Rating: 
Summary: BOOOORING
Review: I read the original Dune novels in no time and found them extremely entertaining, insightful and intelligent.
Then Brian Herbert comes along and writes this 3 piece prequel which started rather entertaining in House Atreides and continues OH SO BORING! in House Harkonnen. It took me over a year to finish the book and I blame the very flat and unimportant characters and the extremely uncreative plots for each of the storylines the book follows.
The authors, since House Atreides, have created a infinite number of characters: Duke Vernius, C'tair Pirul, Abulurd Harkonnen, Kailea & Rhombur Vernius, and so on...just to have them killed in the most idiotic of events because (I believe) they have run out of ideas for them.
Having a never-ending fight between Abulurd, Rabban and Vladimir Harkonnen DOES NOT MAKE this book a "Dune: House Harkonnen" novel. Their involvement in the plot is very thin and utterly unimportant.
The ending is the only thing interesting in the whole length of this novel: Victor, Kailea & Rhombur Vernius together with Leto have a climatic ending - cliffhanger...but nothing more. One has to go through 550 pages, to get to the last 50 or so to get some action, intelligent plots and worthwhile reading material.
Rating: 
Summary: Dune House Trilogy: Continues to impress
Review: Herbert and Anderson provide the second installment in their trilogy that is a prequel to Frank Herbert's classic Dune series. Whereas many prequels fall flat, providing little new information beyond what was originally included in the novel, this Dune series continues to offer new and engaging plot lines. In addition, despite the title, the book devotes equal time to House Harkonnen and House Atreides, as well as the events unfolding on Arrakis.
The action commences several years after the events in Dune: House Atreides. Duke Leto Atreides is restless and still considering taking a wife in a strategic political alliance. His best friend, Prince Rhombur, and Romhbur's sister Kailea, are still living in castle Atreides. As an outcast from a once-noble house that went renegade, Rhombur wishes to regain the glory that his family lost in the fall of Ix, but cannot fathom how to achieve his goals. Kailea desperately wishes to be Leto's wife (and Leto fancies her), but since her house has been disgraced, Leto would never consider such a marriage. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen continues to deteriorate from the mysterious wasting malady he acquired. However, this does not stop him from attempting to lay subtle traps for House Atreides nor does it deter him from seeking vengeance against the Bene Gesserit witches who infected him. Rabban, the baron's nephew, continues his terroristic actions in support of the House Harkonnen, clearly demonstrating how he earned his nickname "Beast." Pardot Kynes, the royal planetologist assigned to research Dune, continues his quest for its secrets, now aided by his son Liet who has been raised exclusively as a Freman.
As in the previous volume, extremely short chapters (average 5 pages) are employed to propel the various plot lines along. This format works well as the chapters bounce around between the various stories. Nevertheless, all of the plot threads are fascinating and provide many additional details and characters that were not included in the original Dune series. I literally could not put this book down!
One of the most interesting characters is Abulurd, the half brother of Baron Harkonnen. He is the exact opposite of his son Rabban since he is kind, considerate and concerned with his homeworld's population, as opposed to being focused on ways to rape the planet for its riches. Duncan Idaho's training at the Ginaz Swordmaster School and the exploits of Gurney Hallack's resistance and escape from Harkonnen enslavement provide interesting insight into the crucibles which forged these two formidable warriors.
Dune fans and non-fans alike should find this enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so good; Not so bad
Review: When I first picked this up, I was looking forward to it. Dune: House Atreides was not all that great, but let's face it - bad guys are more interesting to read about than good guys, right? Unfortunately, I was disappointed. This book is not awful, but it is slightly worse than the first one. My observations...
Do your thinking for you. This book continues the mistake of Dune: House Atreides in insisting on digesting absolutely everything for you. One particularly blatant example is explaining the true nature of axlotl tanks. This had been hinted at but never spelled out in the original Dune Chronicles; it's better that way.
Bad writing. Not only do they continue to do the reader's thinking, but they do so with annoying repetitiveness. For example, on p. 206, they write, "There was no shame in it for Kailea, either, especially with her lack of prospects." Then on p. 208, they write, "For Kailea there would certainly be no shame in becoming the chosen lover of a Duke." This is just one example; there are dozens. Other Amazon reviewers mention other examples (rugs in Earl Vernius's office, use of "muscular" three times on one page, Kailea's "emerald" eyes ...). The elecran chapter was a complete distraction; what point to introducing such an absurd creature (were they trying to copy Herbert Senior's brilliant conception of the sandworms? if so, they failed!) if it matters not to the rest of the book? Chapter transitions are still choppy and distracting.
Boring Sections. Some of the plot lines are monumentally boring. In particular, Duncan Idaho's 8 years at the Ginaz Swordmaster School (which for some reason I can't quite put my finger on, seems to me to be the chapters the authors would be most proud of) are beyond silly. And when you get the end and witness the Swordmasters' pathetic actions, it truly makes you wish you had skipped all the chapters related to this particular plot line.
Clumsy Politics. The political universe which Frank Herbert created, which we believed had survived for 100 centuries, is shattered by the ridiculously clumsy actions that Herbert Junior & Anderson put their characters through. A universe in which people behaved this way wouldn't last 1 century before cataclysmic war took place.
Contradictions. The book contradicts the original Dune novel in too many places to mention exhaustively (Lady Jessica's mother is a blatant error). They should have gone back and re-read the original before writing this.
