(pb; 2001: third book in the Prelude to Dune trilogy)
From
the back cover
“Fearful
of losing his precarious hold on the Golden Lion Throne, Shaddam IV, Emperor of
a Million Worlds, has devised a radical scheme to develop an alternative to mélange,
the addictive spice that binds the Imperium together and that can be found only
on the deser world of Dune. In subterranean labs on the machine planet Ix,
cruel Tleilaxu overlords use slaves and prisoners as part of a horric plan to manufacture
a synthetic form of mélange known as amal. If amal can supplant the spice from
Dune, it will give Shaddam what he seeks: absolute power.
“But Duke
Leto Atreides, grief-stricken yet unbowed by the tragic death of his son Victor
and determined to restore the honor and prestige of his House, has his own
plans for Ix. He will free the Ixians from their oppressive conquerors and
restore his friend Prince Rhombur, injured scion of the disgraced House
Vernius, to his rightful place as Ixian ruler. It is a bold and risky venture,
for House Atreides has limited military resources and many ruthless enemies,
including the sadistic Baron Harkonnen, despotic master of Dune.
“Meanwhile,
Duke Leto’s consort, the beautiful Lady Jessica, obeying the orders of her
superiors in the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, has conceived a child that the
Sisterhood intends to be the penultimate step in the creation of an
all-powerful being. Yet what the Sisterhood doesn’t know is that the child
Jessica is carrying not the girl they are expecting, but a boy. Jessica’s act
of disobedience is an act of love ─ her attempt to provide her Duke with a male
heir to House Atreides ─ but an act that, when discovered, could kill mother
and baby.
“Like
the Bene Gesserit, Shaddam Corrino is also concerned with making a plan for the
future-securing his legacy. Blinded by his need for power, the Emperor will
launch a plot against Dune, the only natural source of true spice. If he
succeeds, his madness will result in a cataclysmic tragedy not even he
foresees: the end of space travel, the Imperium, and civilization itself. With
Duke Leto and other renegades and revolutionaries fighting to stem the tide of
darkness that threatens to engulf their universe, the stage is set for a showdown
unlike any seen before.”
Review
Corrino brings explosive, cinematic and brutal fruition to the schemes, characters and plot
tendrils that have been building in House Atreides and House Harkonnen. It also
sets up the tension and other plot/character situations that lead to the Frank
Herbert’s original Dune novel. Like its prequels, this is an
excellent, true-to-Dune-feel story,
with its Godfather-esque structure
and root-worthy or hissable characters: in short, this a book worth owning ─
especially if you are a fan of other books in the series.
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