Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

(pb; 1999: first novel in the Prelude to Dune trilogy)

From the back cover

“Frank Herbert’s award-winning Dune chronicles captured the imagination of millions of readers worldwide. By his death in 1986, Herbert had completed six novels in the series, but much of his vision remained unwritten. Now, working from his father’s recently discovered files, Brian Herbert and bestselling novelist Kevin J. Anderson collaborate on a new novel, the prelude to Dune ─ where we stop onto planet Arrakis. . . decades before Dune’s hero, Paul Muad’Dib Atreides, walks its sands.

“Here is the rich and complex world that Frank Herbert created, in the time leading up to the momentous events of Dune. As Emperor Elrood’s son plots a subtle regicide, young Leto Atreides leaves for a year’s education on the mechanized world of Ix; a planetologist named Pardot Kynes seeks the secrets of Arrakis; and the eight-year-old slave Duncan Idaho is hunted by his cruel masters in a terrifying game from which he vows escape and vengeance. But none can envision the fate in store for them: one that will make them renegades ─ and shapers of history.”

Review

Atreides is a gripping-from-the-get-go, excellent book that fully captures the spirit, pacing, intrigue and tone of Frank Herbert’s original Dune series. It shows many of the characters from the original novel, Dune, when they are young and less developed: Leto Atreides, Shaddam Corrino, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and others. If you are a fan of the original series, there is a good chance you might enjoy Atreides. Followed by Dune: House Harkonnen.