Dune
discussion
what is the best order to read the Dune books in?
I suggest the first three books: Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Argueably the best three of the series. The Dune Trilogy is by far the best series in Science Fiction from that era.
I agree with Ryan.
Read Dune first. And then reading Dune again would be a fine choice. Then take a good look at the names in the series. Do you find a book named 'Dune' there? Just read that one. I mean, the one with only 'Dune' and no prefixes or suffixes.
I thought GEOD was the worst! God Awful Of Dune, I call it. Parts 5 & 5 were okay, but imo it's best to finish at Children Of Dune. Dune Messiah is great, I think.
I loved the chaperhouse and heretics books they showed a new direction for Dune after the first 4 books. They were more philosophical as well. hence my frustration with closing part written by his son when it became all space-opera again.
*sigh* I find it sad that people expect the rest of the books to live up to some ridiculous personal standard when it's clear to any that look that a book of Dunes monumental importance needs clarification.. You want what you had in Dune? read it again. It bears it.. You wish to follow all them through the paths of their lives? find out other bits and pieces? Thats what the other books are for.. Granted.. God Emperor was plodding.. necessary in order to understand the entirety of the world though.. If you really like Dune you are doing a disservice to yourself by ignoring the rest and insulting the legacy Frank's son has worked very hard to fill out.. Little is as good as the original nostalgia would have us believe.. That doesn't mean there isn't a place for what comes after to clarify.
"I maintain they are not as excellent as his fathers." Which falls squarely under that banner which we call opinion. Sadly unquantifiable.. After reading Dune.. any person can easily decide for themselves whether what followed after is worth reading.. Each of them have satisfied my only reading criteria, which is; If I read past the first three sentences I will finish the book. If it can't hook you at the beginning.. It probably has no bait..
I think Brian and Kevin's Leto writing is every bit as compelling as Frank's Paul writing.. See? Opinion..
While I consider the Frank Herbert books the best the Duniverse has to offer, I am currently reading Paul of Dune during my commuting by train (from and to work) and the book is quite a relaxed read. I find the Brian Herbert Nay-sayers overly negative on principle and they seem to let no opportunity go by to tell people their flipping opinion while degrading the newer Dune novels, which are not all quality but apperently seem to be enjoyed by a large amount of people. I have all the FH Dune books and all the newer ones as well, the only difference is that Dune the FH series gets reread every so many years,
Wow...ezmyrelda,if I followed that same rule about reading the 1st three sentences of a book with your review, I wouldn't have been able to finish it. But I'm glad I did so I can comment on how ridiculous it is to criticize someone for having a perfectly established reason for recommending just reading the original dune series. Character development is the meat and potatoes of the dune universe. You know what science fiction is? Apparently not, so let me explain it to you. You put people in a setting so different from our own, whether it's because of the time, technology, ect. You add politics, religion, and commerce. That's your skeleton. The rest? You add the characters, there humanity and how these people respond to this scenario makes good science fiction. You have nothing without characters who pull at your heart strings and that you can relate to. So before criticizing somebody for having actually taste in literature, you should check yourself.
Read the first three. The rest are just filler.
Ron wrote: "Read the first three. The rest are just filler."Ignore this, the six Frank Herbert books should be read. Dune, Messiah & Children were originally one big story hence the feeling that this is one story.
But God Emperor, heretics & Chapterhouse are great reads as well.
Next decide for yourselves if you want to read any continuation novels by son Brian. If you do so start with the House of trilogy, they are actually very good reads.
Maegan wrote: "Wow...ezmyrelda,if I followed that same rule about reading the 1st three sentences of a book with your review, I wouldn't have been able to finish it. But I'm glad I did so I can comment on how rid..."Did you have a point in there? I couldn't find it through all of your crappy writing. I do actually having taste in literature. My rule is mine for my taste in fiction. Not reviews... I have that rule for people who write.. Like you do; Tediously and without a concise point.
Ahryn wrote: "Ezmyrelda wrote: ""I maintain they are not as excellent as his fathers."
