Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson: Prelude to Dune:House Corrino

By JIM EAGLES*

The scene is finally set for the bestselling - and, arguably, the best - science fiction novel of all time.

The ill-advised, power-hungry antics of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV have thrown the galaxy into turmoil.

This has forced the Guild of Navigators, whose extra-sensory powers make space travel feasible, and the merchants of CHOAM, who run the galactic economy, to intervene to restore balance to the realm.

The surreptitious millennium-long breeding programme of the mysterious female order of the Bene Gesserit has reached an unexpected climax with the birth of a son, Paul, to the noble house of Atreides.

Bold strikes by Duke Leto Atreides have shattered his foes, restored the honour of his allies and greatly increased his standing in the Landsraad.

The brutal Baron Vladimir Harkonnen has finally over-reached himself in his running of the concession to harvest the melange spice on which the space navigators - and so civilisation itself - depend.

These strands come together on the desert planet of Arrakis, the only source of the spice, where the native Fremen are increasingly assertive and powerful omens hint of great changes to come.

All is in readiness for the events described in Dune, Frank Herbert's remarkable novel of the rise of the god-emperor Paul Atreides, which has sold 15 million copies.

Herbert himself capitalised on Dune's success by writing five excellent sequels.

Now his son Brian, in partnership with fellow SF writer Kevin J. Anderson, has extended the saga even further through three prequels, of which this is evidently to be the last.

House Corrino, like the others, is a great story well able to be relished on its own, as well as adding value to the eternally fascinating world first created in Dune.

It focuses particularly on the imperial Corrino family and the disastrous attempt by Shaddam IV to produce the vital melange spice artificially. This inevitably draws the rest of the cast of Dune into what is both thrilling adventure in its own right and a worthy new chapter in the Dune saga.

None of the prequels and sequels has been able to match the extraordinary impact of Dune - what could? - but together the nine books make up what is surely one of the finest series in the trillion-year history of SF.

New English Library

$22.95

* Jim Eagles is the editor of the Business Herald.