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Dune

(Dune #1)

Frank Herbert

4.25 · Rating details · 1,073,979 ratings · 45,753 reviews

Welcome to Dune.

An awesome world where gods and adventurers clash.

Where mile-long sandworms rule the desert.

Where the ancient dream of immortality comes true.

This is the magnificent setting for the bestselling science fiction novel of all time, a mind-jolting story of power politics and strange adventure.

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Paperback, Second Edition, 605 pages

Published October 1984 by New English Library (first published June 1965)

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Mar 22, 2011 Rajat Ubhaykar rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: must-read-at-least-once, sci-fi, favorites

In my head, the purpose of this review is very clear. It is to convince YOU to read this book. Yes, you! Waste time no more. Go grab a copy.

Machiavellian intrigue, mythology, religion, politics, imperialism, environmentalism, the nature of power. All this set in a mind-boggling, frighteningly original world which Herbert ominously terms as an "effort at prediction". Dune had me hooked!

First impression

The very first stirring I felt upon opening the yellowed pages of Dune was that of stumbling upo ...more

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Jun 02, 2015 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: own, sci-fi, beautiful-cover, kindle-own, audio, hardback-own, 4-5-stars

Omg! I found a Folio Society Edition a bit cheaper and brand new! You can see all of the art online but look at this cover! Now I have this and Little Women I actually got from their site. I need to get more as I can 😬

✅Reread 2022 to try to complete series! (I need to get the awesome audio too) 4.5 Stars

LOOK DAMN IT! OMG!

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾
••••••••••••••••

I was so worried that I wouldn't understand a thing in this book. I will admit there are some things that went over my head but for the most part I figu ...more

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Sep 23, 2021 Yun rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Let me start by first apologizing to everyone who loves this classic. I don't doubt Dune was something special when it first came out in the 1960s. But reading it for the first time today, it feels horribly outdated to me and at times almost incomprehensible.

I was warned going into this story that the beginning is extremely hard to understand, but that is an understatement. I could barely follow its scene after scene of dialogue referencing people and places and events, all with no explanation o Let me start by first apologizing to everyone who loves this classic. I don't doubt Dune was something special when it first came out in the 1960s. But reading it for the first time today, it feels horribly outdated to me and at times almost incomprehensible.

I was warned going into this story that the beginning is extremely hard to understand, but that is an understatement. I could barely follow its scene after scene of dialogue referencing people and places and events, all with no explanation or context. It literally feels like I was just dropped into the middle of a book, and everything had already been explained elsewhere.

But it gets better, right? Well, only somewhat. A narrative does take shape, but the writing style remains confusing and obscure. It manages to be both long-winded and not clear enough, if you can believe that. Certain obvious points are harped on again and again, but other crucial ones are merely glossed over. Then, when you inevitably miss those important points, they create this cascading effect that keeps you mired in confusion.

The writing is also pretentious, with regular or nonsensical things consistently being presented in a profound way. There are plenty of extraneous paragraphs that sound good until you try to discern their meaning, at which point you'd be stumped. This sort of writing really confused me because I couldn't figure out which paragraphs mattered and needed to be dissected carefully to suss out their hidden meaning, and which ones are just adornment.

As for the story itself, it was a complete mismatch with my interests. I like science fiction with lots of real science. Instead, this is a space opera (a.k.a. a soap opera that takes place in space) with no actual science. It's all political intrigue, melodrama, doublespeak, and who has power over who, which I have zero interest in. I also couldn't care less about how fawningly amazing Paul is and how he is destined to be the chosen one.

This was such a frustrating reading experience because it could've been an amazing story. And there were moments in the beginning when I thought it was going in those creative directions. I was riveted during that infamous test in the first scene, only to realize that it was completely irrelevant to the rest of the story. Or to see where the book could take the scientific aspects of a desert planet and a population with so little water, which it didn't other than a bit of lip service.

But the book stubbornly chose to disregard these more interesting avenues, and instead took the most straightforward, boring route of making this into a story about power struggle. Well, we could've saved ourselves the bother and just stayed on Earth for that. ...more

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Nov 20, 2008 Manny rated it really liked it

Shelves: if-research-were-romance, science-fiction, islam-and-arabic

There's a characteristically witty essay by Borges about a man who rewrites Don Quixote, many centuries after Cervantes. He publishes a novel with the same title, containing the same words in the same order. But, as Borges shows you, the different cultural context means it's a completely new book! What was once trite and commonplace is now daring and new, and vice versa. It just happens to look like Cervantes's masterpiece.

