House Corrino (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), Kevin J. Anderson (Author), Stephen Youll (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: liet kynes, lady anirul, prime magistrate, Bene Gesserit, House Atreides, Face Dancer (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this fully satisfying conclusion (after Dune: House Atreides and Dune: House Harkonnen) to the authors' "House" trilogy, Emperor Shaddam Corrino tries to grasp greater power than any emperor before him and to rule the Million Worlds solely according to his whims. On the captured planet Ix, the research Shaddam directs into the creation of a synthetic spice, amal, that will make him all-powerful spirals out of control, putting the entire civilization at risk. Meanwhile, the enslavers of Ix must contend with threats from exiled Prince Rhombur Vernius, who wishes to rule the planet instead. Tumultuous times are also in store for the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, whose breeding plan has been thrown off course one generation shy of its end. Tension between the houses Atreides and Harkonnen builds to a dramatic showdown. While the intricacy of the first prequel is absent here, so is the filler of the second. Because Herbert and Anderson are extrapolating from someone else's ideas and characters, they tend to overuse catch phrases (like "the Golden Lion throne") from Dune and its sequels with a resulting flatness of language. The inevitable derivative features aside, this is a good, steady, enjoyable tale, and readers who haven't read the first two books can easily follow the plot. A bold, red-and-gold dust jacket, with illustration by Stephen Youll, is a real eye-catcher. Fans who will be sorry to see the end of this series will be heartened by the hint that the Dune saga is far from over.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

As Emperor Shaddam IV seeks to consolidate his power as Emperor of a Million Worlds through the monopoly of the spice trade, other forces array themselves in opposition to his increasingly tyrannical rule. Herbert and Anderson conclude their trilogy (Dune: House Atreides; Dune: House Harkonnen) chronicling the years leading up to the events portrayed in the late Frank Herbert's Dune with a war for the liberation of the conquered planet Ix and the birth of a son to Duke Leto Atreides and his Bene Gesserit wife, Jessica. Though dependent on the previous books, this complex and compelling tale of dynastic intrigue and high drama adds a significant chapter to the classic Dune saga. Highly recommended.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: Spectra; First Thus edition (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553580337
• ISBN-13: 978-0553580334
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,007 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 3 in The Dune: House Trilogy Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Enough to make an English teacher cringe, January 5, 2002

By	C. D. Taylor (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: House Corrino (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Reading this book made me want to get out a red pen and mark it up. Everything you learned not to do in high school writing classes, they do in this book. Chapters are short and choppy, on average 3 pages long. Very little descriptive prose is used -- you feel like you are reading the Cliff notes, not the actual book. Not a single character evolves from beginning to end. Almost every chapter has at least one ellipse... some as many as three or four. Ellipses which to me meant - the author ran out of words to describe the situation so reader, fill in your own blanks. I don't mind using my imagination every once in awhile, but the whole book? Especially when there are hardly any words to describe the scenery, the setting or the characters' true inner most thoughts. And telegraphing - the practice of giving away the plot or actions before they occur - there's lots of it. You know what people are going to say or do before they do it. In many cases the story does not unfold naturally, because they try to tell each scene in ten paragraphs or less. And so many people get killed in this book -- main characters, not so main characters -- I felt like I was watching back-to-back reruns of Miami Vice.

You can read other comments on the plot inconsistencies between the prequel and the original, which I find shameful given that there were 4 editors (Mike, Carolyn, Pat and Anne Lesley should share in the responsibility).

If you have not read the original Dune Series, please do so (all six) before you read any of the prequels. The prequels give away a lot of secrets that take away from the mystery of the original books. Then wait at least 12 months before you attempt the prequels -- the writing styles are so different it will be difficult to digest. I enjoyed reading House Atreides and House Harkonnen, but after re-reading the originals immediately prior to picking up Corrino, I realized the vast difference between the vision in the books of Frank Herbert vs. the plain story-telling of the prequels. The original Dune series is a difficult read. Every book, especially the last three, has lessons and morals that are sometimes difficult to discern, even after you re-read them a few times. After reading each original Dune book I feel like I grow as a person. I just finished reading House Corrino and I feel like taking a bath.

43 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars * Nearly Finishes the Prequel Storyline *, November 1, 2001

By	OhSayCanYouSee1 "ohsaycanyousee1" (Elmhurst, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House Corrino (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson come close to wrapping up the Dune prequel series with a climactic edition in "Dune: House Corrino". This story takes place in less than a year's time, beginning after the conception of Paul Atreides, and finishing just after his birth. The book starts off a little slow; it takes the authors a while to build up the suspense, but the last 150 pages of this work are well worth the wait. The details regarding the Corrino famliy are also enjoyable.

