what is the best order to read the Dune books in?

[Robert]

Publication order. It avoids intentional and inadvertent spoilers.

[Lucy]

John wrote: "1. Dune

2. Dune

3. Dune

And so on...you can skip the rest of them."

Yeah exactly what this guy said. I have read and re-read this book and just couldn't get into the other books for any length of time. My husband has pretty much all of them and I have repeately tried.

[Rob]

NibbledToDeathByCats wrote: "Rob wrote: "You are correct, Gentry Lee was involved with the books, but they were co-authors. :)"

Ok, grant that I can't (or won't bother to) provide a source showing the true division of work on..."

I haven't yet finished the Dune saga yet. I just finished God Emporer of Dune and now reading Heterics of Dune and I have very much enjoyed God Emporer and liking Heterics too. The only one I can say that I didn't enjoy that much was Children of Dune, until the very end.

As for Clarke and Lee and the Rama arc, I was addicted up to the 3rd book. For some reason the rest of the series felt "rushed" to me and it lost the appeal. I won't pretend to understand the writing relationship that Clarke and Lee had and of course, it's all just my opinion.

As for comparing the end of the Dune series to Rama, it was conjecture on my part as I haven't read the end of the series, but in re-reading the thread, I agree.

As I said, Dune Messiah and Children were slow for me (slower than Dune was at times), but God Emperor and now Heterics have/are keeping my attention very much.

I do plan on reading the Brian Herbert books out of curiosity, probably for my 2013 challenge. LOL. I am on another forum for eReaders (www.mobleread.com) and for my 2012 challenge I set to read 14,000 pages, the Dune, Maleroon, Lord of the Rings and Narnia series.

Duces. :)

[Saski]

Yup, to all those above who said Dune, Dune, and then Dune --

Exactly!

[Eric]

I hate to admit that even though it was the original Dune that hooked me on SciFi so long ago, after the second book it seemed to me that the storytelling just wasn't there any more. That said, most of the subsequent books I've not even tried

[Christopher]

I would say read the FH books first, then read the BH ad KA ones. Just a heads up, prepared to be somewhat let down with the BH and KA ones. For me they are good filler, and kind of iinteresting to see their takes on the dune universe, but to this day I still do not believe they found some "secret notes".

[Christopher]

BTW it blows me away the hatred of GEOD, I love it, I think it kind of took the whole them of Dune and the Golden Path to a whole different level.

[DaveA]

Read Dune, then quit. The first is fantastic, the rest are not worth reading

[Christopher]

What? No way, the whole FH series was great, but DM and COD may have been maybe the least best ;)

[Matthew]

Christopher wrote: "I would say read the FH books first, then read the BH ad KA ones. Just a heads up, prepared to be somewhat let down with the BH and KA ones. For me they are good filler, and kind of iinteresting to..."

Good for you! Though I disagree that DM was one of the bad ones. COD definitely, and Chapterhouse. If you haven't got that far, don't bother!

[Phillip]

Just read Dune and then stop.

[Nathan]

I personally love Frank's and Brian/Kevin books. They are VERY different writing styles but both are great. I suggest you read the original six books first and then read the "prequels" and sequels. The Brian/Kevin books just add more layers to the whole world/scope of the story.

[Corey]

I've read them all except chapter house and Paul and the other two new ones they where all epic the ones I've read the hate is well misplaced I think yes the non fh have a different voice because they are different people end of story but by far dune rocked my world
Cheers
P.s. the order I'm not sure on and I did not find a whole ton of help here but my search will go onward

[Matthew]

Stick to the Frank Herbert books. Pass on the Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson books.

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Herectics of Dune
Chapeterhouse Dune

[Bill Hice]

Strange game. The only way to win is not to play.

[Russ]

Dune (#1) is pretty good. My suggestion is start with #1 then read Brain's prequels. Then go to #2 and the rest from there.

[Simon]

I stopped with Dune - to be fair I only tried a couple of the follow ups and just couldn't get into them ... maybe time to revisit :)

[Kevin]

I concur, there's something about Mr. Herbert's writing that speaks both to his own time as well as within the context of contemporary society. I imagine that one could consider what will be said of us; our religions, governments, ethics, and technologies thousands of years in the future when they''ve become only relics.

[Matthew]

The order in which they were written. And then stop at Chapterhouse: Dune. That's my advice at any rate.

[Mark]

Matthew wrote: "The order in which they were written. And then stop at Chapterhouse: Dune. That's my advice at any rate."