Similarly, imagine the man who was brave or stupid enough to rewrite Dune There's a characteristically witty essay by Borges about a man who rewrites Don Quixote, many centuries after Cervantes. He publishes a novel with the same title, containing the same words in the same order. But, as Borges shows you, the different cultural context means it's a completely new book! What was once trite and commonplace is now daring and new, and vice versa. It just happens to look like Cervantes's masterpiece.

Similarly, imagine the man who was brave or stupid enough to rewrite Dune in the early 21st century. Like many people who grew up in the 60s and 70s, I read the book in my early teens. What an amazing story! Those kick-ass Fremen! All those cool, weird-sounding names and expressions they use! (They even have a useful glossary in the back). The disgusting, corrupt, slimy Harkonnens - don't you just love to hate them! When former-aristo-turned-desert-guerilla-fighter Paul Muad'Dib rides in on a sandworm at the end to fight the evil Baron and his vicious, cruel nephew, of course you're cheering for him. Who the hell wouldn't be?

So that was the Dune we know and love, but the man who rewrote it now would get a rather different reception. Oh my God! These Fremen, who obviously speak Arabic, live on a desert planet which supplies the Universe with melange, a commodity essential to the Galactic economy, and in particular to transport. Not a very subtle way to say "oil"! They are tough, uncompromising fighters, who are quite happy to use suicide bombing as a tactic. They're led by a charismatic former rich kid (OK, we get who you mean), who inspires them to rise up against the corrupt, degenerate... um, does he mean Westerners? Or only the US? And who is Baron Harkonnen intended to be? I'm racking my brains... Dubya doesn't quite seem to fit, but surely he means someone? Unless, of course, he's just a generic stereotype who stands for the immoral, sexually obsessed West. This is frightening. What did we do to make Frank al-Herbert hate us so much? You'd have people, not even necessarily right-wingers, appearing on TV to say that the book was dangerous, and should be banned: at the very least, it incites racial hatred, and openly encourages terrorism. But translations would sell brilliantly in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and a bad movie version would soon be made in Turkey.

I honestly don't think Herbert meant any of that; but today, it's almost impossible not to wonder. If anyone reading this review is planning to rewrite The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, you'd better make sure you get your timing right. Who knows how it will be interpreted five years from now?

...more

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Jun 24, 2007 John Wiswell rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Science fiction readers, fantasy readers, speculative fiction readers

No one should argue the importance Dune. It laid the foundations for a great deal of the themes and constructs in modern science fiction. Frank Herbert was as important to the genre as Isaac Asimov and Arthur Clarke. Unfortunately, just like them, he's quite dated, and his books can be a labor to read. One thing he maintained from old science fiction was prim and scientific dialogue that no one would ever actually speak. I've known many scientists, and they don't talk like this. You're not going ...more

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Jun 03, 2019 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2-star-y-am-i-doing-this-to-myself, audiobooks

Nope. Sorry I don't get it.

I was able to finish it by listening to the audiobook but I was bored throughout the whole 21h.

So many descriptions... anyone else found the way Paul's mom describing him kinda weird?

And let's not even mention how many times I laughed at the main female character being called Jessica.

I'm sure I'll get plenty of comments telling me it's a classic and it brought so much to the genre... At the end of the day, my rating is always based on my enjoyment. ...more

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Sep 27, 2021 Jack Edwards rated it it was ok · review of another edition

While the cultural impact of this book is indisputable, I couldn't help feeling incredibly underwhelmed when reading it. Even the plot couldn't save Dune, since it's spoiled at every juncture by 'Princess Irulan' and her epigraphs before each chapter. Did no-one tell her about spoiler alerts?

From the very first pages, this book plunges you in at the deep-end with an absurd amount of overly complex world-building, which just makes the book laborious to work through. It wasn't for me, and the post ...more

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Oct 08, 2021 Ayman rated it did not like it · review of another edition

60 pages in and then i DNFed. world building is literally shit in this book.
i wanted to read this book just in case i accidentally bumped into Timothée or Zendaya but i really tried being ✨that bitch✨ but ✨that bitch✨ was not trying to be me. horrible, unreadable, and should be illegal
but think about it, if this book was written by a woman i just know i’d be able to actually read it cover to cover. never again

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Nov 13, 2021 Lala BooksandLala rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

just when you thought 2021 couldn't get any weirder. ...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Lyn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: all-time-most-favorite-books

Dune.

