politics in the Empire before Muad'Dib. It's entirely devoted towards the original Dune, though. A worthy addition to the saga but I'm afraid only fans of the original series may find it enjoyable. As I said, if you haven't read the original saga it might get slow an unappealing. After you get hooked on spice, though, you'll come around to this books searching for gems of insight.
Rating: 
Summary: If only the sequels could have been like this
Review: I've read a lot of reviews bashing this book and comparing it unfavorably to Frank Herbert's series, and I know that a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, but this book and "House Harkonnen" are superior to Frank Herbert's series. While it's true that if you buy it with the expectation that it will be another volume in the style of the Dune sequels you are in for a bit of disappointment, in my opinion this is a good thing.The original "Dune" was one of my favorite fantasy novels, but the rest of them never quite caught my imagination in the right way. Having "House Atreides" and "House Harkonnen" to compare them to, the reasons for this are abundantly clear. This is what the original series should have been, and its strengths make visible the weaknesses of Frank Herbert's writing. "House Atreides" and "House Harkonnen" are exciting. They are adventurous. They have well-rendered characters you will love and/or hate, not just feel ambivalent towards. They do not shroud themselves in mysteries and attempt to make you feel the Soul-Crushing Weight of Destiny. They do what the original series never did: give you the background, the excitement and the character development that help you to really appreciate the story. If you want more of the philosophical rambling of a later Frank Herbert book, characters as bland as Emperor Paul in "Dune Messiah" or as unlikeable as Leto II, or a self-referential story arc with no identifiable value, do not read this. But if you want what the original "Dune" almost had and the sequels didn't, this is worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: The son does credit to the father and then some!
Review: If I could double the stars I would. Read it - read them all and I have them all, father and son. This second generation prequel is amazing. Genuinely so. I thought Frank Herbert was inimicable but Brian the son (with associate)has proven to have inherited his fathers writing genes. I can't wait for House Corrino to land on the shelves. This review refers to both House Atreides and Harkonnen. My opinion of them both, as of all the series, is the same. Eternal. 20th century Classics.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Eventful Prequel
Review: A very interesting and fair attempt at extending the Dune series. The idea to start with a prequel is a great idea because it provides us with the elements that we could only guess in the first novel by Frank Herbert. The fact that the prequel is supervised and partly written by Brian Herbert, Frank's son, is a guarantee that it is fairly faithful to the originals. We thus discover why the Baron is inflated and sick. We thus discover details about Rabban's personality (if we can call this a personality) and his family background. We also get data about the Emperor and his Bene Gesserit wife. We also get data about the Atreides family : the death of Paulus, the beginnings of Leto I, his personality, his friends. We also understand the ups and downs of Ix and the Vernius family. In short it gives us the background of the first novel, and this is a good thing. But such an attempt has a drawback. The style of the two writers (Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson) has little to do with Frank Herbert's. It is entertaining, informative, rich, packed with dense action, but the main characteristic of Frank Herbert's novels is missing : there is little introspective explanations. The characters get their psychology from their actions, whereas with the father they got their psychology from their constant introspection and teaching, first : action was only quite vague as for the psychology and motivations. Those who are on the verge of a caricature are the Bene Gesserit, the witches. Their motivations are hardly explained, except in breeding programs (with no details) and their direct active meddling with the current course of events. We do not get any perspective in their long term objectives and in their motivations, let alone their constant use of Other Memory and their constant questioning of any decision anyone of them is taking within their fields. Thus, the characters seem to be in their infancy. We have the impression we are in some kind of limbos from which great depth will eventually, later come out. But it is a page-turner indeed. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU
Rating:
Summary: mrcalm
Review: The book was a good introduction to the Dune series. Explanations for characters that Frank Herbet couldn't provide adequately in Dune were given. I enjoyed reading about Barron Harkonnen's demise while sexually assaulting his Bene Gesserite breeding partner. The Ix story was good but one of the characters was left stranded, we are to assume that the evil Bene Txeileau did away with him. The Fenrig and Shaddam story provided some useful insite into the story that was never fully pursued by Herbert's father in the original. Overall I liked the story but felt the ending was a tad weak. I look forward to reading the next book in the prequel series. - Mr. Calm
Rating:
Summary: yeah, it's not the original DUNE, but, hey....
