Dune: House Corrino
Written by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert
Narrated by Scott Brick
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
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 melange, the addictive spice that binds the Imperium together and that can be found only on the desert world of Dune. In subterranean labs on the machine planet Ix, cruel Tleilaxu overlords use slaves and prisoners as part of a horrific plan to manufacture a synthetic form of melange 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 is 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 both 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.
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson has published more than eighty novels, including twenty-nine national bestsellers. He has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Reader's Choice Award. His critically acclaimed original novels include Captain Nemo, Hopscotch, and Hidden Empire. He has also collaborated on numerous series novels, including Star Wars, The X-Files, and Dune. In his spare time, he also writes comic books. He lives in Wisconsin.
Related to Dune
Titles in the series (3)
Dune: House Atreides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune: House Harkonnen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune: House Corrino Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Reviews for Dune
44 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book was a significant improvement on the previous one. I enjoyed the resolution to most of the plot lines. The character development in this novel was well done, and the trilogy as a whole leads well into the original novel. If anything, while these prequel novels certainly do not overshadow the original ones by Frank Herbert, they do set things up well, causing me to want to read the original ones even more. I am glad Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson decided to continue the series, their works add much without taking away from the original, and this book was a perfect example of this.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not exactly a literary masterpiece, but a good adventure. "It seems that everyone dies."
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of the prequels to the Dune saga written by Herbert's son and Kevin Anderson. I am a fan of all the prequels. If they do not quite match up to the originals they are well enough written that had the original never existed they would certainly have been published on their own.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The finale of the Prelude to Dune series culminates in the events that set the stage for Dune. Paul is born, the Tleilaxu and Corrino attempts to create Amal, synthetic mélange, come to an ignoble end, the Landsraad, Guild, and CHOAM gain power as Shaddam’s control decreases, Irulan begins to glimpse the Bene Gesserit interest in the Atreides line, and Rhombur Vernius and the great names of House Atreides earn their place in tales and legends with a bold move to retake Ix and restore House Vernius, assist the plague-ridden Beakkal, and protect Caladan from Richese and Harkonnen plotting. The legends of Duke Leto the Just, the Cyborg Prince Rhombur, Thufir Hawat, Duncan Idaho, and Gurney Hallek are born; Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is sidelined for a time, and the Bene Gesserit realize that the Kwisatz Haderach may have arrived a generation early… unless the boy Paul is something else entirely.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Well, it finished the prequel trilogy adequately. But compared to first two books (which I liked even if not as much as I loved Dune), something was missing. Missing as in read almost like a plot outline to which they sporadically did something melodramatic with characters or used cheap plot devices.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this prequel. I felt it added a lot to Dune - and made reading the classic even more enjoyable.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5These follow-up books by Herbert & Anderson are just okay, but lack the magic of George's books.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While being a decided improvement over Houses Atreides and Harkonnen, Corrino nevertheless fails to inspire. The constant good vs. evil trope, combined with utterly flat characters and an abundance of scientific progress that contradicts Herbert's original vision, left Corrino as something to try and get through,rather than simply enjoy. To my relief, the "evil that men do" hyperbolic schemes that were unpalatable in the first two books in the cycle was somewhat thinned out in Corrino. As sad as it sounds, oftentimes the introductory quotes to chapters ending up being better written than the chapters themselves. I doubt if I would recommend this book to the average reader, but it does set the stage for the later books. At last I can move up the series to the original Dune books.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The three books are okay to read, definately a must for Dune fans. I read them before rereading the original Dune novel, and while reading the books, I couldn't wait to start reading Dune. Great as an appetizer!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5As mentioned by another reviewer, Anderson and Brian Herbert are certainly not authors of the calibre of Frank Herbert. They shouldn't be criticised for this however, because few are. Also, as a huge fan of Dune, there was much in these prequels for me to enjoy.