No other single syllable means as much to the science fiction genre, a single word that conjures images of sandworms, spice wars, great battles between rival dynastic families and a massively detailed and intricately crafted universe. No wonder this is widely regarded as not just a Science Fiction masterpiece, but a literary achievement as well.

Like a study of Shakespeare, the reader finds that this is an archetype upon which many influences and imitators have based their works. The comple Dune.

No other single syllable means as much to the science fiction genre, a single word that conjures images of sandworms, spice wars, great battles between rival dynastic families and a massively detailed and intricately crafted universe. No wonder this is widely regarded as not just a Science Fiction masterpiece, but a literary achievement as well.

Like a study of Shakespeare, the reader finds that this is an archetype upon which many influences and imitators have based their works. The complexity and depth of the creation is staggering and I am continually astounded at the discipline with which Herbert must have focused his imagination.

This is the book upon which Herbert would base his greatest series and one that would outlive him as his son has continued to expand and add detail to the vast, immaculate tapestry woven by a true master of the genre. Encapsulating political, economic, sociological, biological, cultural and dynastic themes, Frank Herbert has set a high standard for later practitioners.

Brilliant.

***2015 reread - Read years later, this has lost none of its narrative power, if anything I can better appreciate the virtuoso attention to detail Herbert exhibited in his epic creation. From the perspective of having read his later 5 Dune sequels, I am astounded at the rich tapestry he has woven. Most impressive was his close omnipresence, analyzing the thoughts and minute actions and subtle nuances of his complicated dynamic interplay of characters. The exhaustive training of the Bene Gesserit and the intricate relations of the Houses and the Guild would stand as a monumental benchmark for speculative fiction ever since.

This time around I found myself looking more closely at the Harkonnens and will likely read some of Brian Herbert's additions to his fathers great work.

***2019 reread - I'm even more in love with this book and am again in awe of Herbert's narrative skill. This time around I noticed that all of the quotes that begin chapters are from Princess Irulan and I paid close attention to how Herbert crafted these interludes.

I also was drawn to the religious undertones that really began very early in the book and how Paul realized his gifts and was preparing for his role in the beginning chapters - all demonstrating Herbert's great narrative skill.

Finally, I became more aware of what a great character was Gurney Halleck. While the ghola of Duncan Idaho dominated the later books, Herbert's creation of Halleck was an enjoyable and thought provoking addition to this masterpiece.

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...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: fanboy-goes-squee, worldbuilding-sf, top-one-hundred, transhumanism, sci-fi, space-opera, top-ten-w-cheats

Update 9/15/21

Re-read. Number 14.

I cannot get over how beautiful this book is. Still my favorite after all these years. It only gets better with every re-read.

Update 8/28/17

Re-read. Number 13. :) I cry when Paul meets Gurney. I shiver when Jessica consoles Chani. I'm awestruck by the peaks and troughs of time, free-will, and the weakness in Paul even as he heroically strives against the evil that is about to be unleashed upon the universe.

*sigh*

Perfection. Easily the number one book I've ever ...more

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May 02, 2015 Sean Barrs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star-reads, sci-fi

2021 Reread - 5*

I was totally blown away by the recent movie version of this, that much so I decided to revisit and revaluate my opinion of this extraordinary book.

So, I read it again six years on and this is something I said I would never do because I found it so difficult to read the first time. It wasn’t the complexity of the world and politics, but the narration style which totally perplexed and frustrated me. Though I think that was more to do with my immaturity as a reader at the time th ...more

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Jun 01, 2007 J.G. Keely rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, reviewed, america, space-opera, novel, childhood

People often forget that this series is what innovated our modern concept of science fiction (up until Neuromancer and The Martix, at least). Dune took the Space Opera and asked if it might be more than spandex, dildo-shaped rockets, and scantily-clad green women. Herbert created a vast and complex system of ancient spatial politics and peoples, then set them at one another's throats over land, money, and drugs.

