House Harkonnen (Prelude to Dune) (urspr publ 2000; utgåvan 2001)

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. ( )

My favorite book in this trilogy. ( )

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. ( )

I loved this new House Trilogy written by his son. These were very good and I loved the rational backward steps he took to explain things in Dune. ( )

Not really exactly a review. Just my impressions immediately after reading. A better indication of what I thought of the book is that I'm now immediately starting the final book of the trilogy, House Corrino.

Yes, the booklikes terminator emoticon really does apply. ("How" would be a spoiler.)

I'm wolfing through this trilogy. It does nicely at filling in the stuff leading up to original Dune books. This was a good read (okay not as engrossing as the originals).

Suffers a tiny bit from all the POVs but by now they were familiar POVs of characters most Dune fans would want to hear about in the prequels. Doesn't really suffer from middle-book-itis (meaning stuff happens and some plots get resolved versus purely filler material).

The ending I dd remember plus a couple of chapters were familiar, so pretty sure I did read at least this book of the trilogy. ( )