While fans are eagerly waiting for the eventual release of both George R. R. Martin’s The Winds of Winter and Denis Villeneuve’s Dune (slated for release in October 2021), there’s a new title to hit shelves at local comic book store that promises to be an exciting mixture of both. BOOM! Studios has released the first issue of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson’s Dune: House Atreides, a comic book adaptation of the novel of the same name published in 1999.
A prequel to the original Dune novel, written by Brian Herbert’s father, the late Frank Herbert in 1965, House Atreides focuses on the Imperium’s complex power structure, and the web of politics which unites the universe’s ruling houses and sets them against each one another. Sound familiar? It should. Even with just one issue out, the narrative dynamic will be very familiar to fans of Game of Thrones - or for the more literary-inclined, A Song of Ice and Fire. There are many parallels to be drawn between the high fantasy series and this prequel story to one of science fiction’s most seminal works.
Beginning with a look at the main players in the Galactic Padishah Empire, starting with the titular House Atreides. Very similar to the members of House Stark, the Atreides are honorable and loyal rulers who - as Dune fans already know - are destined for betrayal, ruin, and ultimate ascendency. The Harkonnens, like the Lannisters, are politically well-connected and given control over the richest planet in the Imperium: Arrakis, a veritable cosmic gold mine and the only known source of the spice mélange. The Imperial House Corrino has much in common with the Targaryens. They have ruled for millennia by keeping their enemies at bay with the most powerful army in the universe: the Sardaukar. Maybe not as epic as dragons, but just as terrifying. Not to mention, Arrakis' Fremen get just as bad a rap as the Wildlings.
Unlike the original novel, which focuses on the journey of Paul Atreides, House Atreides branches off into several storylines set across the Imperium, each focusing on the journeys of different characters. In issue #1, readers are introduced to four main storylines: the arrival of the Harkonnens on Arrakis (a planet otherwise known as Dune), the dispatch of eager planetologist Pardot Kynes to study the mysterious desert ecology of the planet, the political power struggle occurring within the house of the Emperor, and the beginning of a young Leto Atreides’ rise to power. If the comic stays faithful to its source material fans can expect several more storylines and characters to emerge, among them a slave boy named Duncan Idaho trying to escape his bondage to House Harkonnen.
Anyone worried it’s too sci-fi, shouldn’t be. There are swords, giant sandworms, an order of witches known as the Bene Gesserit, prophecy and portents, and a substance so powerful it borders on magic: the spice. Just like the original novel, this series has all the world-building Dune devotees have come to expect from a fantasy series. For the those eagerly awaiting the release of the feature film adaptation, or for people missing a GOT fix, this is a must read.