Dune is often said to relate to Sci Fi in the same way that Tolkien relates to Fantas ...more

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Nov 07, 2020 Lisa of Troy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

If you are having a hard time reading Dune:
https://youtu.be/UMTRoZNN4E0

My YouTube Review (admittedly totally Fangirling):
https://youtu.be/JilubCWr9Kk

This was one of the best books that I have ever read which I was not expecting at all. First, the book is incredibly put together and really well thought out. Often, the author wrote the book in such a way as you can hear the character's thoughts which was a really interesting perspective and provided a more immersive experience.

The book touches on ...more

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Jul 28, 2019 Anne rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, audio, read-in-2019, classics

Ok, my only reference for Dune was the 1984 movie with Kyle MacLachlan. And, honestly, it was the main reason I've always wanted to read this book.

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Ohmygod look what that fake-looking piece of plastic shit is doing to poor MacLachlan's nose? How was he even able to act with that thing pushing his nostrils to the side of his face? I can't stop looking at it!

Anyway.
I remember loving that movie when I was young. Ahhhh. I honestly didn't remember much about it other than it was sorta weird, there wer ...more

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Mar 03, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: herbert-frank

Seems as if they might be duned to be addicted to spice, all good old barbarians on magic mushrooms style.

Quite dusty, especially regarding how to put the different parts of this behemoth series in the big picture of sci-fi because each part (of the 3 I´ve read so far and very probably won´t restart trying to read the 4th and 5th part) presents something different. Essentially, only this, the first one, is a real science fantasy epos, while the others are mostly circulating around the characters ...more

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Jun 02, 2020 Nataliya rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-reads, hugo-nebula-nominees-and-winners

“I have seen a friend become a worshiper, he thought.”

I don’t think I actually *enjoyed* this book. But I certainly respected the hell out of it. For a bit I thought I had it all figured out, pegged it as your bog-standard Chosen One story, and then it went where I didn’t think it’d go and neatly subverted my expectations. It tackled stuff that is uncomfortable and therefore is generally handwaved over in the usual SF epics. And for that I seriously respected this dense complex tome.

We people tend to love the idea of a charismatic all-powerful leader who inspires faithful following and true fervor, that cult-like blind devotion. We give those leaders tremendous power to lead and decide and determine fates. So many stories rooted in the weight of our species collective history glorify this; so many countries still apparently yearn for powerful visionary leaders that others proclaim to be dictators. So many religions go to wars over the legacy left by a popular charismatic leader centuries ago, interpreting those legacies as the engine for the action, destruction, obedience.

Hero worship. Messianic worship. Prophecies and tyrannies. Desire for a Savior to rescue you from the evil. Good intentions paving the road to hell. It all leads to terrifying places which we may be powerless to stop.

“A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few individuals, and a people reverts to a mob.”

This is a novel of a reluctant Messiah, the journey of a man becoming the Chosen One — but unlike the traditional story of a charismatic savior, this is a darker picture of the dangers of messianism and hero worship, of allowing blind devotion replace common sense. The book ends in an ambiguous place, and I presume the sequels may develop the theme or run away from it and make this a more traditional hero journey. But I certainly hope not. Because the dark implications of messianism say more about human nature than the happier stories based on the same idea, but with more idealism. We love our ideas of ideal benevolent rulers who can set things right, don’t we? Or the martyr figures inspiring “righteous” battles? Messiahs and figureheads seem to fulfill the deep-seated cultural longing for an inspirational leader, don’t they? Friends become followers and worshippers, and the metaphorical slope becomes quite slippery.

“The Fremen have a simple, practical religion," he said.
"Nothing about religion is simple," she warned.
But Paul, seeing the clouded future that still hung over them, found himself swayed by anger. He could only say: "Religion unifies our forces. It's our mystique."
"You deliberately cultivate this air, this bravura," she charged. "You never cease indoctrinating."
"Thus you yourself taught me," he said.”

Yes, in Dune Frank Herbert hints at the dangers present in such ideas. What seems like your traditional hero’s journey turns out darker and more sinister. But it’s not the rise of an antihero either. It’s subtler than that, without actually being all that subtle.

“No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero," his father said.

Paul Atreides, in his own words, is “something unexpected.” A son of a planetary Duke (because an interstellar post-technology future is actually feudal) and a highly trained Bene-Gesserit concubine of the Duke (view spoiler), Paul fits very well the idea of a Messiah of the tribal resilient society of Fremen people of the harsh desert planet Arrakis, neatly fulfilling their religious prophecies (view spoiler) and possessing genetic superpowers himself, augmented by rigorous training and catalyzed by the ingestion of a magical wonder-drug known as spice.

