In this fully satisfying conclusion (after Dune House Atreides and Dune House Harkonnen) to the authors House trilogy Emperor Shaddam Corrino tries to grasp greater power than any emperor before him and to rule the Million Worlds solely according to his whims. On the captured planet Ix the research Shaddam directs into the creation of a synthetic spice amal that will make him all powerful spirals out of control putting the entire civilization at risk. Meanwhile the enslavers of Ix must 8contend with threats from exiled Prince Rhombur Vernius who wishes to rule the planet instead. Tumultuous times are also in store for the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood whose breeding plan has been thrown off course one generation shy of its end. Tension between the houses Atreides and Harkonnen builds to a dramatic showdown. While the intricacy of the first prequel is absent here so is the filler of the second. Because Herbert and Anderson are extrapolating from someone else s ideas and characters they tend to overuse catch phrases (like the Golden Lion throne ) from Dune and its sequels with a resulting flatness of language. The inevitable derivative features aside this is a good steady enjoyable tale and readers who haven t read the first two books can easily follow the plot. A bold red and gold dust jacket with illustration by Stephen Youll is a real eye catcher. Fans who will be sorry to see the end of this series will be heartened by the hint that the Dune saga is far from over.