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House Atreides (Prelude to Dune)
 
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House Atreides (Prelude to Dune) (Paperback)

by Brian Herbert (Author), Kevin J Anderson (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
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Frequently Bought Together

House Atreides (Prelude to Dune) + House Corrino (Prelude to Dune) + Prelude to Dune: House Harkonnen
Price For All Three: £18.37

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Product details

  • Paperback: 624 pages
  • Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks; New edition edition (20 April 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0340751762
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340751763
  • Product Dimensions: 17 x 11 x 4.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 93,207 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #12 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > H > Herbert, Brian

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review
Acclaimed SF novelist Brian Herbert is the son of Dune author Frank Herbert. With his father, Brian wrote Man of Two Worlds, and later edited The Notebooks of Frank Herbert's Dune. Kevin J Anderson has written many bestsellers, alternating original SF with novels set in the X Files and Star Wars universes. Together they bring personal commitment and a life long knowledge of the Dune Chronicles to this ambitious expansion of a series which transformed SF itself.

House Atreides chronicles the early life of Leto Atreides, prince of a minor House in the galactic Imperium. Leto comes to confront the realities of power when House Vernius is betrayed in an imperial plot involving a quest for an artificial substitute to melange, a substance vital to interstellar trade found only on the planet Dune. Meanwhile House Harkonnen schemes to bring Leto into conflict with the Tleilax, and the Bene Gesserit manipulate Baron Harkonnen as part of a plan stretching back 100 generations. In the Imperial palace treason is afoot, and on Dune itself, planetologist Pardot Kynes embarks on a secret project to transform the desert world into a paradise.

Dune remains the bestselling SF novel ever, such that three decades later no prequel can possibly have the same impact. Yet in House Atrides the authors have written a compelling, labyrinthine, skilfully imagined extension of the world Frank Herbert created, which ably commands the attention for almost 600 pages. It is powerful SF continuing a great tradition, and in itself is a very considerable achievement. --Gary S. Dalkin

The Times
Those who long to return to the world of desert, spice and sandworms will be amply satisfied

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

House Atreides (Prelude to Dune)
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Customer Reviews

50 Reviews
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 (12)
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 (12)
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 (16)
2 star:
 (5)
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Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The new Dune universe lacks atmosphere, 13 Jan 2003
By ESP (Dudley, West Midlands United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
I first read Dune in 1974, some twelve years before Frank Herbert died. I was 13. A rather more intelligent and well-read friend loaned me the book. I found it hard going. Not only was it one of the first SF novels I had ever read, but it was a complex book with a whole new range of foreign terms and concepts (I had never before read a work of fiction requiring appendices, including a glossary and extensive notes!) I was fascinated; my imagination captured, but I didn't fully appreciate or understand the intricacies, breadth and scope of the Dune story. Even so, I struggled through the thick book (with frequent references to the notes), followed by Children of Dune and Dune Messiah in quick succession. Since then, of course, I have completed the epic series, re-reading them all several times, finding something new each time.

Naturally, I always wondered about the events, characters and motivations which led up to Dune, and the universe sometimes only hinted at or briefly described as the backcloth to the story of Paul and his family. When Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson finally published the first in the Prelude to Dune series I was keen to enter this intriguing universe once more.

Having read House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and started House Corrino, I can safely say that I would have greatly appreciated these books back in 1974. They are certainly more suited to a 13yr-old than the books that came before them. My apologies to Brian and Kevin, but these new prequels are a pale shadow of the master's work. Yes, they are quite exciting on occasion and, yes, they fill in a whole realm of gaps which Frank Herbert's legion of fans must have wondered about. Yet they seem shallow by comparison. Much like candy-floss, the stories lack substance and depth, leaving the reader somewhat dissatisfied, even though the yarns are enjoyable. I might also add that some of the edge is taken off the stories because we know what happens to the principal players. This detracts from most attempts at suspense.

Incidentally, I can't help but wonder how much of this is Frank Herbert's unpublished material, and how much only based on his (rough) notes. I am also fairly convinced that in House Atreides there are discrepancies between what the original series tells us about Duncan Idaho's early years and the newly-narrated events.

