Having read and enjoyed the first of these Dune prequels earlier this year I suppose it was inevitable that I read book two. And also despite the fact that I had enjoyed the first I was still a little perturbed that this would disappoint.

Once again I need not have worried. Okay, there is still the fact that an element of suspense is missing. The principal characters are assured of life beyond these pages, and so any realistic life threats have to be restricted to the supporting cast.

There is also something predictable in the fates of some of these characters. After all if you have read the first of Frank Herbert's Dune you know the relationships the principal characters of that book will develop, and so you will spend some of the time reading this book wondering when the new support characters will "Exit Stage Left".

But despite this obvious disadvantage this book is a very entertaining read. Part of this is that the authors have managed to make you care for the supporting characters and sympathise with their situations.

Duke Leto has grown into his role as head of House Atreides. Baron Harkonnen busies himself scheming and plotting whilst all the time his body collapses on him – utilising every means to extract the greatest possible benefit for House Harkonnen from their control of Dune and the spice contract. All the time the Emperor is involving himself in secret plans to remove the importance of the Dune spice.

Against this background of plotting, other of the cast are starting to take their positions. Duncan Idaho heads off to undergo his Sword Master training, Gurney Halleck manages to escape from the Harkonnen slave world, and Jessica arrives on Caladan – trained to be the perfect concubine for Duke Leto.

This is a big book. I'm not usually the biggest fan of thick volumes, especially when they are parts of series. Every now and again I find exceptions to this rule. Frank Herbert's Dune books were ones that managed to overcome my reluctance to series of longer books. Stephen Donaldson manages it with his Thomas Covenant books. And when I get the time to read them, Stephen King most definitely appeals despite producing doorstep-thick tomes.

Kevin J. Anderson has also managed this with his Saga of Seven Suns series. This made the initial decision to open book one easy, but the standard of the books themselves is going to keep me reading this series.