Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: An excellent prelude to the Dune series!! A great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Eyecandy and food for throught
Review: I was quite impressed with this book. It does a wonderful job of exploring the pre-Muad'Dib Duniverse that Herbert only hinted at in the first two books. I think the best scene that illustrates this is Emperor Elrood consulting with the two mentat lawyers.I loved the characterization, and, to be honest, I find that Leto I to be a far more interesting character than his son Paul was. Leto's confidence, sense of duty, compassion, all resonated with me. He is as interesting as Miles Tegg, one of the few male characters that has a soul and a superabundance of guts. The plots and sub-plots worked. You get a feel mor the intricate future milieu that in some ways exceed that of Tolkien's world. You get the feel that everyone and everything has an agenda. And Brian Herbert's writing style is better than his fathers. His syntax and voice are easier on the eye. Reading this book was like floating on a stream. As to the discontinuities, I saw them. It seems like Herbert and Anderson were recasting the book in the light of the 1984 Lynch movie. Since Frank Herbert was involved with this movie, I accept these revision as being canonical. Plus it makes "the movie in your mind" as you read more vibrant.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Original
Review: I love this book...and yes I am a Star Trek fan...There is nothing wrong with that...as some reviewers might say. The language is modern and easy to follow. It fills many many holes left open by the original series. It makes me appreciate Dune universe even more. Only Hyperion series kept me more on the edge. Thanks to Herbert family for your efforts past and present.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent homage to the Dune of Old
Review: It is a very good tale by its own right, but it pales in comparison to the original Dune. It is definitely worth purchasing, but should be considered secondary to the original series as Frank Herbert had intended it to be.
Rating:
Summary: very enjoyable read for a dune fan
Review: Wow, some of these reviews are brutal! These prequels are actually fascinating, at least for the historical perspectives of the Dune universe. My background: I first read Dune in the mid-70's, and loved it - afterwards picking up the hardcovers as they came out. I've read the initial trilogy several times. We all agree obviously, Frank Herbert was an amazing writer. The writing level here is very different, and you just need to get over it if you have issues. I will probably re-read the original series again when I'm done, but will now know more of the whys and wherefores which will give it so much more perspective. I am grateful for these 2 to have taken the time to create these stories which use facts/ideas from Frank Herbert's original notes. And I look forward to them finishing the original story with the followup to Chapterhouse Dune which I never thought would happen. I admit: the writing is 3-star but the effort is 5-star. Summary: if you really enjoyed the Dune universe, you will find these prequels very interesting. I agree with others that a better writer could have been found, but this is the way it is and I am happy to have read this and the others. I wonder if the nitpickers truly understand Frank Herbert's premise throughout his many books: being human is all about making mistakes and being unpredictable, and that's what makes life interesting - not demanding perfection or wanting nothing to be change.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad as other says....
Review: After reading many of the reviews, I was bit dismay to figured out that many of these people wanted the authors of this book to basically mimic Frank Herbert. Well, much to dismay of these readers, Frank Herbert been long dead and he should not be mimic by his son. After reading this book, I began to enjoyed the story, the fast pace style and exciting set of characters. I wasn't concern if the trivial storyline don't jive with the original storyline written by Frank Herbert as long as the basic spirit was there and presented in a fine form. When I read this book, I didn't expect to see the ghost of Frank Herbert and the exactness of his universe. Being a Trekkie of a sort, I am quite used to how things don't jive with the original TV show. I haven't read the second or third books on this series but I thought that the first book was good reading and fun. I think expanding and adjusting Herbert's universe is a good thing. As science fiction reader, I can appriecate that we will not be gridlock into a vague format.
Rating:
Summary: A worthy addition
Review: Frank Herbert wrote about the next stage in human evolution, this is a book about humans as we know them. While this isn't Herbert Sr. by any means, it's certainly incredible in and of itself.
