National Network for Equitable Library Service

The final book in the Caladan trilogy, the pivotal events that lead up to Frank Herbert's masterpiece Dune He is Paul Atreides. The son of Duke Leto and Lady Jessica, the heir of Caladan. He will become the fabled Muad'Dib. Before he set foot on the sands of Arrakis, Paul was forged into the young man who would become a great leader, a hero ... even a tyrant. Just as he turns fifteen years old, Paul is faced with turbulent crises on Caladan—political turmoil, as well as the unraveling of his family. His mother, Lady Jessica, has been blackmailed and forced by the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood to leave Caladan and become the new concubine of another lord, in an effort to prove her loyalty ... and break her heart. Duke Leto Atreides, driven to extremes to prove his service to Emperor Shaddam, and to preserve and strengthen his Great House at all costs, has undertaken a dangerous mission that goes against the grain of his honor—to pretend to join the violent rebel cause of the bloodthirsty Jaxson Aru, even to befriend the terrorist leader. The loyal Gurney Halleck has been dispatched on a secret, vitally important mission to inform the Emperor of Leto's true cause, that his honor has never wavered ... but Gurney has been intercepted and captured by the terrible Harkonnens. Young Paul is left to serve as the steward to Caladan, his beloved and beautiful world ... and in preparation for that, the young man has been trained in mental acuity by the warrior Mentat Thufir Hawat, pushed to the extremes of his abilities by the faithful Swordmaster Duncan Idaho, and taught in natural science by the Suk Doctor Wellington Yueh, who harbors his own dark secret. Paul must meet every challenge, grow and become strong enough to protect a world ... but the heir of Caladan does not know that these trials will shape him into the man who will conquer an entire Imperium.