"It is the year 10,154 of the Imperial Calendar, and for four decades the planet Arrakis - called Dune by its inhabitants - has been ruled by the Harkonnen family. But the seeds of change have been sown. On Arrakis, an idealistic young planetologist, Pardot Kynes, goes out into the desert to learn the secrets of its giant sandworms and the priceless Spice they create. And on another planet, Caledon, young Leto Atreides is nearly ready to become duke. The blood feud between House Atreides and House Harkonnen is about to begin. Drawing on notes, outlines and correspondence Frank Herbert left behind at his death, House Atreides is a breathtaking story of war, treachery, decadence and steadfastness in the face of overwhelming odds. "

(reserved for bookowl1000)

On its way to bookowl1000 as part of the wishlist-tag-game. I hope you'll enjoy the book!

The book has arrived safely here in China.

I am a huge fan of the original Dune series, and am looking forward to reading more of the back story.

Thanks for sending it my way.

Tomorrow I will be taking a 36 hour train journey from Guangzhou to Harbin so plenty of reading time, though I am taking many books with me. Hopefully I will get this read and released somewhere in north China during the next week. It has been on the shelf neglected for too long.

Didn't get to start the book while in Harbin; instead I started it at Snow Village on Christmas day. Had several spare hours that afternoon as it was well below zero outside. Got through it very quickly and had finished it a couple of days later by the time I got to Mount ChangBai.

When you love a series it is natural to get excited by the thought of another part of the series. It is great to be able to read more about the characters we know from the Dune books. We get to see how Duncan Idaho escaped the Harkonnen slave planet at the age of 8, and joined the household of the young Leto who we setting out on the path to becoming a powerful leader.

When a book is written by someone other than the original author we now that the story cannot be exactly what it should be, but enjoyable anyhow. The danger with prequels is they can introduce information that is not consistent with the original books set at a later date - when the invisible ship appeared, I did wonder why no one in the future used it to wipe out their enemies.

Reading this has reminded me how much I love the Dune series. It was great to find out more of the back stories of the characters. I intend to did out the original novels and give them a re-read.

Left at the Woodland Youth Hostel on the bookshelf. It was the only English language book there, so I hope it will be a welcome sight to some wearing traveller desperate for something to read.

If you were lucky enough to find this book please journal it to say where you found it, and then what you thought of it. If you enjoyed it then you really must read the first Dune novel.

When you have finished please release it. Keep its journey alive!