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Title | The Duke of Caladan
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Author | Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
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Cover Art | Matt Griffin
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Publisher | Tor - 2020
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First Printing | Tor - 2020
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Title | The Lady of Caladan
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Author | Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
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Cover Art | Matt Griffin
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Publisher | Tor - 2021
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First Printing | Tor - 2021
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Title | The Heir of Caladan
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Author | Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson
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Cover Art | Matt Griffin
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Publisher | Tor - 2022
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First Printing | Tor - 2022
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Category | Science Fiction
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Warnings | None
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Main Characters | Leto Atreides, Jessica, Paul Atreides, Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck, Thufir Hawat, the Harkonnens, Count Fenring, the Emperor, Jaxson Aru
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Main Elements | Empires
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Website | ---
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 The Duke of Caladan
Leto Atreides, Duke of Caladan and father of the Muad’Dib. While all know of his fall and the rise of his son, little is known about the quiet ruler of Caladan and his partner Jessica. Or how a Duke of an inconsequential planet earned an emperor’s favor, the ire of House Harkonnen, and set himself on a collision course with his own death. This is the story.
Through patience and loyalty, Leto serves the Golden Lion Throne. Where others scheme, the Duke of Caladan acts. But Leto’s powerful enemies are starting to feel that he is rising beyond his station, and House Atreides rises too high. With unseen enemies circling, Leto must decide if the twin burdens of duty and honor are worth the price of his life, family, and love.
The Lady of Caladan
Lady Jessica, mother of Paul, and consort to Leto Atreides. The choices she made shaped an empire, but first the Lady of Caladan must reckon with her own betrayal of the Bene Gesserit. She has already betrayed her ancient order, but now she must decide if her loyalty to the Sisterhood is more important than the love of her own family.
Meanwhile, events in the greater empire are accelerating beyond the control of even the Reverend Mother, and Lady Jessica's family is on a collision course with destiny.
The Heir of Caladan
In Dune: The Heir of Caladan, the climactic novel in the Caladan trilogy by New York Times bestselling authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, we step into the shoes of Paul Atreides. A not yet a man in years, he is about to enter a world he could never have imagined.
The story that began with Duke Leto Atreides's rise to power, then continued with the consequences of Lady Jessica’s betrayal, will now conclude with Paul becoming the leader that he needs to be on the way to his pivotal role as Muad’Dib.
Any Dune fan will devour this tale of a legend coming into his own.
I started the year reading the first Dune novel by Frank Herbert, and ended the year by reading The Lady of Caladan written by his son. Counting the short stories and graphic novels, that was a lot of Dune! I even squeezed in the Lynch movie though I'm still too COVID shy to go to the theater to see the Villeneuve one.
Brian Herbert's collaborations with Kevin J. Anderson had their ups and downs, but the ones I found I liked the most took place shortly before the original Dune series, or were the two that wrapped up the series. Maybe because they were familiar characters and because it wasn't filling in details that didn't need filling in like the two that were inserted in the middle of the original series.
I thought after reading so many Dune books I'd be really tired of it, but I enjoyed The Duke of Caladan, perhaps because it wasn't huge epic events taking place. Leto was looking into a suitable wife for his son, trying to stamp out an illegal drug trade and expand his moonfish exports, sounds boring but was kind of enjoyable seeing the Duke deal with "normal" crises.
The Lady of Caladan continued that...but since they needed a story centered mainly around Jessica, they came up with this ridiculous thing where the Bene Gessirit recalls Jessica due to the ravings of a madwoman who is apparently precient (was anyone else ever prescient other than Paul and the navigators? Why would a Reverend Mother have this power, their abilities look to the past...) and believes that Jessica and/or Paul is going to bring doom to the Sisterhood. So after first trying to kill Jessica, they send her off to be the concubine of some other noble...that bit was actually kind of sweet how it worked out, but the premise was just dumb. I couldn't believe this episode occured without any reference to such a major thing so shortly before the start of the original Dune series. It was like the authors were finally running out of ideas (which I felt they did some time before really) and needed to weave this ridiculous thread.
So here I was thinking I might keep this trilogy (I'll be keeping about half the son's works), but was so disappointed with this second book I'm not sure anymore. I'll have to wait for the third to decide. It was published in time for me to read it before the end of the year but I've learned I won't pay $40 for it, especially as there is a 50% chance I won't like it, so will have to wait for a discount store to sell a remainded hardcover or just nab it from the library. This unfortunately messed up my plans to actually complete the entire Dune series but then, for all I know the Herbert/Anderson duo will continue to milk it for all it's worth and write another dozen. Only time will tell, and only time will tell if I will read them.
March 2023
Got myself a copy...it had started so well but then I dunno, it just got silly. Like Paul knowing virtually nothing about the fauna and flora of his planet. I mean its a planet, he can't have visited every part of it, but I don't even have the advanced tech they have, I while I've never been to Africa, I know what a lion is, and an elephant, and a meerkat...Paul seemed rather clueless about the planet he was supposed to rule. And the Jessica storyline was just so contrived. And the Leto storyline just had too many coincidences and cliffhangers that it really should have ended with Caladan being wiped off the map (but of course we know at no point was any one in any real risk, a problem with prequels). It was a long a twisty way to setup why exactly the Atreides were being awarded with Arrakis and the Harkonnens being punished by its loss...but honestly, I didn't feel like I needed all those details, I just needed to know those politics were at play at the start of the first Dune novel, I never felt I need 1500 pages of explanation. And yes, the authors still feel the need to repeat things...I don't know how often it was mentioned that Jessica was on Elegy or that she loved Leto...could probaby have fit in a duology. Too bad, it started kind of good, but the next two books just made me roll my eyes as the plotlines felt ludicrous.
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