Rating: 
Summary: Dune: The Story Continues...
Review: As an avid reader of "serious" science fiction, I have long been enchanted with the believable worlds created by Frank Herbert, and as a psychologist and student of human nature (also with interests in the natural sciences and man's interaction with his environment hence the "other" attraction to the series)I am particularly drawn to the meta-levels of interaction and dialogue found in "Dune", which reveal Herbert's view of the potential of man's interaction with his Self, and whatever-it-is that is Out There (that in the end, we may create ourselves-FaceDancers with multiple personalities indeed!)Each return to the books reveals yet another layer of the onion, if the reader adopts the same spirit of self-inquiry as the main characters. "Internalised meta-commenting" in fact is one of the more compelling features of the story, where characters continue an internal dialogue with themselves on different levels according to their "mentat" understanding, while being involved in external dialogue with various others. The Bene Gesserit witches are mistresses at this, while Mentats use another technique to bridge Truth...the former partly through self-induced drug use to enhance consciousness and rigorous physical and mental disciplines; the latter through neural conditioning, genetic modification and rigorous training. *Herbert has prescience! *The books written by the son however, came some time later, after the final publication of the series and death of the author, and I must ask the question "Was he found wanting?" (Lacking his father's giant intellect, vision and mental maturity)-Else why would the father have not immediately passed on all manuscripts to him to continue the saga? Why is it that the manuscripts were (supposedly) finally located in some distant safety deposit box many, many months after? Why all the pre-release PR ballyhoo about the interpretation of the father's intentions to continue the saga? Was the father deliberately testing his son with a quest of deduction and detection to prove himself worthy? *I wonder...SO.. When I read the books written by the son (two to date), my conclusion is that he is definitely a lightweight, and the books lack any real spark of imagination compared to the originals (so what manuscripts were available must have been scanty indeed, but traces of Herbert shine through). There is in fact, no comparison, but as they ARE a continuation of the greatest science fiction saga ever written (next to "Lord of the Rings" in the Science Fantasy category) I would still recommend them to any fan of the original series, BUT they have become little more than adventure stories (and slow moving at that) with virtually no psychologically devious meta-level thinking or juicy conversations that characterised the original series-even the characters lack depth. Many questions remain unanswered; many issues remain unresolved. Perhaps the son and his ghost writer will address these problems in future books.
Rating: 
Summary: A good read, but the devil's in the details....
Review: This book is a pretty good read. Unlike the original Dune series, it is not a great book, and anyone who anticipates such will be disappointed. Still, I was happy to read more of the exploits of Leto, the Atreides family, and their allies and enemies. Some of the new characters were excellent additions. I was jarred, though, by a few obvious errors. For example, after the Tleilaxu take-over of Ix, we actually get to see the Axlotl tanks. However, as we learned in the later Dune books, there are no "tanks" but instead the gholas are birthed by the Tleilaxu females. So when the tanks actually showed up as physical tanks, and when the Tleilaxu were actually doing scientific research with them, I was disappointed. It doesn't seem to be such a big thing to try to ensure consistency of such a key point of the entire series. Still, the overall reading was fine, and the story was interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Only slightly better than the book that follows
Review: Reviewer: Chuck Spicer from Champaign, IL USA Brian distorts the Dune serious making unbelievable leaps and writing things that any Dune fan know just couldn't be or clash with Frank's vision. The characters are one dimensional and the story line is preposterous. It's as badly written as star trek books. This book might be entertaining to those looking for a fun read but anybody who holds Dune true and dear to their hearts will dislike this. This was obviously a tool to fatten his pockets. He should have listened to his father when he wrote "YOu don't write for success." Let Brian have his fun with the prequels but let us all hope he doesn't truely desicrate Dune by attempting Dune 7.