“He found that he no longer could hate the Bene Gesserit or the Emperor or even the Harkonnens. They were all caught up in the need of their race to renew its scattered inheritance, to cross and mingle and infuse their bloodlines in a great new pooling of genes. And the race knew only one sure way for this—the ancient way, the tried and certain way that rolled over everything in its path: jihad.”

But Paul through his prescient powers can see what his mythologized destiny leads to. A galactic scale slaughter led by fanatics in his name. And there is not a way to escape it, once your life fits the mysticism of their faith (even if the faith and prophecies were stealthily prereplanted for sort of a similar purpose). Religious fanatics are destined to wage a brutal war that the Messiah is unable to stop.

“When law and duty are one, united by religion, you never become fully conscious, fully aware of yourself. You are always a little less than an individual.”

With great power comes great responsibility, and all that jazz. But is any of it actually worth it? Wouldn’t the world be better without the burden of Heroes? Are you destined to become exactly what you’re trying to avoid?

All this is gently hinted at, laid out in the framework of the appealing Hero’s journey. It seems that should you desire, you can still easily choose to read it as a typical hero’s/antihero’s story, just less idealistic than it could be. But that would be Star Wars and not Dune.

“He was warrior and mystic, ogre and saint, the fox and the innocent, chivalrous, ruthless, less than a god, more than a man. There is no measuring Muad'Dib's motives by ordinary standards. In the moment of his triumph, he saw the death prepared for him, yet he accepted the treachery. Can you say he did this out of a sense of justice? Whose justice, then? Remember, we speak now of the Muad'Dib who ordered battle drums made from his enemies' skins, the Muad'Dib who denied the conventions of his ducal past with a wave of the hand, saying merely: "I am the Kwisatz Haderach. That is reason enough.”

And you also can’t help but be mesmerized by a harsh desiccated planet where life is focused on survival, where not even water but mere moisture is the most coveted and rarest thing, where hopes for a better, wetter, greener future quietly flourish, tied into messianic ideas but grounded in science. The place of nightmares, written vividly and skillfully, making me want to gulp down a gallon of drink just because I can, making me appreciate that my reality doesn’t hinge on surviving on my reclaimed bodily fluids.

The world is harsh, unforgiving, brutal, hostile. The characters - well, mostly Paul, but to an extent his mother Jessica as well - are cold, calculating, composed and often very unsympathetic. Paul’s father values lives over property. Paul’s actions, on the other hand, lead to eyebrow-raising among his father’s old lieutenants who note the difference in priorities:

“Nothing money won't repair, I presume," Paul said.
"Except for the lives, m'Lord," Gurney said, and there was a tone of reproach in his voice as though to say: "When did an Atreides worry first about things when people were at stake?”

It’s dense and complex, full of politics, short on actual science fiction but full of ruminations on human nature — and it leaves me feeling that all of this is a beginning of another cycle of violence, just with a new figurehead at the mast. As Terry Pratchett said, “But here's some advice, boy. Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That's why they're called revolutions.” A new Hero or a new Messiah comes, and begets another cycle or struggle and violence, to be reset anew by a new figurehead sometimes in the future. All while sandworms quietly slither under the sand.
—————

Oh yeah, there are sandworms, too.
—————

4 stars out of respect for Herbert’s subversive story that made me think. I’m content with the story ending here, with ambiguity and dread for what’s to come. ...more

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Oct 03, 2015 carol. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: sci-fi fans

Shelves: sci-fi, nebula, awards, hugo, classic

I blame the movie.

I was an avid but novice fantasy and sci-fi reader in 1984 when David Lynch’s Dune rolled out as a big-budget adaptation of the 1965 classic book. It was an artistic and box-office failure with Roger Ebert calling it “a real mess, an incomprehensible, ugly, unstructured, pointless excursion.” Numerous references were made to its excessive length, particularly a tv edition that was over 3 hours long. I never did pick up the classic sci-fi book, assuming the commentary heard abou ...more

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Jan 13, 2015 Leonard Gaya rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Dune is often considered a masterpiece of 20th-century American science fiction. In part, the book owes its reputation to the film adaptation David Lynch directed in the early 1980s (although this movie was, and still is, not considered one of his best). Frank Herbert wrote a novel of epic proportions, in other words, a space opera, with its intergalactic feudal society, its decadent (if not evil) empire and its band of rebels: the book was published some ten years before the first instalment of Dune is often considered a masterpiece of 20th-century American science fiction. In part, the book owes its reputation to the film adaptation David Lynch directed in the early 1980s (although this movie was, and still is, not considered one of his best). Frank Herbert wrote a novel of epic proportions, in other words, a space opera, with its intergalactic feudal society, its decadent (if not evil) empire and its band of rebels: the book was published some ten years before the first instalment of the Star Wars series. Indeed, along with Asimov’s (overrated) Foundation stories, it was George Lucas’ primary source of inspiration.

