Princess of Dune is a very enjoyable story that I immensely appreciated. Discovering Chani and Irulan’s characters before Dune’s events was very satisfying. It made them fuller characters and gave great insight into their actions and choices later in the series. Anyone who likes Dune will love reading about these powerful women. Fans of the Dune movies should check out Princess of Dune, even if they don’t read Dune itself. It will give them a greater appreciation of Chani and Irulan and their stories, and that’s always a good thing.
(full review at link) https://thecosmiccircus.com/book-review-princess-of-dune-by-brian-herbert-and-kevin-j-anderson/

Thank you for letting me review this book. Book was well written and interesting. Would recommend to all who enjoyed author's previous books. 10/10.

Another riveting story into the Dune world! An enjoyable read into how two major characters came to be.

An enjoyable prequel book, that fleshes out the backstories of two influential women in the 'Dune' universe. While its storylines are mostly unsurprising, the time spent with Chani and Irulan make this a worthwhile journey.
Rating: 3.5 Stars [Good].

Full written review published on DuneNewsNet.com (September 26, 2023).

I’m obsessed with Dune! I have every Dune book written by Frank Herbert (in both numerous editions and at least 6 or 7 special editions) and all of the Dune books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson.

I can’t get enough and will reread every single book I have every few years (I think we’re up to 26 Dune books with all of the prequels and sequels!)

Princess of Dune is set two years before the events of Dune takes place and alternates between Irulan’s and Chani’s POV. I thought this was a great prequel showing the backstory of the two most important women in Paul’s life.

We also get to see Irulan’s younger sisters, especially Wensica which gives insight as to how ambitious she was.

I especially loved seeing the fierce warrior in a younger Chani.

I hope that Brian and Kevin continue writing in the Dune world, because I can’t seem to get enough.

*Thank you so much to Tor Books and NetGalley for the gifted advance ecopy!*

Title: Princess of Dune
Author: Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Publishing Date: Oct 3, 2023
Pages: 400
Genre: Sci-fi, Fantasy
Rating: ☆☆☆☆

I really love these books that give more insight into the Dune universe!
Princess of Dune was such a great story. I expected nothing less from Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson! It was written to the same tune as the rest of the Dune books and still offered something new and exciting. Thoroughly enjoyed and would highly recommend to Dune lovers that are looking for more lore and more story!

I wasn't quite sure how the chapters broke up but stopped at the 5% mark (three sections). I think this will go over really well for die-hard Dune fans, but I don't know that those not in that camp will find it particularly interesting. Some of the world-building descriptions are beautiful. It's easy to read. A bit exposition heavy, but that said, I realize this is a very intricate world with 26(?) books that came before it, although that's part of the reason I question if it appeals to anyone outside those already interested/familiar with Dune. This doesn't feel like a story we can just jump into.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

Solid book. I had a fun time reading it and getting to see more of Irulan and Chani before Paul. I think there were too many plot threads, I found the whole plot around the Guild and Starguides too be a little tacked on and ultimately, for me, added little to the overall emotional story about these two women being told. The chapters felt too short, I would have liked to spend longer periods of time with each character in few chapters than bouncing around constantly. But I still had a good time reading it.

I admit that I haven't read any of the multitude of titles set in the world of Dune released between the first Dune and this title, Princess of Dune. After viewing the latest movie, Dune part 1, I reread the original story. Now that I am anxiously awaiting part 2, I was excited to see this title focusing on the back stories of both Chani and Irulan. This book was great. I really enjoyed reading the back stories and learning how the women became who they are during the story of Dune. Rather than being secondary characters, they become the focal point.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced reader copy of the book.

Such an intriguing view on both of these female characters and their perspectives. I’m not sure who I enjoyed getting to know more about. It’s the book I didn’t think I’d “need” in regards to this universe but it uniquely sets up how and why they get involved with Paul.

Princess of Dune is the 26th Dune book, with six from Frank Herbert and twenty built on his legacy but written by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. It is one of several prequels to the original Dune novel, tracing the lives of not one, but two, princesses of Dune, Princess Irulan, coming into her own as a formidable power in the royal Corrino family and Chani, the desert girl who old become wife in all but name to Paul Atriedes. It slots in chronologically between House Corrino and Duke of Caladan. Its publication this fall 2023 is timed to coincide with the release of the latest Dune movie.

For those in love with the Dune universe, it offers more background on two characters whose backgrounds we probably never were curious about. Thus, it doesn’t answer any grand questions or puzzles. For those purists who would have preferred the series left at the original six or even the primary trilogy and many things only hinted at for our fertile imaginations to play with, it’s too late to turn back the clock. All corners of the Dine universe have been painted in as tribute to Herbert’s original vision.

Spoilers may follow.

There are four main characters in this latest entry into the Duniverse. In addition to the two princesses, we also meet Guild Starguide Serello, a failed applicant to Navigator school who now occupied an important position in the Guild and whose great grandfather’s body (a navigator) was being brought to Arrakis for the honor of the spice and Shai-Hulud. The theft of that body for Bene Tleilax experiments is a major sub-plot here as is the revenge the Guild enacted against the Tleilax and the foreshadowing of the experiments with gholas such as Duncan Idaho’s.

The other major character storyline is that of Zenha, an Imperial officer known for his skill and prowess, who resents the appointment of incompetent nobles to captaincy, and dares to ask for the hand of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV’s eldest daughter, Irulan. Punishment for his temerity is swift and calculated when he is ordered to crush a rebellion and realizes that he was sent to fail and that thousands of his crewmen were to die as payment. Before it’s too late, he mutinies, gathers a force and heads to the Imperial planet though it’s odd that the Guild allowed it.

Shaddam and Irulan flee assassins to the safety of Dune where Chani and her siblings plot the Emperor’s death via an ill-planned plot. Thus, all the threads with these four main characters come together. And, we get major plot lines with a fourteen year old Chani and a confident Bene Gesserit trained Irulan who proves her mettle so much earlier than her appearance in the original trilogy.

Everything in the Dune universe is endlessly fascinating to fans of the franchise. Yet, the involvement of desert girl Chani in plots in the Keep in Arakeen doesn’t necessarily ring authentic and neither does the risk it poses to Liet-Kynes and his two roles, one of the royal planetologist and one of Fremen dreamer.