Rating:
Summary: A pretty good beginning
Review: I was skeptical about reading this one due to the number of negative reviews I saw. I am pleased to say I disagree with them. Once I started, I never put this book down throughout an entire weekend. Any book that causes you to stay up late reading it is fine by me. Is it as good as Dune? No. How many books out there are? There are a number of cool refrences to future events, and the development of several familiar faces was done superbly. Count Fenring is my new favorite character: mean, methodical, and no one in his or her right mind will mess with him. Unfortunately, you almost need to read Dune first, or the refrences in this one will not make sense. Either way, its definatly worth the time to check this one out. I only give 4 stars because I feel people give out far too many 5's (and 1's for that matter, nothing in between).
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful continuation
Review: This book is wonderful. After I read Dune, I had wondered how some things came to be. This book, explained it all to me. I recomend it to all Dune lovers. Frank Herbert's original style cannot be found in it, but that is expected. If you love Dune, read this book!! I cannot wait for Dune: House Harkkonen and Dune: House Corrino to be published (I prefer the paperback versions of books). This is a wonderful prequel and deserves attention.
Rating:
Summary: This is a Good Book, despite some people's low ratings
Review: I look at some of the other people's reviews of this book and they are embarrasing. Most of the people reading this book seem to be trying so hard to not like this book that they forget that it was made to be enjoyed. Many of the descriptions say how this book is "not as good as the original." Frankly, if all you do is compare books to the original Dune, then you might as well give a one to everything.When I read this book I was blown away. Brian Herbert managed to take a piece of history that was already spoken of in the original and weave it into a masterpiece. I found myself unable to stop reading this book until it was over. Even then you wish you could read more. I have not yet read the sequel, but I have been wanting to ever since I first read this. Another point to note is that it is a very different writing style than the original. It is much more straight-forward and replaces the "baroque mystique" with a more modern attitude. It is very well written and can be read by both educated and common people easily. I finished the six hundred and fifty pages in less than a week. The only way someone can insult this book is if they attempt to compare it with the original Dune, a book which has not yet been equaled.
Rating:
Summary: An Introduction to Dune
Review: This is a prequel written by Frank Herbert's son, Brian and Kevin Anderson. It takes place during the Old Duke's (Leto) coming of age and tells us about the Atreides, the Harkonnens, the Ix and a little more about the Navigation Guild. This novel is a good telling of the history surrounding Dune. It is more accessible and, thus, less intimating than the Dune series. It seems that it would be a good introduction to Dune, but it is not quite up to the master. I will be reading House Harkonnen and House Corrino.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad at all; Dune with IQ out, flash in
Review: I am not a Kevin J. Anderson fan by any stretch of the imagination (he's poisen to Star Wars, I tells ya) and I am a fan of the original Dune series (although not as hardcore as most). And with these two concepts colliding as I read "House Atreides", a shocking fact unfolded like Paul's visions in the original book... I actually liked it. I'm not one to tally up every detail in the original Herbert series, so theres no way possible I could criticize it for missing details. All I can say it was a good read. Unlike Frank Herbert, whose writing was intelligent and made you think, Anderson prefers rather to show everything, leaving nothing to the imagination. Every scene, action and battle is told in Anderson's quaint style. And I found nothing wrong with it. It was fun to get a look at the major characters seen a few decades before the original novel. Just the same, I still prefer to view this work as a 'what if' type of Dune story, a glamourised look at the characters and locations Herbert created. Rather than an accurate prequal, I see 'House: Atreides' as an embellished history. But a fun sci-fi romp all the same.
Rating:
Summary: Surfing on the Dunes
Review: I really enjoyed House Atreides -- more than Chapterhouse Dune -- so I don't think the series will suffer in these hands. I did have one problem with the book: the Harkonnen no-field ship attack reeked of Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country. Not to mention that due to the length of time for a fold space trip (supposedly instantly) there wouldn't have been time for the string of events that occured to happen. Other events were predictable, but that didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: a pretty good read
Review: I enjoyed this book overall. I don't think it was as good as the original Dune. The writing was weak in places. Also it was too violent for my taste. But overall it gave interesting background to the Dune universe, and was original enough to keep my interest. If you like the other Dune books, this is worth a try.
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