House Corrino (Prelude to Dune, #3)

House Corrino (Prelude to Dune #3)

3.52 of 5 stars 3.52  ·  rating details  ·  6,928 ratings  ·  105 reviews
The triumphant conclusion to the blockbuster trilogy that made science fiction history!

In Dune: House Corrino Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson bring us the magnificent final chapter in the unforgettable saga begun in Dune: House Atreides and continued in Dune: House Harkonnen.

Here nobles and commoners, soldiers and slaves, wives and courtesans shape the amazing destiny...more
Paperback, 672 pages
Published August 27th 2002 by Spectra (first published 2001)
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Zak
This book is a piece of minor evil.

A bad writer taking a world of such power and dignity, and using it to write a hack job political thriller. Just an awful book filled with broad caricatures of characters, dumb plot, and heavy handed writing.

Really a disgusting thing.
James
These books are complete trash and the writers should be embarrassed to be shitting on Dune's legacy.
Moose
I fell in love with Frank Herbert's universe, and the way he allowed the characters, the theme, and the implications of various technological advances to change and adapt over time to paint a broader story across his books.

So, I thought I would give the "prequels" that were co-authored by his son a chance. However, not only did this book fail to capture anything relevant of the universe, but it managed to almost feel juvenile in comparison.

The characters were shallow, the dialog was lacking, and...more
Delicious Strawberry
There are contradictions and retcons abound in this book. Originally, Elrood had ruled for 34 years, not 138 as this trilogy claimed. Ix was ruled by a group, not House Vernius.

If Frank Herbert had decided to write a precursor to Dune, he could easily have done so in one book, not three. The drama between Leto, Kailea, their son (not Paul! Gasp!), and Rhombur was unnecessary filler, and the Baron is portrayed in this book as a rabid woman-hating man where in Dune he had been hinted at being gay,...more
John Shumway
*Same review for the Dune Universe*
GREAT books! VERY time consuming! Worth the time!

Ok here is the deal. If your not sure about starting a series this big, here is what I would do.
1. -- Read the 1st one by Frank Herbert "Dune" if you like it...

2. -- Read the "Legends Of Dune" series. Its 3 books written by Frank's son Brian and a author I really like by the name of Keven J. Anderson. Its a prequel that is so far in the past that it doesn't spoil the Original Dune series in any way, and you could...more
Shelly - The Illustrated Librarian -
Jan 05, 2009 Shelly - The Illustrated Librarian - rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Any Dune fan
Shelves: sci-fi
Dune is one of my all-time favorite books, and this is a great addition to the canon.

It's so exciting to learn the histories of the well-loved characters of Dune. Brian Herbert's writing style is very similar to his father's, so the book (and the whole prequel trilogy) doesn't seem out of place in the Dune universe.

This last volume in the prequel trilogy brings the reader up to the original Dune novel. Story lines are tied up here. Leto and Jessica discover their true love, and Jessica takes a...more
Chris Blocker
“A roundtable discussion leading up to the publication of Dune: House Crappito ” (April 2001):

Publisher: Welcome gentlemen. So we've read the draft for the fifth novel in your Prelude to Dune series, and we'd like—

Anderson: Third actually.

Publisher: Excuse me?

Herbert: It's the third in the series.

Marketer: I believe they're right.

Publisher: God, it certainly felt longer. Anyway, the third book you've written building on your father's classic work.

Editor: Will this be the last?

Herbert: The last i...more
Kerri
I'm glad this is the last of the prequels. They are good in their own right, but I am definitely ready to move on to the real stuff.

The series dragged on for longer than it probably needed to. There was some decent action in this book, but most of it came hurriedly at the end. Much more interesting I think are the books of the Butlerian Jihad. The House Series is more like an appetizer for what is to come.

If you are looking for something to pass the time, then this book, and the whole series, i...more
Darrell
"We could be dreaming all the time, but we do not perceive those dreams while we are awake because consciousness (like the sun obscuring stars during the day) is much too brilliant to allow the unconscious content so much definition."

