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Dune (Dune Chronicles #1)
by Frank Herbert

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234225.Dune?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Dune (Dune Chronicles #1)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172968533m/234225.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/234225.Dune?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Dune</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/58.Frank_Herbert">Frank Herbert</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/20670476?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 5 of 5 stars Frank Herbert
 Dune
 Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company, 1965
 pp. 483 (without appendices and glossary), 539 (with app. and glos.), unpriced
 ISBN: N/A
 
 Commonly billed as the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, Dune, an expansive tale of intrigue, religion, and human nature set in a semi-recursive far future, is looked upon fondly by newcomers and diehard genre addicts alike. Even without its innumerable critical acclaims, the novel is counted amongst all circles as an irreplaceable cornerstone of modern speculative fiction. In fact, with its five sequels, three prequels, two spinoff series (and one more in development), two companion books, and numerous adaptations for media both static and interactive, Dune seems to be less a book in and of itself, and more akin to the desert spring at the heart of an oasis, a wellspring of creative energy upon which dozens of children feed. However, it is another aspect of Dune that is to serve as the basis upon which this review shall grow to fruition. The widespread influence and propagation of the concepts in Dune were made possible by the inclusion of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of cultural, historical, political, spiritual, and scientific details, scattered throughout the work and supporting its storyline. Dune itself acts far less as a novel than as a massive encyclopedia entry, a well-crafted chronicle of Herbert's imagined world and its myriad facets well-masked by a beautifully crafted, but ultimately ancillary, story.
 The narrative of Dune is marvelous, rivaling that of many a better-critiqued author's magnum opus, and the characters, plot, and language are undeniably crafted as well as almost any other novel. However, the setting, in all its splendiferous nature and abyssal depth, is the main focus of the novel, the sole axis upon which the story-wheel turns its ponderous revolution. The main character, Paul, and his mother, Jessica, are an illicit trainee and a legitimate student, respectively, of the Bene Gesserit, an "ancient school of mental and physical training established primarily for female students" (Herbert 10/x), whose interests extend into the realms of political manipulation of the various Noble Houses composing the Imperium, religious engineering, and the use of precise bloodline manipulation to create the Kwisatz Haderach, "a male Bene Gesserit whose organic mental powers will bridge space and time" (Herbert 18/xviii). This sisterhood's existence stems from upon the outlawing of thinking machines and humanoid robots by the Butlerian Jihad, a pan-galactic religious movement which also produced the Mentat, a "class of Imperial citizens trained for supreme accomplishments of logic" (Herbert 20/xx); amongst the Mentat is counted Thurfir Hawat, under whom Paul (who may well be the Kwisatz Haderach) trains in addition to his mother and Duncan Idaho, a swordsman who teaches him to use the kindjal, a weapon bearing similarities to the crysknife, which is wielded by the Fremen, descendants of the Zensunni Wanderers and natives of the planet Dune... and so it goes. Every event, every personage, every act, even the most minor aspect imaginable, is a window into the vast backstory of the universe concocted in the alchemical labs of the author's imagination.
 Even the writing style is possessed of many qualities of historically referential literature: it is succinct and dry without a hint of dullness; it utilizes a very particular form of figurative language that, while very evocative, is terse and short in presentation; and it depicts concurrent events, both physical and psychological (and there are many psychological events), with equivalent form and verve as it describes acts long since passed. In addition, the novel takes pleasure in self-referential historicalness, beginning each chapter, as it does, with an excerpt from any one of numerous fictitious book, which are themselves analytical delineations on the very events and characters featured in the novel itself. With this simple device, Herbert lends still more credibility, not merely to the legendary status of the story itself, but to the profundity of the world in which said occurrences take place.
 In short, it is pure folly to so much as attempt to make the case that Herbert put little thought into either the novel's gloriously crafted storyline or its expansive universe. Each is as important as the other in the context of his novel, in contrast to many others that end up striking a horrifically uneven balance between setting and narrative. Dune has most certainly earned its place in science fiction history, for innumerable reasons in addition to its meshing of place and events, and it comes highly recommended to any who dare test the waters of such an enthralling limpid pool of refreshing novelty, a novelty still very much applicable over 40 years after its publication.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/667084?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Cassidy's review
rating:
recommended for: People with flexibly discerning taste, and who don't mind a lot of glossary checks..

