Dune: House Harkonnen is a 2000 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the second book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune. The Prelude to Dune novels draw from notes left behind by Frank Herbert after his death. Dune: House Harkonnen debuted at #11 on The New York Times Best Seller list, and rose to #8 in its second week of publication. Plot summary Eighteen years have passed since Shaddam IV succeeded his father as Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. However, his rule is precarious as his wife Anirul has been instructed by her Bene Gesserit sisterhood to bear him only daughters. Shaddam's authority is also challenged by the powerful House Harkonnen, whose illegal stock-piling of melange is of great concern to the Emperor. In order to monopolize the spice, Shaddam and his trusted advisor and friend, Count Fenring, plan to synthesize the substance with the help of Hidar Fen Ajidica, a Tleilaxu Master Researcher. Ajidica sets up laboratories to accomplish this purpose on the newly conquered planet of Ix, formerly the home of House Vernius. By the end of the novel, Ajidica tells Fenring that the manufacture of synthetic spice has been a success, although the validity of his claim is highly dubious. Meanwhile, on Caladan, Duke Leto Atreides bids Duncan Idaho farewell. Duncan is headed for Ginaz, where he will study to become a swordmaster. Leto and his friends, Kailea and Rhombur Vernius, are still struggling to liberate the siblings' former homeworld, but they have made little progress so far. Kailea becomes Leto's concubine, though he refuses to marry her for obvious political reasons. Rhombur seeks out a companion from the Bene Gesserit order and is matched with a young woman named Tessia who gives him a new sense of drive and purpose. After receiving a plea for help from C'tair Pilru, an Ixian rebel, Rhombur begins supplying the Ixian resistance with limited aid, though his attempts are greatly hindered by the Emperor's Sardaukar. Kailea soon gives birth to Leto's son, Victor. After the child's birth, she becomes increasingly dissatisfied with her role as Leto's concubine, wanting the Duke to marry her so that their son can succeed his father someday. Kailea's lady-in-waiting, Chiara, is actually a Harkonnen