The world of Dune takes place thousands of years in the future with technology so advanced it's indistinguishable from magic. There is little moral ambiguity as all of the characters are either pure good or pure evil. The story is told from multiple points of view i...more
Ghola
Pretty good. The third in the series. It lead the reader up to 15 years before Frank Herbert's first Dune book. Some things were not quite as resolved as I would have liked, but I recognize this is hard with an expansive series like Dune.
Doverdorff
I aplaud the mammoth efforts Frank Herbert's son has done along with Kevin Anderson to keep the Dune spirit alive and true to his father's vision. These pre-quels are based on notes that Herbert made before his death. Herbert and Anderson have a very different writing voice than F. Herbert so you have to enter the books with an open mind- the writing is not as subtle and more sensational- there is more emphasis on action and less of the political/religious/spiritual nuances in Herberts original...more
Jeffrey Thomas
Swashbuckling science fiction with plot holes big enough to drive a Spaceliner through. A mere wisp remains of Frank Herbert's initial sweeping epic.
But still, this is a decent page-turner, even though the key villains are stereotypically Truly Evil in Every Way (few shadings here). When the good guys bomb and kill people, it's justified; when the bad guys kill people, it's purely evil. I'm talking myself out of a star-rating here, but I will leave it at 2 stars, if only because the writing kee...more
Jessica Chase
The Dune House books are great if you've read the original Dune first. They take place before the original Dune book, and explain much of the background of the families, leading up the the events in Dune. You see a lot of your fav characters when they were much younger.

The books are co-authored by Brian Herbert (David Herbert's son) & Kevin Anderson. While the writing is not quite as complex as what you read in the original Dune books, it is a lot easier to read & comprehend. With the ri...more
Meg
Aug 02, 2012 Meg rated it 2 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: no one
This book sucks. I hardly even want to waste my time writing more of a review since I already wasted my time reading it, but I'll try. I love the original Dune series and I wish that Brian would have just left his father's legacy alone. Though it is sad that Frank passed away before he could finish the whole series, I'd rather have it that way than with all this inane garbage added in. These books (the house trilogy) read like find/replace highschool level scifi writing.

==Spoilers==

I was so gla...more
bella
House Corrino is the final book in the House trilogy and takes the reader on a journey of the events leading up to pinnacle of the Dune saga series, Dune.

Jessica is pregnant with Duke Leto's son and had gone against Bene Gesserit's orders and had a boy instead of a girl. Has she wrecked centuries of breed programs? Rhombur is finally ready to re-take Ix. Will he triumph with all of Atreides military force or will the evil, disgusting Bene Theiluxu triump again? And Shaddam is settling into his...more
Wilson
Although people think that these tomes deserve to be burned or shredded, I, as a neophyte in the sci-fi cult find these tomes beautiful. Other people who commented on these books say that it was long, but for me the events were interconnected and had lead to the climax of the story. In fact, it was like a small crack in the dam that eventually gushed out torrents of excitement when it reached climax!

I am giving this four stars only because it had some low points. It started real slow coming from...more
Martina
Ah, what can I say in my defense... When I first read this book, I was young and impressionable, barely a teenager. It was my first encounter with the Dune universe, and having not known the magnificence of Frank Herbert's imagination and work, I foolishly thought this book to be good. Yes, I will admit my great sin: I thought this book was good. Now, older and hopefully wiser, I will try to absolve myself by doing penance. I shall write a tutorial on how to shamelessly exploit a great work of a...more
Chris Youngblood
I sometimes wish that the rating system on Goodreads allowed for half-stars, or even quarter stars, because that's much closer to what I feel this book deserves, rather than the overly nice gift of a single star. To be blunt, Kevin J. Anderson should stick with the light fare of Star Wars books, and Brian Herbert should leave his father's legacy alone, and find another means of making a living...say, the fast food industry, if his writing skills are any indication.

This series is a perfect exampl...more
Smokey
Apr 15, 2008 Smokey rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: <i>Dune</i> fans, sci-files
This book is the third and final entry in the prequel trilogy written by Brian Hebert and Kevin J. Anderson which tells of the events leading up to those described in Frank Hebert's classic Dune. The brisk narrative skips easily between the plot lines introduced in the earlier books, and finally resolve into a triumphant Star Wars-style ending. (No surprise: Kevin J. Anderson has written many novels in the Star Wars universe, too.)

