Rating: 
Summary: Not a real Dune book...
Review: Okay, it's definitely a book about Dune, and set in the Duniverse, and it has all the terminology of a Dune book...but it's not a real Dune Book. Period. Don't get me wrong, I read it and I liked it, but it has NONE of the depth of any of the original series. Even weaker books in the original series tower over House Atreides. The best sections of the book are those that involve situations discussed directly in the other books, i.e. those where the authors had Frank Herbert's hand guiding them. Many of the newer charactors (especially Rhombur Vernius) fall flat and are poorly fleshed out and just plain uninteresting. Frank Herbert is sorely missed. I went right from finishing this book to re-reading Dune!
Rating: 
Summary: Dune, but not written like Dune.
Review: Up until a few weeks ago, I hadn't even heard of the book (hardto believe). But I found a Dune site which was on Dune House Atreides& stuff. There was already a wack of reviews and a link here, so I bought it THAT DAY (went down to the store). I wasn't disapointed in the book (MORE DUNE!) but its not written in the depth and style of the classic Dune. But it is still a fun read dispite any short comings. 4/5
Rating:
Summary: A nice filler, somewhat inacurate, much less complex.
Review: I loved "Dune: House Atreides". There were a couple of things that bothered me though. One is that near the end A priest of Dur was mentioned, but Dur is the shortening of Guldur (Heritics of Dune)a Gammu name for the God Emperor who was born thousands of years after this. Two is the seeming common Knowledge that the Tleilaxu are religeous Fanatics but that was kept a total secret by the Tleilaxu until Taraza interragated Waff (Heritics of Dune). They kept a facade of amorality (Neither moral nor immoral / without moral principles) until that point. One thing that was not wrong but still something I wished for, I had hoped that Idaho would turn out to be an illegitamit son of Palus or Leto. thus a rationalzation of Idaho's rampant gholaing and special abilities. But that was quashed. A good read, but Don't expect FH's Dune
Rating:
Summary: YAH! HYA, CHOUHUDA!
Review: As far as prequels are concerned, this is probably one of the best ones that came out this year! Kidding aside, it's a very entertaining book. It doesn't have the slow and steady rythm of the original Dune books, but then again it's not supposed to be like the original. First time readers would like it because of that reason while long time fans would be suprised to find something fresh and different. All in all, it still captures Dune's spirit of high adventure, Imperial court intrigue, "wheels within wheels" plot lines, and codes of honor and loyalty. A must read for old and first-time fans!
Rating:
Summary: Provides the backstory but could use a good edit.
Review: After all the hoopla, the "prequel" to the Dune series finally arrives. Lots of familiar characters, but +/- 30 years younger. As the original Dune series grew, it grew tired. With this addition, it is disappointing to report that none of the vigor of the first novel is restored. Reading this was like reading a film novelization. Scenes are carefully laid out in cinematic terms, but there's little spark. Wheels within wheels, as the original Dune said, but a couple of the tires are a bit soft. There was a certain crispness in Dune that's lacking here. Too much recapping of what happened only a few pages before. Short attention span SF? Maybe another edit would have helped keep the tension up. Of course this will be the first of a new series. It is inevitable that the purpose of the initial offering will be to set the stage, put the players in action, but resolve some but not all of the conflicts. Hopefully some of the deficiencies noted here will be corrected. I'll read the next one and the next one after that. But I probably will be short on praise for those as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, Enjoyable read - keep it at that!
Review: I enjoyed reading the D:HA for what it was. I must admit I agree with other reviewers that it is simplistic when compared with FH's work, but that's part of it's charm for all the 5 star folk. It ( and the sucessors ) apparently are going to simply explain lots of the references which were left to the readers imagination in the original works. Which happened to be one of the reasons I liked the original Dune so much. The characters did seem more simpler. For example: Fenrig is portrayed as a sadistic assasin... yet my take from the originals his assasinations were to further a goal, dispassionately and clinically... not enjoyably. I hope that they'll complete the other 2 prequels for the fun of it... but pass the baton on to other folk to work on postquel books. Bear/Brin/Benford seem like candidates to *expand* on FHs work, rather than just extend it. <grin> Particularly given the last cryptic chapter of Chapterhouse.
Rating:
Summary: A good first effort in interpreting an established series
Review: Brian Herbert's interpretation of his father's work is a good first effort. The book does supply established fans of the series (and first time readers) with a wealth of background information on characters and settings. However, it does not capture subtle nuances of the characters personalities and their interractions. Part of the magic of the Dune series written by Frank Herbert was the use of language and colour ; that's lacking in House Atreides. Dune: House Atreides is a quick read; it's interesting but I'm not sure that I'd reread it at some time in the future as I've done with the works of other sci-fi authors.
Rating:
Summary: Hey! This Aint That Bad-
Review: I guess it has become hip to come down on prequels. Hey folks, both the Phantom Menace and Dune: House Atreides are not that bad. Don't be fickle and fall into what a some booklist says or some critic spouts off because they want to be cool. Grand in scope like Dune? No. Rambling, confusing prose that will lose the wierdest of the wierd? No. What you do get is a plainly written, factual prequel of what takes place before Dune. In this book we gets to see the origns of Duke Leto, Duncan Idaho, Baron Harkonnen, Mother Superior Gaius Helen Mohaim among others. I really don't understand what is so wrong with this book. I have read it straight through and I find it an entertaining yarn. It certanly answers many questions that I had about the Dune books. Not the greatest novel ever written, but a solid read that does not deserve the Lynchesque scorn and derision it has received.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointing start to the revival of a masterpiece.
Review: The entire first half of this book was extremely painful reading for those like myself who hold Dune as high in the annals of sci-fi as we do. The discrepancies in continuity with the first six books have been well documented by other reviewers, so I won't rehash them here. My favorite parts of the book were the afterwords. I was amused by these because of the fact that both writers swear up and down that they re-read both the whole original series and the notes left behind by Saint Francis of Arrakis before committing to writing book seven. What I'd like to know is this: Herbert and Anderson claim to have re-read the books and the notes...did they read them in the dark? Were the notes written in English? How else do they account for all of the plot discrepancies? Recommendation for books Two and Three: Drop Kevin Anderson from the project! - Have you ever seen those Young Jedi books? Anderson writes those, which explains why _House Atreides_ registers so high on the dumb-down scale. Here we have a sci-fi writer who a) Writes a series of books solely for the sake of further commercial exploitation of an established sci-fi property (Star Wars) and b) Writes those said books for children. Brian Herbert ought to kick Anderson out and wing it on his own. -I end my rant with three warnings for Brian Herbert, culled straight from the work of his father, since I am still not convinced he has recently read any of Frank's work: 1) Remember what Leto II did to the Nine Historians. You career as a writer is metaphorically threatened by the same fate. 2) "The ability to control a thing is the ability to destroy that thing." 3) "The sleeper must awaken." If the original Dune series was a doctoral thesis, _House Atreides_ is a high school book report. Anybody who rates this book above three stars is either out of his mind or a corporate shill for Bantam.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was amazing.
Review: I can't wait for the next in the prequel series. This book recreated the Dune universe perfectly. It made me want to go back and reread Dune again. All the characters were well written. It was exciting to see things unfolding and realizing the impact they had in Dune. At first I was skeptical of this prequel, but now I am definately a supporter.
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