The authors set the stage in the two previous prequel stories ("House Atreides" and "House Harkonnen") and really didn't need to build up interest over such a long novel. FYI, both previous works are musts for devoted Dune fans. However, this is the best book out of the three editions. New readers will find the style smoother and more modern than the original Frank Herbert series, but not quite as creative. These stories fill in the many gaps in Frank Herbert's background, almost as if reading historical fiction.

The final third of the book is excellent, even difficult to put down as the action reaches a crescendo. Though every fan knows what is going to happen, we have been shielded from the truth all this time. You almost feel as if the story were new. However, there is one last story to tell here. Prepare to see "Dune: Bene Gesserit" bridging the birth of Paul Atreides to the relocation of his family to Planet Arrakis.

I have read every book in both Dune series and rate this book 3.80 out of 5.00 stars, rounded up to 4.00 stars, with points for writing style and for nicely wrapping up a lot of pre-history. Still want to read about more workings behind the scenes of the Sisterhood though.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dune: House Corrino (The Bad News Corrinos), October 9, 2001

By	Baron Moritani (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: House Corrino (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Dune: House Corrino, the last novel of the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, is the final chance these two writers have to wrap up the storylines that immediately precede Dune. In this respect, the results are mixed. We are treated to some great moments in House Corrino, including an entertaining final battle on Ix and the important birth of Paul Atreides. I will let readers realize the endings for themselves. The book's greatest failing is its inability to properly capture the depth of the brilliant scheming of Emperor Shaddam IV. His dimwittedness is unintentionally comical and is reminiscent of a futuristic version of the 1970's The Bad News Bears baseball comedies. We see our Bad News Corrinos blunder around the galaxy in ridiculous ways that are hardly consistent with the House that out-schemed and destroyed Duke Leto Atreides and his legendary mentat, Thufir Hawat. It is surprising that Emperor Shaddam IV is allowed to stay Emperor at the end of this book. It is even more comical that Count Fenring voices similar comments to Shaddam IV. With respect to the Emperor, the authors seem to confuse ruthlessness with brilliant planning. It is difficult to imagine anyone who attempts what Shaddam endeavors and still remain Emperor! Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's blunder with respect to the Emperor is not surprising considering the ridiculousness of parts of the previous book, House Harkonnen, as Baron Harkonnen storms Wallach IX without his anti-Voice ear plugs introduced in the first book, House Atreides, that magically makes one immune to the controlling Voice employed by the Bene Gesserit.

Another failing of the book is the ridiculous yet surprising climax that revolves around Harkonnen mentat, Piter. It not only seems foolish, but it makes this reader wonder about the poor security of the Emperor's homeplanet, Kaitan. The ending is indeed surprising and may affect the way Dune fans think of twisted mentats.

There is hardly any mention though of Yueh's wife, and there is certainly no hint of Piter's plan for her in Leto's downfall. This may disappoint some fans of Dune. It disappointed me.

A strength of House Corrino is the introduction of a new character associated with Emperor Shaddam IV. There is an exciting scene involving a play reminiscent of Hamlet's Mouse Trap. The problem though is that the characters seem to be very much aware of Shakespeare's Hamlet and the use of a play within a play. I had always assumed that ancient earth was only known or remembered by those with Other Memories. Apparently every poor surf on every backwater planet of the known universe is aware of William Shakespeare! In addition this part of the storyline is rushed to an early conclusion as is many of the better storylines of the Prelude trilogy.

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Prelude to Dune trilogy is a mixed bag of excitement, inconsistencies, and at times poor preparation. It seems they were not altogether familiar with many of the plots or main characters of Dune; smaller characters such as Count Hasimir Fenring were fleshed out wonderfully at times and add much to the Dune legacy, but they also confound the reader by having the Count utter the exact letter for letter eccentric spoken mannerism without any variation, which is highly annoying; more care should have been taken with his dialogue. The next book by Herbert and Anderson is due in October of 2002 as the first of a Butlerian Jihad Trilogy. It is almost guaranteed that the authors will have less trouble by tackling a time period several millennia prior to Frank Herbert's Dune, the first book of the series. In their Prelude trilogy they seemed to be bogged down in details, which leaves the reader with the impression of reading a rushed outline of a novel. It is a shame that they did not make their outline public for Dune fans to critique so that obvious inconsistencies could be corrected and their better ideas fleshed out and fully realized. Although it is impossibly difficult to fully satisfy any long time fan of the Dune chronicles with respect to characters they feel they know, the glaring inconsistencies of the Prelude trilogy leaves this humble fan of Dune sad that he is refering the writers of the new Dune novels as The Bad News Authors.