Andf then you can read the rest, if I were you I'd start with Hunters & Sandworms of Dune (2 books) that finish the cliffhanger by Frank in his last CoD. You also have then read the worst the continuation writers have done. You'll find that the other trilogies are quite acceptable especially the House -trilogy.

[Ja]

hello! does it mean that i won't understand it if i begin with a different one? do i need to begin with these three?
- Dune: House Atreides
- Dune: House Harkonnen
- Dune: House Corrino

thanks!

[Mark]

The official begining would be Dune followed by the other Frank H books.

If you were to begin with the House-trilogy that woud be fine expecially when you then get to Dune, you'll notice a rise in sheer quality.

A word of caution, the Dune series has been borrowed from quite extensively. the George Lucas SW series has borrowed a lot, just know that the original Dunebooks were first.

[retroj]

Jalyn, don't start with the House Trilogy. Just don't.

[Chris]

I read Dune through Chapterhouse in order and found the first two (D / DM) to be spectacular, CoD was slow, but finished well, GEOD was compelling just because of the crazy nature of LetoII himself, Heretic was more interesting than Chapterhouse, but I enjoyed both. Probably liked Heretics more, as it was the first introduction of (view spoiler)[Idaho as a clone. (hide spoiler)] and all the plot that revolved around that.

[Ja]

Oh. I see, thank you for all the replies! :)

[Harv]

What is the best order to read the Dune books in?

OK, this is just my personal bias.

DUNE is clearly a masterpiece. I rank it Number Three on my list of all time favorite SF novels (even though the "science" is a bit soft).

Anyone who asked me the question of this thread would get this answer from me: Read DUNE. Then stop. If you want more, re-read DUNE.

If you really, really want more, read Herbert's UNDER PRESSURE, written about 10 years previously, where he worked out the bugs in the whole minimum ecology thing so that when he wrote DUNE he was ready to take it to the next level.

I have been so disappointed by *every* DUNE sequel that I have read or tried to read, that I actually wish those images would leave my mind. I get that sequels are profitable. I get that sequels had to be written.

My advice on the reading order: none.

This is just my personal bias. Excuse me for butting in.

@hg47

[Urnavigatur]

Grew up as a sci-fi and comic book reader (late 50s, early 60s). Read the original 6 Dune novels at age 30 (1980) and have been re-reading them over the last 30 years. I recommend reading them in the author's chronological order, however I've still not finished all the BH/KJ novels.

This discussion is thought provoking because Dune certainly IS the top universe ever created in the sci-fi domain.

Something that is missing in the ~50 posts to date is the fact that everything in Frank Herbert's novels is a metaphor for the people on planet earth. This is the key thread that runs through all of the FH/BH novels. Younger readers may not understand this and probably cannot evaluate (or translate) the "known universe" to our modern day societies. But this is, to me, one of the primary attributes of the known universe and the people who inhabit it. The metaphors and symbols used are even truer today than when Mr. Herbert outlined and wrote the original Dune novel. His novels are not just about "action and adventure" in outer space!

Good thread!

[Harv]

Dear Urnavigatur:

Anyone who loves DUNE can't be all bad.

I applaud your ability to enjoy the sequels. I tried, several times, and failed.

Concur with your analysis of DUNE as rich in symbolism.

@hg47

[Christopher]

Ok, So I am in the middle of Paul of Dune, and all I can say is holly cow, such a horrible book. I love the original Dune series, but these prequel ect ect, are crap. Caladan primatives? Seriously, people who fled the BJ and seem to have forgot all civilization? Such BS garbage.

[retroj]

Christopher wrote: "Ok, So I am in the middle of Paul of Dune, and all I can say is holly cow, such a horrible book. I love the original Dune series, but these prequel ect ect, are crap. Caladan primatives? Seriously,..."

Young Paul was pretty bad. I thought Emperor Muad'Dib was okay though.

[Christopher]

The Whole Blud charachter ruined the Emporer side of things for me, plus the Tlexiu storyline. Anyways, I now they are two different writers, but the new stuff seems so cartoony to very well written books done by FH.

[G.l.]

I think I would say the original books Dune thru Chapterhouse have a very different feel than the later books written by the son. The first book, Dune, might be one of the best Science Fiction books I've ever read. Each one after that gets a little stranger as you go.

The newer books,again, are very different but still quite enjoyable. I would suggest as some already have on this thread, reading all the originals Dune thru Chapterhouse first, then go read the newer ones in Chronological order. I suggest only because they have a very different feel to them.

