Dune: House Atreides

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Dune: House Atreides
Dune House Atreides (1999).jpg
First edition cover
Authors Brian Herbert
Kevin J. Anderson
Audio read by Scott Brick
Cover artist Stephen Youll
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Prelude to Dune
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Spectra
Publication date
1999
Media typePrint (hardcover & paperback)
Pages624
ISBN 0-553-11061-6
OCLC 40754615
813/.54 21
LC Class PS3558.E617 D86 1999
Followed by Dune: House Harkonnen  

Dune: House Atreides is a 1999 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune . [1] Bantam Books made a $3 million deal for the novels in 1997. [2] The Prelude to Dune novels draw from notes left behind by Frank Herbert before his death. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

Dune: House Atreides debuted at #13 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and rose to #12 in its second week of publication. [6] [7]

Plot summary

The novel begins 35 years before the events of the original Dune . Three interconnected narratives revolve around heir-apparent to House Atreides Leto, acting governor of Arrakis Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and Imperial Crown Prince Shaddam. Side plots involve a young Duncan Idaho escaping enslavement at the hands of House Harkonnen, a young planetologist Pardot Kynes befriending the Fremen native to Arrakis, and the Bene Gesserit's troubles producing a child from the union between the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam and Vladimir Harkonnen.

While Leto is studying politics in the court of Earl Dominic Vernius on Ix, a joint Tleilaxu/Sardaukar army suddenly attacks the planet. Leto manages to escape to his homeworld of Caladan with the Earl's children, Rhombur and Kailea. The Tleilaxu conquerors begin using the Ix's technological and industrial resources for "Project Amal" with the goal of creating synthetic melange in order to eliminate dependence upon Arrakis.

Duke Paulus welcomes Leto and the Vernius heirs on Caladan. Lady Helena, however, bitterly opposes protecting the Ixian children. Lady Helena drugs a Salusan bull which then kills the Old Duke at a bullfight one evening. Leto becomes the new Duke and sends his mother away to a monastery. Shortly after, Shaddam secretly kills his father and becomes the Padishah Emperor. He invites nobles from across the Imperium to attend his coronation ceremony on Kaitain. The Baron Harkonnen, having invented an invisible ship with the aid of a Richese scientist, has his nephew Glossu Rabban attack a Tleilaxu delegation, making it look like an attack from the Atreides. Leto opts for a trial before the Landsraad and the Bene Gesserit save him with evidence of Corrino involvement in the Tleilaxu takeover of Ix. Shaddam, wishing to keep Project Amal secret, uses his influence to affect the trial and find Leto innocent.

Reception

Dune: House Atreides debuted at #13 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and rose to #12 in its second week of publication. [6] [7]

Reviewers generally remarked on the book's inferiority in quality compared to those written by the series's original author, with speculation that the younger Herbert and Anderson's efforts might attract new readers to the original books. Gerald Jonas of The New York Times says that readers familiar with the series would enjoy seeing familiar characters and settings, though the book is dialogue-heavy with poor descriptions of action. [8] John Snider of SciFi Dimensions describes Herbert and Anderson's prequels as "pulpy" and "cartoonish" while allowing that they "make [Frank] Herbert's esoteric and philosophical stories more accessible to general audiences." [9] Similarly, Publishers Weekly characterizes the plot of Dune: House Atreides as "intricate" while still being accessible to new readers who might be inspired to turn to the classic books written by the elder Herbert. [10] Likewise, the review of House Atreides from Kirkus Reviews considers the authors' attempt at continuing the Dune saga to have "inventive touches" and devious plotting that would be on par with the complexity of the originals, were they not "less subtle" with "disappointingly lightweight characters" who "make for less powerful drama". The benefit to their work, Kirkus muses, is to promote interest in the original series. [11]

Greg L. Johnson of SF Site praises the authors' choice to focus on side characters from the original Dune that readers are familiar with, though he laments that female characters are not given the time or opportunity to get fleshed out. The practice of heading each chapter with quotations from the original series continues, but Johnson views these quotes as "less clever and thought-provoking" than those of the original series. [12]

At RPGnet , fantasy author Scott Lynch found the book to be a "disappointingly mediocre" and unenlightening contrast to the subtle, competent characters in the original series:

"The places are set, the table is ready, but the meal that is served is ultimately thin and unsatisfying… Where Dune's subtlety was multilayered and mature, the events of this prequel are, at times, depressingly childish. The word 'antics' springs to mind." [13]

Adaptation

In May 2020, Boom! Studios was announced to have acquired the comic and graphic novel rights to Dune: House Atreides, with the intent of doing a 12-issue comic adaptation written by the original authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. [14] It concluded in December 2021.