Unbelievable Plot. Often the authors rely on lazy and contrived solving of plot lines (some our outright deus ex machina arrangements) just to make everything fit together. The motivations of some characters are even more absurd than Lady Helena's in the first book. Some actions are absurd and do not fit in with anything else we've ever read about the Dune universe (the Bene Gesserit when they are visited by the Baron Harkonnen).
Unlikeable Characters. Even after all of the above, the book would still be above average. Their worst sin, however, is that they simply write many of their characters in such a way that they are downright unlikeable. Abulurd Harkonnen needs to grow a pair. With Rhombur, they seem to be going for the tragic hero, but instead end up depicting an ineffectual buffoon. Most unlikeable of all, Kailea is annoying and petulant (although I think this plot line could have been infinitely improved if the readers -- like the characters -- did not find out what was happening until the end, rather than being told at the beginning).
For all this, if you are a Dune fan, this book is still a somewhat enjoyable read. Herbert Junior & Anderson had the right plot ideas at the "macro" level (again I assume this is the result of Herbert Senior's notes and not their own brilliance) even if they failed to execute them properly at the "micro" level. Again, I would rate this between 2 or 3 stars, although a bit lower than Dune: House Atreides.
Rating: 
Summary: Someone give this thing a coup d'grace
Review: WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS:
We cannot imagine anyone but the most die-hard Dune fan wanting to read this mean-spirited, superficial and meaningless work. If you enjoy reading the exploits of peripheral characters from better works of fiction, then this is the book for you. If you taped all the episodes of AfterM*A*S*H (both of them), then you are the demographic target of this book. Indulge yourself.
WHY YOU SHOULD PASS:
As speculative fiction goes, this is really just a harmless, banal book. What pushes it into the territory of the truly awful is its pedigree. Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the world's greatest works of speculative fiction. It is a masterpiece that stands alone and does not need any "prequels" to expound on any of its plotlines. We liken this to the necessity of writing a prequel to "Hamlet". No author would even think about committing such an affront to literature. For these reasons, the Dune prequels earn more of our ill-will than other similar mediocre works of speculative fiction.
READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW AT INCHOATUS.COM
Rating:
Summary: An insult to writing in general
Review: Atrocious prequel to the original dune series.
Even when not compared to the original a total failure.
Almost every aspect of this book is a failure;
-Just plain bad writing.
-Sloppy housekeeping, errors galore.
-Wholly unbelievable characters. They just do whatever the plot requires of them at any given moment.
-Same goes for the universe they inhabit. There's no internal logic breaking my suspension of disbelieve time after time.
-Lazy and contrived solving of plot lines just to make everything fit together.
-Annoying rythm with one cute little cliff hanger after another. You just stop caring after a while.
I wonder what editors even do these days.
Rating:
Summary: If only there were a Ghola Frank Herbert!
Review: I won't say the Dune "Prequel" Trilogy is entirely without merit. Any of the three books is an entertaining read for a cross-country train trip or a trans-Atlantic flight, like a Tom Clancy novel would be. But most people who know and love the "Dune" chronicles cannot help but be disappointed, even angry, at these pale imitations of the originals. The most striking lesson to be gleaned from these new Dune books is the difference between a truly gifted writer and a hack; between a serious work of imagination and literary skill, and airport lounge pulp fiction.I won't detail all of the failings of the narrative - the inconsistencies with the original series, the sometimes absurd plot development, the gaping holes and internal inconsistencies in the story. Other reviewers have dealt with these at some length. My biggest beef with these three books - all of them - is how poorly written they are (especially "House Corinno"). One would have hoped that more of Frank Herbert's literary ability would have found its way into his son's genes than apparently did. (Call the Bene Gesserit, quick! We need a new breeding program here!) The dialogue is often stilted, the character development shallow, and the structure fragmented, episodic and jerky. In contrast to Frank Herbert's elegant, even serene construction, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have unfortunately adopted the hyperactive "jump-around" style so beloved of today's writers of second-rate entertainment fiction. Most disappointing to me was the shallowness of these new books. Frank Herbert's "Dune" books were books of IDEAS more than books about events and action. A great deal of their narrative was occupied with people's THOUGHTS, at least as much as with their actions. Brian Herbert's & Kevin Anderson's books, by contrast, are almost entirely devoid of thought, ideas or philosophy and are entirely preoccupied with who is doing what. At best, this makes their books entertaining, something with which to while away the hours. But they are simply not in the same league with the original Dune books. For the newcomer to the world of Dune, moving from "House Corinno" to "Dune" will be like moving from Harold Robbins to Steinbeck or Hemmingway. Reading my way through these three books, I frequently found myself wishing that one of the Tleilaxu had been around when Frank Herbert died, to grow a Ghola Herbert in their axolotl tanks. These prequels might have really been something in the hands of a gifted writer.
Rating:
Summary: if you're going to write a prequel, keep your plot straight!
Review: I was disappointed in all the inconsistencies between these Prequel Dune novels and the original. They're so busy building up suspense that the facts mentioned in prior novels are ignored; how Jessica was bought by the Duke's men, not placed there by the Bene Gesserit, history of the Fremen per the encyclopedia that Herbert the original put out, and many other details. They seem intent on creating a story that is growing more divorced from the original plot line the closer it comes to converging in timeline.
Rating: 
Summary: Keeps it moving
Review: This book keeps the prequel plot moving at warp speed (or even through foldspace). While it still lacks Frank Herberts sheer brilliance, it has alot more detail on the culture.
|
