This past week from BOOM! Studios came the latest in the run up to the movie Dune. Dune: House Atreides 2 continues the story leading up to the epic motion picture. Set roughly a generation before hand it continues to move the chess pieces across the board for the game that will be played on the big screen.
Imperial Planetologist Pardot Kynes arrives on Arrakis and prepares for his study of the planet. In the process he gets assigned to a hot headed, fortune and glory pilot named Rabban, nephew to the Harkonnen baron. Kynes wants to study the worms and why they are so unique, but Rabban would just a soon blow one apart and show it off as a trophy. After some mishaps they lure one out and kill; However, Rabban becomes furious when the worm instantly starts breaking up. Instead of having a monstrous trophy, thousands of larvae flood back into the sands to continue the cycle.
The story then jumps to the Bene Gesserit Mother School where a sisterhood works in the shadows to manipulate the future. They believe in a savior, the Kwisatz Haderach, and their genetic manipulations stretch thousands of years to bring it about. Time means little and now they feel they are within 1-2 generations of its existence.
Next up we meet Duncan Idaho, a prisoner who keeps trying to escape his prison. The tracker imbedded in him prevents him from being successful, but when a Lord is informed of his near success, he drags Duncan away from his family for another ‘hunt’.
Lastly, Leto Atreides travels the galaxy to reach Ix. He travels alone since Ix doesn’t attract a sane person. He should be the guest of Earl Dominic Vernius, but the shuttle drops him off in the middle of nowhere.
House Atreides 2 – The March Continues
I love the art and the story leads into one of the great sci-fi stories of all time. There is just one problem. Dune by its very nature is a political thriller above all. It showcases some cool ships and fights, but in the end it becomes House Harkonnen vs House Atreides. This issue divides itself into four small parts, each small, quick and to the point. By themselves they really do not offer much in the way of excitement or intrigue.
Add these pieces to the bigger story and you get a truly epic story. Unless you are an avid Dune lover or love slow paced intrigue stories, this series might be better collected and then binge read all at once. The trade paper back would also be a good option. This series does not lack in quality. It simply plods along at an extremely slow, complex pace a generation before the story in the movie.
