Brian Herbert

Many familiar names appear; Salusa Secundus now green and fertile, but fated to become a hellhole prison planet, is one of the free human enclaves on the fringes of Omnius's "Synchronized Worlds". So is Giedi Prime, later the evil Harkonnen HQ. Both are attacked by fearsome robot fleets and ex-human cyborg killers when Omnius makes a new expansionist push. Much space-operatic mayhem follows.

Major characters include Serena Butler, who will become the driving force of the jihad against computer dictatorship; her lover Xavier Harkonnen, heroic defender of Salusa Secundus; Vorian Atreides, son of Omnius's chief cyborg Agamemnon, convinced by slanted histories that the Synchronized Worlds are the good guys; Erasmus, an independent robot who plays devil's advocate to Omnius and conducts unspeakably gory experiments to determine the wayward nature of humanity; and Selim, a desert exile on planet Arrakis (Dune), who becomes the first man to master the dread sandworms.

Many other firsts are rather improbably crowded together here. This is the first serious export of Dune's life-prolonging spice; the first (perhaps) spice-induced prophetic vision; first forcefield body shield; and the first antigravity "suspensors" that are invented by a girl genius who may be the first Mentat--those super-gifted humans who will replace prohibited computers. She's also busy inventing the first interstellar jump-drive. Elsewhere, telepathic "Sorceresses" prefigure the Reverend Mothers of the Bene Gesserit.

Despite a few nuances like the "good" society being flawed by its toleration of slavery, The Butlerian Jihad lacks the richness of Frank Herbert's work--his psychological intensity, the multi-layered subtlety of his characters' schemes and duel-like conversations. Instead, this is straightforwardly rousing space opera, with battle, counterstrikes, kidnapping, vows of vengeance, a fateful love triangle, and lashings of gratuitous violence and dismemberment. --David Langford
Contextually superb extension of the Dune universe!, 2009-05-18
I have read many reviews of this book that give a very poor rating; the most prominent criticism tends to be that the quality of writing doesn't match the original Frank Herbert stories.
I think that people are forgetting the context in which this book needs to be placed.
Firstly, this story tells of a time before the mind-expansive propertires of Melange had been discovered -- and this directly influences the nature of the writing itself (because the characters are not as enlightened, spaced-out and transcendental).
Secondly, a significant proportion of the cast are thinking machines, whereas the original Dune stories were set in a time when such 'robots' had been outlawed -- this meant that Frank Herbert's originals had a greater human depth (a depth of humanity that would be out of place when machines so often take the centre stage).
The story was totally enjoyable for me (a great fan of the original books); i loved learning the origins of things that were only very small aspects of the original books (thumpers, crysknives, etc) as well as the origins of vital family conflicts that actually dominated the original.
My only criticism of this book is that the reference to the disparity between machine and man does get a little laboured at times, but it's a story that needs to be told if we are to understand how the Butlerian Jihad shaped the universe.
I love it, and i heartily recommend it.

House Atreides chronicles the early life of Leto Atreides, prince of a minor House in the galactic Imperium. Leto comes to confront the realities of power when House Vernius is betrayed in an imperial plot involving a quest for an artificial substitute to melange, a substance vital to interstellar trade found only on the planet Dune. Meanwhile House Harkonnen schemes to bring Leto into conflict with the Tleilax, and the Bene Gesserit manipulate Baron Harkonnen as part of a plan stretching back 100 generations. In the Imperial palace treason is afoot, and on Dune itself, planetologist Pardot Kynes embarks on a secret project to transform the desert world into a paradise.

Dune remains the bestselling SF novel ever, such that three decades later no prequel can possibly have the same impact. Yet in House Atrides the authors have written a compelling, labyrinthine, skilfully imagined extension of the world Frank Herbert created, which ably commands the attention for almost 600 pages. It is powerful SF continuing a great tradition, and in itself is a very considerable achievement. --Gary S. Dalkin
Extending Your Grasp of the Context for Dune, 2004-07-09
Prequels are unusual novels. They should be written to introduce a book and series for someone who has not yet read any of the material. Yet their prime readership will be from those who have already read the series and want more. So you have to evaluate prequels from both prespectives. Usually, they favor one dimension or the other.

As is the usual case for prequels, Dune: House Atreides will primarily appeal to those who have read the Dune novels. The Harkonnens are beautifully cast as thoroughly nasty, despicable, and incompetent. The tension between the religion of not having thinking machines and the potential to create new technology is nicely developed. You will also get a good sense of Emperor Shaddam IV. Duke Paulus Atreides is a very enjoyable character, and you will delight in the places where he comes into the story.

I found much of the novel to be competent, rather than compelling. Unfortunately, these sections included Duke Leto Atreides, Duncan Idaho, and Pardor Kynes. These characters could have been magnificent, and provided much more fascination for the series. They come across as attractive, but not as people you want to grasp and hold onto because they are so appealing.

As a result, interesting, additional details comprise a reasonably small part of this book.

For those who have not yet read Dune, I felt that the book had one mistake in it. Readers will discover a bit more about physical changes that Guild navigators experience than is desirable for enjoying the whole series. In all other ways, this book will help the new reader anticipate and enjoy the beauties of the Dune series more. The background of much of what is happening will still seem mysterious after reading about it in this book, which is good. The origins of the key power groups are alluded to, but left murky. I think that approach was a good decision, because it encourages the reader to move on to other books in order to learn more.

The lack of illustrations was a missed opportunity. Many of the concepts in Dune lend themselves to pictoral explanations. In fact, each of the covers of the later novels added to my enjoyment.

I do encourage all fans of science fiction to read this book. It is a worthy volume in one of our greatest series.

After you finish reading this book, I suggest that you think about what really is most important to you in your life. As this book shows, you can achieve fame, friendship, wealth, power, family closeness, or prescience. The more someone focuses on one, the less they have of the others. How will you make your choice?

Look forward to enjoying more of what provides the most meaningful satisfaction!

Everything has its cost. We pay to create our future, we pay for the mistakes of the past. We pay for every change we make--and we pay just as dearly if we refuse to change.

I'm no writer, and I'm certainly no literary critic, I can't even spell properly 99% of the time. But I loved the original series growing up, and I think these (along with the butlerian Jihad books) perfectly compliment them *as another author*

Keep in mind that this guy is frank herberts son, but he is not frank herbert. Would you even try to emulate your father with a shadow that big?

I think with that pressure they've both done a marvelous job.
As mentioned before, the chapters where quick and involved, forcing you to go that extra chapter before you put it down. It also adds a whole new flesh to characters that were not entirley backround motivated in the original series - duncan idaho (the original duncan idaho) being a noteworthy example, jessica, and the new characters of the mentioned but not explained industry world of Ix.

All in all, I have all of the series bar this one now, and they are all worth a look to appreciate these men and their effort in the presence of the overwhelming shadow of a great, great author.