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References

  1. ↑ "SCI FI Channel Auction to Benefit Reading Is Fundamental". PNNonline.org. March 18, 2003. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2007. Since its debut in 1965, Frank Herbert's Dune has sold over 12 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling science fiction novel of all time ... Frank Herbert's Dune saga is one of the greatest 20th Century contributions to literature.
  2. ↑ Quinn, Judy (November 17, 1997). "Bantam Pays $3M for Dune Prequels by Herbert's Son". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2014. The new prequels ... will be based on notes and outlines Frank Herbert left at his death in 1986.
  3. ↑ Liptak, Andrew (September 13, 2016). "The authors of Navigators of Dune on building an epic, lasting world". The Verge . Retrieved July 24, 2019.
    Quinn, Judy (November 17, 1997). "Bantam Pays $3M for Dune Prequels by Herbert's Son". Publishers Weekly . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2014. The new prequels ... will be based on notes and outlines Frank Herbert left at his death in 1986.
    Anderson, Kevin J. (December 16, 2005). "Dune 7 blog: Conspiracy Theories". Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved October 12, 2008– via DuneNovels.com. Frank Herbert wrote a detailed outline for Dune 7 and he left extensive Dune 7 notes, as well as stored boxes of his descriptions, epigraphs, chapters, character backgrounds, historical notes—over a thousand pages worth.
  4. ↑ Neuman, Clayton (August 17, 2009). "Winds of Dune Author Brian Herbert on Flipping the Myth of Jihad". AMC. Archived from the original on September 21, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2020. I got a call from an estate attorney who asked me what I wanted to do with two safety deposit boxes of my dad's ... in them were the notes to Dune 7—it was a 30-page outline. So I went up in my attic and found another 1,000 pages of working notes.
    "Before Dune, After Frank Herbert". Amazon.com. 2004. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2008. Brian was cleaning out his garage to make an office space and he found all these boxes that had 'Dune Notes' on the side. And we used a lot of them for our House books.
    "Interview with Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson". Arrakis.ru. 2004. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2008. We had already started work on House Atreides ... After we already had our general outline written and the proposal sent to publishers, then we found the outlines and notes. (This necessitated some changes, of course.)
  5. ↑ Ascher, Ian (2004). "Kevin J. Anderson Interview". DigitalWebbing.com. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2007. ... we are ready to tackle the next major challenge—writing the grand climax of the saga that Frank Herbert left in his original notes sealed in a safe deposit box ... after we'd already decided what we wanted to write ... They opened up the safe deposit box and found inside the full and complete outline for Dune 7 ... Later, when Brian was cleaning out his garage, in the back he found ... over three thousand pages of Frank Herbert's other notes, background material, and character sketches.
    Adams, John Joseph (August 9, 2006). "New Dune Books Resume Story". SciFi.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2007. Anderson said that Frank Herbert's notes included a description of the story and a great deal of character background information. 'But having a roadmap of the U.S. and actually driving across the country are two different things,' he said. 'Brian and I had a lot to work with and a lot to expand...'
    Snider, John C. (August 2007). "Audiobook Review: Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson". SciFiDimensions.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2009. the co-authors have expanded on Herbert's brief outline
  6. 1 2 "BEST SELLERS: October 24, 1999". The New York Times . October 24, 1999. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  7. 1 2 "BEST SELLERS: October 31, 1999". The New York Times. October 31, 1999. Archived from the original on November 27, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2013.
  8. ↑ Jonas, Gerald (November 28, 1999). "Science Fiction". The New York Times . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  9. ↑ Snider, John C. (August 2007). "Audiobook Review: Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson". SciFiDimensions.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2008. Retrieved February 15, 2009. the co-authors have expanded on Herbert's brief outline
  10. ↑ "Fiction Book Review: House Atreides by Brian Herbert, Author, Kevin J. Anderson, Joint Author". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Dune: House Atreides by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson". Kirkus Reviews . May 20, 2010. Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  12. ↑ Johnson, Greg L. (1999). "Dune: House Atreides". SF Site . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  13. ↑ Lynch, Scott (October 21, 1999). "Review of Dune: House Atreides". RPGnet . Retrieved November 21, 2020.
  14. ↑ McMillan, Graeme (May 11, 2020). "Dune Prequel House Atreides Comic Adaptation in the Works". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved May 15, 2020.
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