Unfortunately, as with House Harkonnen, the authors fall into the...more
Alex
I don't know if it was just Other Obligations getting in the way, or if this final part of the Prelude to Dune trilogy really was the most difficult to get into. But in the end, despite coming somewhat full circle, I wasn't as best pleased with it as I had hoped. The number of simultaneous plot threads began to resemble a tangled mess of strings at the end as events were rushed to their conclusions. To draw a simile from the books, instead of being able to look forward with utter clarity to obse...more
Jules
Ah well. I think the fact that I immediately started reading the Butlerian Jihad says enough about my enthusiasm concerning the prequel trilogy. Not only that it explains many things that were surrounded in a mysterious aura in the first books, but it also reveals the beginning of many concepts and worlds. I think the pre-prequel will be even more revelatory, albeit too crowded with robots for my fine taste :p.
Benjamin Handelman
This 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, thei...more
Daniel
Not too bad, it finishes the House saga. Nothing is as good as the originals. But, like Star Trek, the stuff that came later could be good too, just different and opposed by purists to the franchise. Like all the non-Frank Herbert books, it lacks the scale and character of the original series. One of the more jarring aspects of this book, for me, is the pacing. Up until about page 500 or so the book follows a leisurely pace, then, all of a sudden, everything seems to happen at once. Some of the...more
Jo
While 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...more
Josh
Fun and more accessible than Frank Herbert's original series. It only took me 10 years to finish this... but that wasn't the book's fault. Lots of interesting plot points and twists. If you are a Dune fan, it's worth reading once because it serves as the direct lead in to the original Dune book.
R.J. Evanovich
As with the other "House" prequells, Brian Herbert and his coauthor do a good job bringing more of the back story to the Dune franchise. It is not in the same level as his dad's books but, they read well and the backgrounds are from the voluminous research and notes from his father.
Anita Fiorillo
AI am now totally confused by the Dune saga - cannot keep it straight. I think I will have to go to one of the fan pages and see if I can sort myself out. Or maybe I won't bother. These extensions of the line aren't as fascinating as the originals!
Andy
The final book of the House trilogy sets the stage for the events of the original Dune. All the familiar characters are here, plotting and scheming. The Atreides family, under Leto, remains somewhat honorable but utilize violence and go to war in the name of honor. Maybe it is foreshadowing for what Leto's son, Paul, turns out to be and what is done in his name. House Harkonnen remains bent on accumulating wealth and plotting against the Atreides. And House Corrino is corrupt and lazy, led by an...more
Birgitt Williams
I have read this book and all of the Dune series more than once, each time gaining new insights as I read and as I simultaneously understand more about life on earth. These books read as though the story is down-loaded, 'channeled'.
Elizabeth
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House Corrino (Prelude to Dune, #3)
House Corrino (Prelude to Dune, #3)
House Corrino (Prelude to Dune, #3)
House Corrino (Prelude to Dune, #3)
House Corrino (Prelude to Dune, #3)

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Brian Patrick Herbert is a best selling American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of famed science fiction author Frank Herbert.

Brian and his wife, Jan Herbert, have been happily married for forty years (as of 2007). They have three daughters, Julie, Kim, and Margaux Beverly. Brian also has an elder half-sister, Penny; their younger brother, gay activist Bruce Calvin Herbe...more
More about Brian Herbert...
The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, #1) House Atreides (Prelude to Dune, #1) House Harkonnen (Prelude to Dune, #2) The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, #2) The Battle of Corrin (Legends of Dune, #3)

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“The first step in innovation is to know that a thing can be created. After that, the rest is a matter of detail.” 9 people liked it
“We could be dreaming all the time, but we do not perceive those dreams while we are awake because consciousness (like the sun obscuring stars during the day) is much too brilliant to allow the unconscious content so much definition.” 3 people liked it
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