Frank Herbert
Dune
Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company, 1965
pp. 483 (without appendices and glossary), 539 (with app. and glos.), unpriced
ISBN: N/A

Commonly billed as the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, Dune, an expansive tale of intrigue, religion, and human nature set in a semi-recursive far future, is looked upon fondly by newcomers and diehard genre addicts alike. Even without its innumerable critical acclaims, the novel is counted amongst all circles as an irreplaceable cornerstone of modern speculative fiction. In fact, with its five sequels, three prequels, two spinoff series (and one more in development), two companion books, and numerous adaptations for media both static and interactive, Dune seems to be less a book in and of itself, and more akin to the desert spring at the heart of an oasis, a wellspring of creative energy upon which dozens of children feed. However, it is another aspect of Dune that is to serve as the basis upon which this re...more Frank Herbert
Dune
Philadelphia: Chilton Book Company, 1965
pp. 483 (without appendices and glossary), 539 (with app. and glos.), unpriced
ISBN: N/A

Commonly billed as the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, Dune, an expansive tale of intrigue, religion, and human nature set in a semi-recursive far future, is looked upon fondly by newcomers and diehard genre addicts alike. Even without its innumerable critical acclaims, the novel is counted amongst all circles as an irreplaceable cornerstone of modern speculative fiction. In fact, with its five sequels, three prequels, two spinoff series (and one more in development), two companion books, and numerous adaptations for media both static and interactive, Dune seems to be less a book in and of itself, and more akin to the desert spring at the heart of an oasis, a wellspring of creative energy upon which dozens of children feed. However, it is another aspect of Dune that is to serve as the basis upon which this review shall grow to fruition. The widespread influence and propagation of the concepts in Dune were made possible by the inclusion of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of cultural, historical, political, spiritual, and scientific details, scattered throughout the work and supporting its storyline. Dune itself acts far less as a novel than as a massive encyclopedia entry, a well-crafted chronicle of Herbert's imagined world and its myriad facets well-masked by a beautifully crafted, but ultimately ancillary, story.
The narrative of Dune is marvelous, rivaling that of many a better-critiqued author's magnum opus, and the characters, plot, and language are undeniably crafted as well as almost any other novel. However, the setting, in all its splendiferous nature and abyssal depth, is the main focus of the novel, the sole axis upon which the story-wheel turns its ponderous revolution. The main character, Paul, and his mother, Jessica, are an illicit trainee and a legitimate student, respectively, of the Bene Gesserit, an "ancient school of mental and physical training established primarily for female students" (Herbert 10/x), whose interests extend into the realms of political manipulation of the various Noble Houses composing the Imperium, religious engineering, and the use of precise bloodline manipulation to create the Kwisatz Haderach, "a male Bene Gesserit whose organic mental powers will bridge space and time" (Herbert 18/xviii). This sisterhood's existence stems from upon the outlawing of thinking machines and humanoid robots by the Butlerian Jihad, a pan-galactic religious movement which also produced the Mentat, a "class of Imperial citizens trained for supreme accomplishments of logic" (Herbert 20/xx); amongst the Mentat is counted Thurfir Hawat, under whom Paul (who may well be the Kwisatz Haderach) trains in addition to his mother and Duncan Idaho, a swordsman who teaches him to use the kindjal, a weapon bearing similarities to the crysknife, which is wielded by the Fremen, descendants of the Zensunni Wanderers and natives of the planet Dune... and so it goes. Every event, every personage, every act, even the most minor aspect imaginable, is a window into the vast backstory of the universe concocted in the alchemical labs of the author's imagination.
Even the writing style is possessed of many qualities of historically referential literature: it is succinct and dry without a hint of dullness; it utilizes a very particular form of figurative language that, while very evocative, is terse and short in presentation; and it depicts concurrent events, both physical and psychological (and there are many psychological events), with equivalent form and verve as it describes acts long since passed. In addition, the novel takes pleasure in self-referential historicalness, beginning each chapter, as it does, with an excerpt from any one of numerous fictitious book, which are themselves analytical delineations on the very events and characters featured in the novel itself. With this simple device, Herbert lends still more credibility, not merely to the legendary status of the story itself, but to the profundity of the world in which said occurrences take place.
In short, it is pure folly to so much as attempt to make the case that Herbert put little thought into either the novel's gloriously crafted storyline or its expansive universe. Each is as important as the other in the context of his novel, in contrast to many others that end up striking a horrifically uneven balance between setting and narrative. Dune has most certainly earned its place in science fiction history, for innumerable reasons in addition to its meshing of place and events, and it comes highly recommended to any who dare test the waters of such an enthralling limpid pool of refreshing novelty, a novelty still very much applicable over 40 years after its publication....less

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