Review: I have read many reviews of "Dune:House Atreides" and every single one goes on to compare it to the magnificence of the original series. Nothing will ever come close to the engrossing, complex, and wonderful worlds that Frank Herbert brought to us (unless the Tleilaxu have secretly made of ghola of the man himself). But I think in all fairness that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have made one hell of a go at it. The plot is rich with so many colorful layers and the daunting history of the DUNE universe. The charaters seem real and the familiar ones stand up to what they are to become later in the DUNE timeline. Yes, any diehard fan knows exactly what's coming, but going back to the pre-Mau'Dib era and seeing the events that led up to the original series is like looking back at an old family photo album with fond nostalgia. Also I think these two fine authors need this prequel trilogy to get their proverbial feet wet to get themselves and readers re-familiar with the DUNE universe so they can adequately take on the emense task of taking up where "Chapterhouse:Dune" left us hanging. "Dune:House Atreides" kept me reading and interested, made me feel and think. It felt like coming home to the DUNE universe that I and so many others have come to love. Not perfect, not Frank Herbert, but still worthy of a Freman's loyalty.
Rating:
Summary: Just doesn't have the atmosphere.....
Review: Apparently, Brian chose Kevin J. Anderson to do the Dune Prequel because he did good Star Wars stuff - he seemed very capable at writing stories set in someone else's universe. Unfortunately, the majesty of Dune is not something that others can easily adopt as their own. Frank Herbert focussed on ideas rather than narrative, whereas the prequels seem to do the opposite. Very well written, 'House Atreides' seem to lack a certain epic 'WOW!' that made Dune popular not only in its own time, but a worthy entrant into the history books as a literary classic. Beginners won't understand the references to CHOAM, the guild and the Landsraad, or spice and Arakkis, or the various schools and houses (Ix, Bene Tleilaxu, Bene Gesserit, the Swordmasters, Mentats, etc). Old-hat fans, on the other-hand will be invariably disappointed by the lack of development in such controversial areas as AI and genetic engineering. If you want to get up-to-date on Dune history, great, but don't expect it to be as dark, intelligent and compelling as the originals would suggest.
Rating:
Summary: Decent read but doesn't even compare to the original
Review: It's been a while since I last read the original series, so I was reading the prequel almost as a novel by itself. I admit I did not catch most of the glaring mistakes that other people identified. On its own merits, it's a decent read. Neither of the writers obviously have the talent of Frank Herbert, but I was actually pretty engrossed for about 80% of the book. After that, it sort of disintegrated. The ending was extremely weak and some characters had sudden reversals that were just not believable (Shaddam vs. Fenring, for example). I would say read this book if you are a fan of the series, but keep your expectations low.
Rating:
Summary: Pale comparing prequil
Review: Dune: House Atreides was on it's own a fine book..hence the 3 star rating. However, when compared to the original Dune novels by Frank Herbert, it pales vastly in comparison. The book is filled with inconsistencies with the first Dune novel. On a positive note, what this book does give us, is a refreshing new look at characters that were cursorily touched on in the first Dune novel. We have Leto Atreides thrust into becoming Duke Atreides at the same age as young Paul in the original Dune novel..we learn how Emperor Shaddam ascends to the throne, we learn the initial importance of Arrakis, and of Kynes. However, negatively...we have two authors searching out reasons to explain changes they're making to the story, by finding a spot where there can be some consistency with the much earlier written later novels. If you want to read this for the sake of reviewing some background information in the Dune universe while suspending some motions of belief, then this book will be fine for you. If you are a general sci-fi fan, this book will be fine for you. If you are a Dune purist, however....I believe you will highly dislike this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: They said dissapointment was a part of growing up =(
Review: I'm 17 years old and Dune was the first sci-fi novel that I ever read. Upon hearing of a prequel in development, I began to eagerly await discovering what fresh ideas that Frank Herbert had set aside in his manuscripts before his death. But, unfortunately it seems if there was any new Herbert available his son and Anderson discarded it light of a weak rehash covering(and effectively destroying) already familiar plot points and characters. If I took the time to list the various points in the novel where accuracy took a backseat to brevity and lay understanding I would have filled this limited space 10 times over. I think the main quality of this novel is that it can be used by people with very little imagination as a primer for the series. A kind of paint by number Mona Lisa. If you are a fan of the Dune series and have not read this book yet, I would read the second page of the novel before making your decision. I was so appalled that it took a great deal of mental and phsyical effort to turn to the next page(with my greatest motivation being the ... I shelled out for the hardback.) After all the spice must flow! (omg.)
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