One of the most exciting aspects of Herbert’s creation is the multi-cultural world he depicts. Each house (Atreides, Harkonnen, etc.), each planet (Arrakis, Giedi Prime, Caladan...), each group (the Fremen, the Bene Gesserit, the Guild, the Emperor’s suite and the Sardaukars) has its specific flavour, its own culture, its language — the comprehensive index at the end of the book is utterly fascinating. For each of these cultures, Herbert borrowed traits from traditions (ancient or contemporary) he knew well in reality, especially from the Middle East. In particular, Paul Atreides / Muad’Dib’s story among the Fremen is redolent of the historical events around T.E. Lawrence and the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. And Paul’s crusade on Arrakis is told, as though it were ancient history, in the chronicles by the Princess Irulan at the start of each chapter.

Herbert describes his fictional world and characters in great detail, which contributes to the richness of his narrative, but I found these descriptions somewhat boring and, especially, the middle of the book is a bit dragging for that reason. In my view, the most impressive parts of this novel are the dialogues, where Herbert simultaneously reveals what the characters are saying and thinking. This technique lends a sense of duplicity and scheming to almost every interaction. Everyone is plotting one way or another so that the whole thing ends up being like a great Shakespearean play, with dialogues and asides, tyrants and pretenders. What confirms this impression is not only the theme of the exiled Duke (see As You Like It, King Lear, or The Tempest), but also the repeated scenes of fencing duels throughout, with feints and poisoned tips: a clear allusion to the endings of Hamlet and Macbeth, for instance.

Edit: A word about Denis Villeneuve’s new film adaptation of Herbert’s novel (part 1, 2021). Comparisons are odious and obviously wouldn’t be to David Lynch’s advantage. This is a Dune version for a new generation of fans and an epic movie on par with Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, in the early 2000s. The settings (filmed in Scandinavia and the Middle East) are breathtaking, and the actors have so much going for them. But what strikes me the most in this new version is the sense that everything is overwhelming and sublime: the massive architecture, the crushing machines, the extreme weather conditions, the earth-shattering landscapes, the thunderous music, the tragic events, the repulsive foes. From the relenting waves of Caladan to the searing and unending skies of Arrakis, everything assumes an oceanic and staggering dimension. ...more

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Oct 22, 2017 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, sci-fi, made-into-movie, series, hugo-awards-winner, novels, american-20th-c, classics

[UPDATED]
I reread Dune for the first time in several decades and immensely enjoyed it. I also went back to watch the original cult feature film by David Lynch and had quite mixed feelings - while it was close to the overall aesthetic that Frank Herbert describes with the gorgeous desert sets and the terrifying worms, the parts of the story that were necessarily culled out was disturbing (that and the woeful special effects at the time trying (and IMHO failing) to visualize the personal shields t ...more

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Jul 09, 2015 Adina rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sf, classics, 1001

Update! Just wanted to say how much I loved the movie. Go see it. It was probably good that there was a gap between the time I read this and the movie.

Read 2015
Amazing! A masterpiece of SF with which I will probably compare all SF books that I’ll read in the future. It goes in my favorites shelf.

This is my 3rd attempt to read Dune and I am really grateful that I did not succeed the first two times I tried as I was too young to understand all the subtleties. I would have probably enjoyed it as ...more

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Aug 03, 2017 Mike's Book Reviews rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Why You Should Read Dune (video): https://youtu.be/oOomSvGXfaM

Asking me to describe why Dune is so important to me is like asking a child to explain nuclear fusion. I do my best in the video linked above, but just know it probably isn't for the reasons you think.

My journey to Dune becoming my absolute favorite book of all time goes all the way back to the mid-1990's upon finding it in my high school library and deciding to give it a try because I remembered my dad and brother watching the movie Why You Should Read Dune (video): https://youtu.be/oOomSvGXfaM

Asking me to describe why Dune is so important to me is like asking a child to explain nuclear fusion. I do my best in the video linked above, but just know it probably isn't for the reasons you think.

