Dune

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 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.