Paperback, 604 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2006 by Hodder.
Dune is a 1965 science-fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in Analog magazine. It tied with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal for the Hugo Award in 1966, and it won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. It is the first installment of the Dune saga; in 2003, it was cited as the world's best-selling science fiction novel.Dune is set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "the spice," a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug …
Dune is a 1965 science-fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in Analog magazine. It tied with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal for the Hugo Award in 1966, and it won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. It is the first installment of the Dune saga; in 2003, it was cited as the world's best-selling science fiction novel.Dune is set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "the spice," a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug provides. As melange can only be produced on Arrakis, control of the planet is thus a coveted and dangerous undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.Herbert wrote five sequels: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. Adaptations of the novel have been notoriously difficult and complicated. In the 1970s, cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted to make a film based on the novel. After spending almost three years in development, the project was cancelled due to a constantly growing budget. In 1984, a film adaptation, directed by David Lynch, was released to negative reaction. A third film adaptation directed by Denis Villeneuve is scheduled to be released on October 1, 2021. The book was also adapted into the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune and its 2003 sequel Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (which combines the events of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune), a series of computer games, a board game, songs, and a series of follow-ups, including prequels and sequels, that were co-written by Kevin J. Anderson and the author's son, Brian Herbert, starting in 1999.Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-life nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn's moon Titan.
You are really brough into the world of Dune the book sucks you in with intrigue as it reveals how the world works and how the people of Arrakis live, the book can drag on in some parts but it is well written and gives you a real feel for the world.
Cheers to finishing a buddy read and writing this review even though it has been over six months! I’m quite glad I had seen the recent movies before reading this one, for once. It was useful to have that context going into the story and not drowning in a sea of unfamiliar names and places and histories. Of course, the book goes much more in-depth than the films do, especially as you get the fantastic inner monologues of the characters. Paul Atreides’s journey as the Chosen One is a lot more compelling when you get insight into his self-doubts and uncertainties, even though they were at times repetitive. I also enjoyed the scheming machinations of Lady Jessica and the Harkonnens—in general, the book filled in many gaps in my knowledge coming from the films.
The biggest struggle I had with this book is Herbert’s writing style. I’m not sure how …
Cheers to finishing a buddy read and writing this review even though it has been over six months! I’m quite glad I had seen the recent movies before reading this one, for once. It was useful to have that context going into the story and not drowning in a sea of unfamiliar names and places and histories. Of course, the book goes much more in-depth than the films do, especially as you get the fantastic inner monologues of the characters. Paul Atreides’s journey as the Chosen One is a lot more compelling when you get insight into his self-doubts and uncertainties, even though they were at times repetitive. I also enjoyed the scheming machinations of Lady Jessica and the Harkonnens—in general, the book filled in many gaps in my knowledge coming from the films.
The biggest struggle I had with this book is Herbert’s writing style. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s obtuse at times and meanders a lot. I did enjoy the worldbuilding, but just when you felt like he was getting into something interesting, he would switch perspectives or topics. If I didn’t have the broad outline of the story from the films, I may have been quite confused, especially in the beginning. I also would have liked to see some greater engagement with the character’s development. That is not to say there isn’t any, just that it could have been handled a bit more deftly; Herbert’s writing style suggests he is capable of it, but perhaps he wasn’t as interested in that aspect. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of my favorite parts was the appendix at the end which straightforwardly describes some of the background for a certain character’s motivations and adding some context to the reader’s knowledge of the planet Arrakis.
Despite a somewhat slow start, the narrative was quite engaging and of course grandiose in scope; you witness Paul’s journey into becoming the Muad-Dib and understand what it took for him to get there. Given the length of the book, it did take me about a month to finish. I don’t think this is necessarily suitable for binge reading, because there is a lot going on, and being able to gradually absorb the events as they unfold was useful. Above all, Herbert gives us a fantastic introduction to the world of Dune as well as some of his broader themes about politics, religion, and philosophical matters. Smarter readers have already dissected many of those themes, but suffice it to say that I enjoyed the nuances of Herbert’s ideas. I would like to continue reading the series, but time will tell when I can get to the next one.
The book is so packed of action, emotion, mysticism and lots of character development. Loved it. Coming from reading most of the Foundation series, I wasn’t sure if I me being a fanboy, Iwas going to like it another big Sci-Fi saga but I did. Can’t wait to read the next books!
The first roughly two chapters were quite difficult to get into. Many terms I didn't understand, and I naturally didn't have a grasp of the political landscape, which would've been quite important to understand at the start. However, this feeling soon went away, as the situation became clearer.
I didn't like the story arc at all. The buildup was huge and monumental, but the resolution was frustratingly lame. Maybe this is only because this book is the first of a series, but still not satisfying.
What I really liked, was the world building. Instead of focusing on a technology-dominated future, Herbert forbid all AI-related machinery in his novel and instead focused on enhanced capabilities of humans. A concept that I'd say really worked out. The ecosystem of Arrakis is quite interesting too, as is the way of living of its inhabitants. And glimpses the reader gets into the politics, economy, …
The first roughly two chapters were quite difficult to get into. Many terms I didn't understand, and I naturally didn't have a grasp of the political landscape, which would've been quite important to understand at the start. However, this feeling soon went away, as the situation became clearer.
I didn't like the story arc at all. The buildup was huge and monumental, but the resolution was frustratingly lame. Maybe this is only because this book is the first of a series, but still not satisfying.
What I really liked, was the world building. Instead of focusing on a technology-dominated future, Herbert forbid all AI-related machinery in his novel and instead focused on enhanced capabilities of humans. A concept that I'd say really worked out. The ecosystem of Arrakis is quite interesting too, as is the way of living of its inhabitants. And glimpses the reader gets into the politics, economy, and religion are also fascinating.
it took me ages to get through this. not because it's bad, probably mostly because i repaired my computer and had.. other things on my mind. but also partly because herbert's style reminds me of tolkien. like, a lot. at least in the sense that herbert really wants you to read his mediocre poetry too.
this isn't bad by any means, and i will surely read on in the future. probably around the time the second movie hits. the characters are fleshed-out and there's surprisingly little overt misogyny for a science fiction book that is, at this point, positively ancient. it's just the constant internal monologuing and then rushing through the actual happenings that gets exhausting after a while.