My journey to Dune becoming my absolute favorite book of all time goes all the way back to the mid-1990's upon finding it in my high school library and deciding to give it a try because I remembered my dad and brother watching the movie when I was a kid. At 15 years old, I got to the middle of "book II" and gave it a big fat DNF. I decided it just wasn't for me. At 17, for the 30th anniversary, I decided to try again and while I finished it that time, I thought the ideas were overly pretentious and way too out there. But a year went by and somehow, it was still in my head. I thought about it frequently and I began to ponder...did I actually really like it?

I tried again the final weeks of my senior year of high school and became absolutely obsessed and it has stayed that way for almost the last 25 years.

Dune is social science-fiction in that it's more concerned with the people and society than it is with hard science. Besides telling you that these navigators "fold space" for interstellar travel, Herbert doesn't bog you down with the math. He focuses more on the politics, cultures, religion, and philosophies of a world rich in the most valuable resource in the known universe, but barren in everything else.

If you go into the story expecting a Star Wars style adventure, you're going to leave disappointed. Dune is extremely thought provoking and deals with the struggles of coming of age while the fate of the universe is on your shoulders.

I'll also say that the book is certainly not for everyone. If you love things like ASOIAF and The Wheel of Time, there is no way this book won't be for you as both of those series borrowed heavily from the story Frank crafted. But I think it truly depends on where you are at in your life. Look, I just told you the story of how it took until my third reading for this to really click with me. Those who the story and lessons click with, it REALLY clicks with. But, again, this isn't a crowd pleaser and not everyone is going to love it, especially modern readers. So while I encourage those that are interested to read it, I expect more modern readers to not like it than like it.

Not only is this the greatest science-fiction story of all time, but I believe it should be on mandatory reading lists in schools and everyone interested in the genre owe it to themselves to read the pillar of the genre they have come to love. Dune is every bit to science-fiction what Lord of the Rings is to fantasy. ...more

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Nov 10, 2017 Petrik rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Sci-fi fans

3.5/5 Stars

Dune oh Dune, seems like I need to raise my Shield Wall for this review.

Dune is one of the most important pieces of literature for the Sci-Fi genre. I’ve been raking my brain for hours on how to properly explain the importance of Dune in the sci-fi literature but you know what? I dune (hehehe) think it’s necessary for me to do so. If you truly wanna know why, you can search it on whatever search engine you use and you'll find hundreds of articles or reviews on why this book is that im ...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Kemper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, favorites, 2017-reread, space

I have to write this review without rhythm so that it won’t attract a worm.

In the distant future Arrakis is a hellhole desert planet where anyone who doesn’t die of thirst will probably be eaten by one of the giant sandworms. It’s also the only place where the precious spice melange can be found so it’s incredibly valuable, and the honorable Duke Leto Atreides has been ordered by the Padishah Emperor to take over control of Arrakis from his mortal enemies, the House Harkonnen. While this seems l I have to write this review without rhythm so that it won’t attract a worm.

In the distant future Arrakis is a hellhole desert planet where anyone who doesn’t die of thirst will probably be eaten by one of the giant sandworms. It’s also the only place where the precious spice melange can be found so it’s incredibly valuable, and the honorable Duke Leto Atreides has been ordered by the Padishah Emperor to take over control of Arrakis from his mortal enemies, the House Harkonnen. While this seems like a great offer on the surface the Duke and his people realize that it’s actually a cunning trap being set by the Emperor and Baron Harkonnen.

The only hope seems to be allying with the local populace called Fremen whose harsh environment has led them to become an incredibly tough and disciplined people, but they have their own vision of what Arrakis should be. They also have a prophecy about the coming of a messiah figure who will lead them to freedom, and the Duke’s son Paul looks like he may be exactly who they’ve been waiting for.

This is classic sci-fi that really deserves the label. What Frank Herbert accomplished in one novel is stunning because he built a fascinatingly detailed universe in which the politics, religion, economics, espionage, and military strategy are all equally important. He then blended these more grounded concepts with bigger sci-fi ideas like being able to use spice to see through space-time, and the scope of that encompasses trying to pick the proper path through various potential timelines as well as free will vs. fate.

