An average story in a wonderful universe
3 stars
The best way I can describe this book is "aggressively 50%". It seems to me that its only purpose was to connect the first 700 page book to the third 700 page book, through its own 750 pages.
Also, it seems sloppy to me to have EVERYTHING originate within a single 30 year period: Atreides, Harkonnen, Suk doctors, the Tleilaxu, shield generators, suspensor lights, faster-than-light travel, discovering melange, the Freman, riding worms, the Bene Gesserit... It was almost like the authors had a checklist of references they wanted to make, and because it was set so much earlier they thought they all had to originate and none could be already established.