[Sir_smeg]

Old thread I know, but I've just read everything over the last 6 months, I read dune years ago in high school but none of the others. I'm bit of a background junky so for me it was prequels then the rest. I agree with most everyone in that Brian's works aren't as "good" as his fathers, but like I said, if your a background junky like I am and need to know every last tidbit of cannon material the are enjoyable, I would read them in dune verse chronological order that's how I did it. I can see how certain things can make more sense if you read them that way. Personally I rather enjoyed the prequels, they are good not great.

[Sir_smeg]

I agree with g1, you could do it that way as well. The last 2 after chapter house too me where the strangest and hardest to get through (but I could have been duned out by the time I got to them :p)

[Christopher]

Just fished Paul of Dune, holly crap was it bad. A super kid who is trained to help kill Paul.Lame.

[George]

The Dune books should only be read in chronological order according to the date they were published, the way God intended it. Anything else would blasphemous.

[David]

seriously, that IS a gud question ..!

[Donice]

C.e. wrote: "I'd recommend to a new reader the six original by Frank Herbert first (Dune through Chapterhouse), only touching on the BH/KJA novels if they've still not had enough. Then I'd say the essentials a..."

I agree read the six original then the others

[Oscar]

I ONLY read the Frank Herbert Dune books in the order of publication. I re-read them every few years. The son doesn't have his father's writing chops. Someone with a talent for world-building sf should have been given Herbert's Dune outlines to continue the series. My hats off to those of you that can read the "dumbed-down" prequel/sequels that attempt to capture Herbert's original vision.

[Stephen]

I'd definitely read the original Dune first, anything after that no idea.

That is, if you must read Dune at all, I couldn't get into the universe for some reason.

[Michael]

Read Dune first, it is the outstanding book of the series. then read the 17 books in chronological order rereading dune when you get to it.

• Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
• Dune: The Machine Crusade
• Dune: The Battle of Corrin
• The Sisterhood of Dune
• Dune: House Atreides
• Dune: House Harkonnen
• Dune: House Corrino
• Dune
• Paul of Dune
• Dune Messiah
• The Winds of Dune
• Children of Dune
• God Emperor of Dune
• Heretics of Dune
• Chapterhouse: Dune
• Hunters of Dune
• Sandworms of Dune

there are 4 more as of yet unwritten, two after sisterhood of dune, one before and one after children of dune.

[Donice]

Dune
Dune messiah
Children if dune
God emperor of dune
Heretics of dune
Chapter house dune

These are the original series. The rest are from the son

[Donice]

As you can tell I am not a fan if the son

[Firstname]

The older I get, the more I realize just -how much- Herbert stole from the Middle East. I learned some useful Arabic, actually. However, I don't find myself hating the other books in comparison.

Filling another author's shoes is a big job. I think Kevin and Brian did it well. They aren't Frank, they're never going to be their Frank, and expecting them to be him is more a failure of the reader than the authors, imho.

I like the world well enough to stay in it. That's really the important part.

[Stavros]

John wrote: "1. Dune

2. Dune

3. Dune

And so on...you can skip the rest of them."

I wish I had headed that advice

[Joshua]

Read Dune. Skip the rest.

[Mark]

The Frank Herbert books are easily the best with none of the attempts by the sone even coming near.

The new books from the Duniverse are a mixed bag, I liked the House trilogy quite a lot and the new series with the bene gesserit looks promising. But for all I know you might enjoy the Brian Herbert books better.

Do not let yourself be talked out of reading those books, the Dune fans can be quite a rabid group. I have all Dune books and have at least taken the time to read them all. Some are worth your time.

[Matthew]

Donice wrote: "As you can tell I am not a fan if the son"

Few people are, they just don't know it yet ;)

[Matthew]

Mark wrote: "Matthew wrote: "The order in which they were written. And then stop at Chapterhouse: Dune. That's my advice at any rate."

Andf then you can read the rest, if I were you I'd start with Hunters & Sa..."

The trilogies are acceptable? I agree that the House one is, but the Legends of Dune series? I would have to respectfully disagree. And the way they tied it to the cliffhanger ending, I think that connection make Hunters and Sandworms a waste of time and money. Just my personal opinion and I could be wrong, but my disappointment has soured me and that's something I would spare others from.

[Aaron]

Stephen wrote: "That's a trick question as there's only one book in the Dune series :3"

This is a good discussion.

I'm inclined to the one-member list of "Dune," unexploratory though this be.