Rating:
Summary: A Mixed Novel
Review: This book isn't bad, in and of itself. Taking place in the world of the Dune series, but decades before the first Dune novel, it is a pleasant read. For Dune junkies, it is rather nice to see the familiar characters - the dread Baron, Duke Leto, and so forth. It makes for an easy, quick read. But therein lies the problem. Almost by definition, a Dune novel is never a "quick read." Frank Herbert's books generally took some re-reading in order to understand what he was getting at (unless one is either a superficial reader or very good at grasping complexity quickly). Whether in the digressions that, while not dealing directly with the story at hand, enhanced the feel of this alien universe, or in putting the "wheels within wheels within wheels" of the plots together, Frank Herbert wrote works that were meant to challenge the reader and force some thinking. This novel, however, just doesn't come close. Having written that, I'll probably end up buying the two following works as well. Again, the story itself isn't bad - it's a fine, run-of-the-mill, not terribly challenging read. Nothing wrong with that. But compared to the dense and wonderful world chronicled by Frank Herbert, it is but a mere shadow.
Rating: 
Summary: Why, why, why was this even tried?
Review: Frank Herbert was able to say so much more with a flick of the wrist, a nod, or an expression. I can't really describe what it was about his writing that was so...his alone, but I can say this, the writing in this flop dosen't even come close.
Re-read the origionals, ignore this sham of a Dune book.
Rating:
Summary: Bene Gesserit analysis of "House Atreides"
Review: When word of this manifesto came to the knowledge of the Sisterhood, its implications clear and farreaching, a through search of the archives was undertaken. Early on, several lapses were spotted, mistakes in the timeline, gaps in the plot-points set down by the great Frank Herbert, and several continuity errors. Our Mentats at Chapterhouse have in this report laid out point by point the errors:
In "Atreides" the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is presented as a fit and trim man who takes pride in his good shape and his muscular tone. The reason for his immense fattness is not through him becoming lazy.
In the great "Dune" we find evidance of the opposite. In file# 322 the Lady Fenring states while noting the lean tone of Feyd-Rautha "Here's one who won't let himself go to fat." In file# 14 he likens a feature on a globe to "sweet caramels", and on file# 21 he asks for food to be sent for.
In "Children of Dune" during Alia's fit of possession by the Baron where his voice is spoken through her mouth his voice id described as belonging to "a querulous man, an autocratic and sensual man far gone in self-indulgence".
We believe that this clearly shows that the Baron was never interested in being fit or cared about being in shape but rather indulged in all known forms of cuisine.
In "Atreides" Hasimir Fenring habit of going "Um-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m-m" is said to be something he has always done much to the dismay of Shaddam IV.
Again this goes against what is stated in "Dune" file# 322 where we are told that the humming is called a secret language between himself and his Lady.
In "Atreides" we see the Harkonnen no-globe used by the Bashar Miles Teg in "Heretics of Dune".
Our Mentats have discovered a glaring error in this: the age of the no-globe itself. In "Heretics" file# 223 Teg and the Reverend Mother Lucilla wonder about the age of the no-globe and theorize that "the Tyrant must have known about this place" and must have let the Harkonnens bulid it to drain their wealth.
Teg believes that the Tyrant himself had once been there and mabey had the occupants killed.
Now, Teg finds the ship about 1500 years after the Tyrant, believes that it was built sometime during the Tyrant's 3500+ lifetime AFTER the events in "Atreides".
At the end of "Atreides" we find a High Priest of Dur,(an ancient religion), who "had by tradition crowned every Emperor since the fall of the thinking machines".
In "Heretics" Teg has no idea what Jafa Muzzafar is talking about when he calls himself the regional commander for the forces of Dur. (file# 389)
Jafa says in file# 392 that his rank of Field Marshal is a revival of the ancient titles in the Dur, tries to explain a frame bush and then understands that there are no such things in Teg's universe and says that they have much to teach each other.
This, we believe, implies that the Dur is a thing that was discovered in the Scattering and not something that was taken out into the Scattering.
We have asked our Mentats for their prime projection as to why such errors happened, their finding is as follows:
This book was written to capitalize on the name of "Dune" and rake in money from the legion of "Dune" fans who would be eager to read more of the "Dune" universe created by the great Frank Herbert. The writters must have believed that these lapses would not have been noticed, but failed to take into account that Mr. Herbert's books have been re-read by fans several times over and ANY lapses would stand out like "a man striding across the open bled."
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