Well, I finally did finish the book and then went out this past week and bought House Harkonnen.

That might be a testament to how good it was, and on its own and forgetting who his father was and what he wrote (Brian not Kevin), it was not a bad story. But it was very clear that it also could not stand alone as too many threads were left hanging (and hence why I bought the next one and started reading it already).

For those Familiar with the Dune series, this is a prequel, and a pretty good one.  But the Authors are good story tellers and not great ones, so they do telegraph much.  But I will admit (especially after my rant earlier) that there were some subtle plot twists that did catch me, if not completely unawares, at least surprised me.

The story is about a far distant future, and yet except for some neat gadgets yet to be invented and the fact that the known inhabited universe consists of a million worlds, the book could be about today.  As  the one constant in most Science Fiction books is that while the scenery changes, man does not.

Indeed, while the good guys may be a little too good, and the bad guys a little too evil, it is the classic story of Good vs evil.  And as with Dune (at least in the initial and then the last Frank Book), Good is totally clueless on what is happening.  Evil holds all the cards.

But I do give it a 3 out of 5 stars.  For anyone who has read and loves the Dune Books, read it as it is a good prequel, but understand, Frank is dead.  For those who have never read Dune, perhaps you should start with Brian's books as it makes for a good story, and you can work up to the really good Novels by Frank himself!