Interesting from the point of view of getting background on characters in Dune but the writing in places is somewhat stilted. I enjoyed reading it but would not recommend reading it to the casual reader. ( )

Didn't write a review for this one at the time. Not sure when I read it exactly. ( )

Interesting book, with one big issue - a nice Harkonnen. This needs to be written in words of fire - HARKONNENS ARE BAD, THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN BAD, THEY WILL ALWAYS BE BAD! So Abulard, the thoroughly nice but totally ineffectual half-brother of the Baron, ruined the book for me. ( )

I found this on a list of books I read and I can't even remember it. Or rather, I have a weak memory of words passing my brain without getting stuck. ( )

It's often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting different results.

When I read Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, I was disappointed by a book that could in no way, shape, or form, even begin to slake the thirst that Frank Herbert's Dune books created. Brian and KJA gave us what you would expect from them: expository text that is at times insulting to the reader, stuffed to the gills with flowery prose (so you don't notice the smell), and an acute case of thesaurusitis.

So, I must have been insane, at least, temporarily, when I thought that House Harkonnen would be different. Were I the authors of this book, I would have followed that statement with a "It wasn't," because that's just what you can come to expect from the son of a great writer and a professional fan fiction author.

The only redeeming quality of this book is that you don't actually have to pay attention to what you're reading when you're reading. Any guns of Chekhov's that are seeded on page 10 don't need to be noticed by the reader, because before it's fired, you'll get reminded of its presence and told its significance, and why you should care.

In a few more years, I may give another non-Frank Dune book a shot, but in my sampling of the crap that these two jokers produced and are still producing (and surprisingly, people are still buying) there is no point in reading these books. The synopses of these books are better written, and cut out most of the fluffy fat that you can come to expect from these two "authors."

Highly unrecommended. ( )