Dune: House Atreides

Prelude to Dune: House Atreides

House Atreides is the first book in a prequel trilogy to the Dune series, set before the events of Frank Herbert's original works. The trilogy was co-authored by Frank's son Brian Herbert and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson. It is of note that there is a debate amongst Dune fans regarding whether these books should be considered a legitimate part of the Dune canon.

Plot synopsis

Template:Spoiler The novel begins on the planet of Arrakis, 35 years before the events of the original Dune. The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen have just taking over the govenorship of Arrakis from his younger brother Abulurd, who have decreased spice production heavily. The Baron sees in his fief a large income to come, and begins to store up many illegal spice hoards.

On the Imperial Capital of the planet Kaitain, the young planetologist Pardot Kynes have just arrived from his homeworld of Salusa Secundus for a audience with the Padishah Emperor, his majesty Elrood Corrino IX. The old emperor is giving Kynes the mission of going to the only known source of melange, Arrakis, in order to find out more exactly how the precious substance is produced. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince Shaddam and the Imperial Eunuck Hasimir Fenring is plotting against the ruler. Shaddam is not getteing any younger, and it seems that the already 157 year old emperor will rule for another 50 years. Shaddam makes the decision of poisoning his father in order to speed up his succession to the throne.

The old Atreides Duke Paulus Atreides in the duchy of Caladan is planning on sending his young son and heir Leto to the court of Earl Dominic Vernius on Ix, in order to study politics with the Earl's son Rhombur. Leto's mother, the lady Helena, does not like the idea. Not only is she a very devoted orange catholic, but her father is also the Count Richese, who is the main rival of the Earl Vernius.

The Bene Gesserit is getting closer and closer in their quest of breading a Kwisatz Haderach, and according to their shemes, only three generations from it. They are therefore sending their product of thousands of years of breeding, the Reverand Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam to Giedi Prime, the Harkonnen home world, in order to give birth to a child to the Baron Vladimir, who is to be the grandmother of the Kwisatz Haderach. The Baron is not interested, but after being blackmailed due to his spice hoards, he have sex with Mohiam.

The young Harkonnen slave boy no. 11368, Duncan Idaho, is meanwhile trying to escape the forests of Giedi Prime, where the na-baron Glossu Rabban is trying to kill him as a part of a game he and his friends among the nobility is playing. Duncan finally manage to escape the planet, boarding a Heighliner en route to Caladan.

Pardot Kynes have just arrived to Arrakis now. By time he starts to dislike the Harkonnen rule of the planet, and he is getting more and more interested in the desert natives known as the Fremen, and the possibility of terraforming the planet. Pardot is discovering more and more proof that some time, long ago, Arrakis was covered with gigant oceans, and gets more and more curious about what actuallt happened. Maybe there's something about this the Fremen knows about...

Leto finds himself more than at home at the Earl's home at the Grand Palais of Ix. Not only have he found an equal in Prince Rhombur, but he have also fallen in love with the Earl's daughter, Kailea. But all is not perfect on the planet Ix. The suboids builing the Heighliners in the depths of the cave cities of Ix is getting more and unsatisfied with their living conditions, and the blasphamy of their work.

Emperor Elrood himself is beginning to shows signs of being senile, due to the effects of the poison Fenring has tricked him to take. When a Tleilaxu delegation one day arrives to the Court, discussing the possibilities of producing melange in laboratories, Project Amal, he becomes very interested. The Tleilaxu have one demand for letting the emperor invest, he have to give them military back up in their take over of the planet Ix, which they claim is needed for their experiments. The Empror who's already in a feud with the Earl of Ix for stealing his imperial concubine Shando, is willing to give them a hand.

After saving three fremen youths in the desert from Harkonnen trops, Pardot is taken to a fremen sietch. They are first considering executing him, but when they hear about his plans for a possible terraformation of the planet, the naibs becomes interested.Pardot marries a fremen woman, and together they have a son, Liet. The Harkonnen offspring born on Wallach IX is not at all what the Bene Gesserit was expecting, and is to weak to produce the mother of the Kwisatz Haderach. With no other choice, they go back to Giedi Prime to blackmail the Baron for another Harkonnen daughter. This time, the Baron is prepared though, and decides to give them what they seek, but this through raping Mohiam. In order to get a final revenge, Mohiam gives the Baron a uncurable disease, that by time is going to make the Baron fatter and fatter, destroying his beautiful body.

Ix is suddenly attacked by a join Tleilaxu/Sardaukar army. Leto, Rhombur and Kailea is beeing send to the Atreides homeworld of Caladan, while the Earl and his Lady decides to go their own ways as renegades through out the Imperium. The Tleilaxu sets up their own government on Ix, renaming the planet to Xuttuh.

Leto and the Vernius heirs are welcomed to Caladan by Duke Paulus, while Lady Helena is very sceptic on the idea of being host of the heirs to the House that have been violated the decisions made in the Great Convention after the Butlerian Jihad: ”Thou shall not built a machine in the likeness of the human mind!” She is plotting against her husband, the Old Duke. Meanwhile, the young Idaho child have after travelling for months over the many seas of Caladan reach the grand Ducal Capital of Cala City on the West Continent. After an audience with the Duke Paulus, the boy is welcomed in his Court, to work in the stable.

Back at Wallach IX, another Harkonnen daughter is born, given the name Jessica, meaning wealth in an ancient language. She is to be the grandmother of Kwisatz Haderach.

One evening at a bullfight, the Duke's favourite game, he is killed by a drugged Salusan Bull. Duncan becomes blamed as a Harkonnen spy, and as the one who drugged the bull. Leto knows of course that it is his own mother, Helena, who was behind the assassination, and is sending her the her the monastery of The Sisters In Isolation on the Eastern Continent to avoid gossip. Leto becomes the new Duke Atreides.

On the other side of the galaxy, another relative of the Duke dies, his great-grandfather, the Padishah Emperor, Elrood IX. Shaddam has finally reached the Golden Lion Throne and is soon to become crowned Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV of the Known Universe. He is throwing a grand crowning ceremony at Kaitain and is inviting noblities from across the Imperium, among them the new Duke Leto and his guests the Vernius heirs, but also Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

The Baron have a plan however. A Richese scientist in his service have just discovered a new function of the Holtzman effect that is just to travel light years instantly with The Guilds Heighliners. With this function the ship does not only become totaly invisably, it also becomes ondetectable on radars. With the help of this, the Baron is sending Glossu to attack an Tleilaxu delegation and making it look like an attack from the Atreides.

Upon landing on Kaitain, Leto is taking into prison for attack on a Tleilaxuian ship. The Crown Prince is sure that the Atreides did attack the Tleilaxu, but thinks that this is probably an attack directed to the House Corrino. If one would start to inspect the motives more closely, it would prove the help the Tleilaxu got from Elrood IX, which would mean a political scandal through out the Landsraad. The Crown Prince does not want to lose his popularity, a bad start of his political career, and frees the young Duke, and allows the Vernius heirs to remain his guests. Shaddam is crowned Emperor by the High Priest of Dur, and for the first time of 138 years, the Imperium is seeing a new ruler.

But there is still a lot to come. Duke Leto is puzzled about who actually attacked the Tleilaxu, and Shaddam is curious about what Leto actually wants from him.

On Dune, however the fremen is uniting in forms never seen before, with the dream of under the knowledge of the great Umma make their planet once again a green and blue paradise.