I think one of the factors that helps this story stay timeless is that so much of it is based on what humanity becomes vs. trying to predict what futuristic technology would be like. This is a society that once had a war with machines and has since rejected any type of computers so people have developed to fill the gap with the help of the spice. The Mentats are trained to use data to predict outcomes. The Navigators of the Guild have used so much of the spice to help them move through space that they’re mutating. The all female Bene Gesserit have developed a variety of skills to place their members alongside positions of power to help advance their breeding scheme that spans generations. Herbert also cleverly came up with an excuse that explains why knives and hand-to-hand combat are so important with the idea of the personal body shields.

So even though we still got a good sci-fi’s novel worth of cool gadgets the emphasis is on what the people can do and how that’s developed over a long period of time. It also adds a lot of depth to the political dimensions because all of these groups have different agendas that cause them all to mistrust each other, but because they all fill these various roles none can exist without the others.

There are also parallels to our world that are still in play because the idea of a desert people caught up in the power struggles of various outsiders because of their valuable natural resource is an obvious allegory to the Middle East that still works today. Plus, the classic film Lawrence of Arabia came out a few years before Herbert published this, and you have to think that it had some influence on him because there are elements of the story that seem very much inspired by it.

While the whole concept of a Chosen One has gotten a bit worn over time that’s not Herbert’s fault, and this is still a fantastic sci-fi story with big ideas that also works as space opera as well as being an epic adventure story. ...more

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Oct 21, 2021 s.penkevich rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, awesome

‘Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.’

The sheer scope and magnitude of this 1965 sci-fi drama is staggering, populated with an extensive cast of characters and a rich universe full of well-rounded lore, intricate politics where every actions is revealed as ‘plans within plans within plans,’ and dynamic cultures all set on a collision course of plot that rightfully earned it a wide readers ...more

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May 23, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, classics, science, fantasy, literature, united-states, fiction

Dune (Dune Chronicles #1), Frank Herbert

Dune is a 1965 science fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert.

In the far future, humanity has eschewed advanced computers due to a religious prohibition, in favor of adapting their minds to be capable of extremely complex tasks.

Much of this is enabled by the spice melange, which is found only on Arrakis, a desert planet with giant sand-worms as its most notable native life-form.

Melange improves general health, extends life and can bestow limited ...more

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Sep 10, 2020 Jonathan O'Neill rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

4 ⭐

A word of warning as you venture out to peruse the veritable smorgasbord of delectable reviews for this Sci-Fi/Fantasy Classic!
Be sure to do your Du(n)e diligence. Be wary of key phrases such as “I don’t usually read Fantasy/Sci-Fi”, “Too many made-up words” or “I’m just reading before the movie comes out”. These individuals have come down with a bad case of bandwagonitis and any self-respecting Sci-Fier-er cannot count on their reviews being in any way accurate or beneficial!
As I’m firmly pl ...more

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Mar 19, 2019 Merphy Napier rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, classics, three-stars, science-fiction

Upon reread... still 3.5 stars. I loved it in concept and discussion, but the writing style just kills it for me. I have such mixed feelings about this book. Video review https://youtu.be/tqvIwpjumkM

3.5 stars

I'm really bummed that this wasn't a book I enjoyed more. I think the story itself was brilliant. The entire concept and and plot were incredible and I had such an odd experience of appreciating the story - yet not actually enjoying reading it. The narration was just so unengaging to me that ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Henk rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

15-9-2021: saw the movie tonight and loved it’s esthetics and how it conveys the gravitas of the story

Like medieval (but the Islamic enlightenment version of it) times, a caste system and the oil industry imposed upon space opera, with mystical elements permeating the whole and simultaneously telling the rise of a Napoleon like hero. Dune sounds like a book that shouldn’t work, but does, in an unique, complex and compelling manner.
The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the ...more

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Oct 21, 2021 Samantha rated it it was ok · review of another edition

TW: pedophilia and rape off page

Although this is discussed as a highly influential work in scifi, now having read it, I do think we have evolved past the need for this to be part of the canon. This book was a bit of a mess with the characters, world, and plot all feeling a bit disjointed and half baked. The world, while interesting and obviously very detailed, is barely explained to the reader and relies heavily on the appendix without actually providing context in the story (with the exception ...more

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About Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert

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Frank Herbert was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author.

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classi ...more

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Quotes from Dune

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” — 13082 likes

“The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.” — 1731 likes

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