However, thanks to Frank Herbert's work, I am drawn to find out more about the universe he created, despite the relatively disappointing nature of this new series. No doubt I will purchase the Butlerian Jihad when it is available in standard paperback format. For those who have wondered about what went before Dune and can bear a version of events not told by Frank himself; and for those who are fresh to the characters and worlds he created, I recommend these books; just don't expect brilliance. They serve as a good appetiser before the Frank Herbert main course, but a poor dessert.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Very disapointing, 14 Jul 2005
By James Nagle (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
When I heard that the Dune series was being continued by Frank Herberts son Brian I was delighted and looked forward to reading the prelude books. After reading House Atredies I have been slow to read the other two.
The writeing style is completely different to his fathers. There is none of the deep thought provokeing dialoge between characters that made the original dune series one of the greatest works of Science fiction in history.
He throws in quotes from the original series such as "The spice must flow" at regular intervils in a plot that is completely unbelivable. Brian goes even more overboard then David Lynch does in the Dune movie at makeing the Harkonnens look evil, makeing it too hard to belive.
After reading the first chapter, with a musculer Baron Harkonnen investigateing a new spice find, I was shocked at the way he had distinced himself from his fathers writeing, and fell by the wayside trying to put his own distinct mark on the Dune Series.

While I am gutted to see the franchise now in the hands of someone who only wants to make money out of it instead of createing great works like the original series, I will (indeed have) buy the rest of Brians books on dune, as I am in love with the original series, and at least it's better then no writeing at all.
The other thing is that the new series flys in the face of the Encyclopedia. While even Frank didn't agree with all of Dr. McNellys enterys, Brian has acctivlly gone against it, makeing 8 years of hard work completely opsolete, if we (sadly, as we must) accept Brians word as the deffinitive word on dune.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Good plot, pity about the writing, 12 Oct 2004
By A Customer
Sadly, I think "Dune" is being seen as a cash cow, and all 6 of the preludes have been rushed out unfinished, or so they seem. The plots generally are pretty good, and if you can just focus on them, the books are enjoyable. But they suffer in a few ways. The bad guys are too evil. Both the Harkonnens in the "Preludes" like this, and the Titans and machines in the "Legends" series are evil tyrants who spend half the books enjoying grisly torture. It's rabidly overdone and dimishes the bad guys in the process. More irritating than that (to me anyway) is that the book doesn't seem to have been proof-read. The number of times a character's name appears where he/she should have been used, making you think that we've changed to a different person when we haven't, are almost beyond count. It's a real pity because there are some good plots and stories here, much better than any of the sequels Frank Herbert wrote, but they just don't seem to have been completed properly before publication.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars This book deserves 5 no-stars!
Please read one chapter from any classic Dune book by Frank Herbert and then read one chapter of any of the prequels (Prelude or Legends) in a bookstore. Read more
Published on 8 May 2007 by François-ji

1.0 out of 5 stars Hideous
For me the novel falls flat on its face on the first page and never recovers. Dumbed down and beyond all recognition of the original. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2007 by Applesauce

3.0 out of 5 stars Extending Your Grasp of the Context for Dune
Prequels are unusual novels. They should be written to introduce a book and series for someone who has not yet read any of the material. Read more
Published on 9 Jul 2004 by Professor Donald Mitchell

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting in places but shallow after the originals.
The idea behind the Preludes books is that Frank Herbert had discussed at length the history of his created universer with his son Brian. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2004 by Mr. A. Privett

4.0 out of 5 stars An Overture For Better Things to Come
Having become hooked on the original Dune series 20 years ago, it was with delight that I learnt that Brian Herbert had decided to carry on from where his father left off. Read more
Published on 3 Mar 2004 by brodie_hooper

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest Trilogy Ever!
I thought that Dune was a good idea, but I thought the language was uninteresting and kind of boring, with characters that I couldn't relate to or whos character I couldn't... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2004 by phojklnjk

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing to the avid Dune fan
Of course I was very excited when a new book set in the Dune universe came out, even if it wasn't written by the original Herbert. But frankly I was extremely disappointed. Read more
Published on 4 April 2002 by nicedaydog@hotmail.com

3.0 out of 5 stars Some of it works, some of it doesn't but a very good read.
I have read a number of reviews of this book, and many seem to be at the positive or negative extreme. My own opinions of it are somewhere in the middle. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Greatest Series Of Books Of All Time
House Atreides is a worthwhile read for those who like Science-Fiction. It is about two feuding families. The Harkonnen's and the Atreides. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Good solid read in itself
As a stand alone work, this story flows nicely in spite of the multitude of typing errors. Solid characters and a fairly beleivable description of the universe - much fleshed-out... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2001

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