book review: Prelude to Dune: House Atreides

"House Atreides" is a prequel to the original Dune novels by Frank Herbert. Co-written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, the novel delves deep into the immediate past of the Dune universe, providing readers with a detailed backstory on the events leading up to the original Dune novel.

As someone who had almost given up on the Dune series after reading "Chapterhouse Dune," I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of "House Atreides." the only reason I read it was that I had already picked up this prequel trilogy (including the 2 next books "House Harkonnen", and "House Corrino") at a thrift store for a mere 1€ each, I found myself thoroughly enjoying this adventurous tale.

One potential drawback of this novel is that it fills in an enormous amount of backstory that was left to the reader's imagination in the original Dune series. Some readers may find that this new story does not fit with the way they had envisioned the history behind the original novels. However, this should not be a significant issue for most readers as the novel still feels part of the Dune universe.

Overall, "House Atreides" is a well-written, engaging prequel to the original Dune novels. It provides readers with an excellent backstory to the events leading up to the original novel, and its adventurous plot keeps readers engaged from start to finish. If you are a fan of the Dune series. "House Atreides" is definitely worth a read.

It can absolutely be read as a stand alone work, and would in that case be an agreeable read, but I feel as if reading this book before reading the originel Dune books is not a good idea, since it feels to me as if a first time reader of Dune is not supposed to know this backstory, which would therefore give more mystery and a more exotic atmosphere to the original novels (at least the first one's untill you get "acclimatised" to the universe).