Which falls squarely under that banner which we call opinion. Sadly unquantifiable.. After reading Dune.. any person can..."
The question.. Which I can see in the url up there asks in which order.. Not which ones..
If all of us are going to get offended on quality.. We might as well just say just read Dune because the rest weren't as good.
"But I want to hear about some stuff that Frank wrote notes on!" No, Just read Dune.. "But!" Nooooo only Dune! The sequels are shite simply because they aren't Dune! "Bu-"DUNE!!!!!!!
Some specifics why people think Brian and Kevin's writing doesn't live up might be nice.. But that would be way to much to ask for.. We're dealing with zealotry here. argue all you want about it and ignore context.. don't care.. for my part I'm out.. *mic drop*
Hallelujah! miss 'dish out opinions but can't take em' ezmyrelda is out. Now people can get past all the pretentious junk she wrote and discuss dune.
Read the book "Dune" first. Then stop there :)
Read the Frank Herbert books in order, and completely ignore the dreck written by his son and son's partner.
MENTATS OF DUNE is slated for release in March 2014. Exciting news as the Great Schools series continues.
Kevin wrote: "Stephen wrote: "That's a trick question as there's only one book in the Dune series :3"Yes, when I saw this topic, I knew the answer. The best order is to read Dune, and then skip all the sequels..."
Concur, Kevin. None of the DUNE sequels worked for me as entertainment. I did enjoy Frank Herbert's UNDER PRESSURE, about a fleet of submarines; it has nothing to do with the DUNE universe, but it's sort of a DUNE prequel in the sense that in that novel Herbert worked out the whole "minimum ecology" thing. Cheers! @hg47
It's funny, all the people screaming "Only read this one thing" just makes me go want to read the rest of the books, just to see what they're whining about. Luckily I already have, and enjoyed them quite a bit. So yes, if you want to deprive yourself of a different set of POVs on the Dune world, by all means stick with the one book. Read it over and over, because it's the only way to "be" in that world.
If you have a greater imagination and want to find out what else happened, run don't walk to your nearest bookstore. You may join the legion of haters, but at least you made the effort. If the haters ran NASA, we'd still be mapping Iowa rather than Mars (what? red planet? HATED IT, don't go!").
Kevin wrote: "Firstname wrote: "It's funny, all the people screaming "Only read this one thing" just makes me go want to read the rest of the books, just to see what they're whining about. Luckily I already have..."Feel free to take your own advice re: lightening up, Francis.
I'm a firm believer in reading books in publication order; the author knows when they are writing a prequel and adjusts the writing accordingly. Also, you can see the writer's own progress through ideas and style. Publication order is almost always the order that the author thought of the stories (this is why most sequels aren't as good as the initial offering.)
Kevin wrote: "Firstname wrote: "Kevin wrote: "Firstname wrote: "It's funny, all the people screaming "Only read this one thing" just makes me go want to read the rest of the books, just to see what they're whini..."As long as you didn't mean Schlafly...*smirk*
I was greatly surprised by all the strong negative emotions that the topic of Dune has stirred up. I guess I'll say I am a big fan of the original Dune books by Frank. I have not had the heart to read the newer ones by his son, out of fear they will taint the impressions I have of Frank's works.I also am shocked to see I am one of very few who really loved GEOD. I thought this was Frank's finest work, as it invoked much sadness and grief for the fate of the Emperor...overwhelming me and leaving me utterly impressed that he could give rise to so much emotion inside me. That takes talent, and is how I can determine the quality of a work (the higher the emotions and feeling raised, the better the author).
Dune is a masterpiece, and Frank's original works should be kept in order to appreciate his genius.
Erik wrote: "I was greatly surprised by all the strong negative emotions that the topic of Dune has stirred up. I guess I'll say I am a big fan of the original Dune books by Frank. I have not had the heart to r..."I agree GEOD is a great book in the series written by Frank Herbert.
If you want to understand why the Dune series is so good than just read the first four Frank Herbert novels everything else can be skipped.Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
I read them in the internal chronological order, and loved it. Was nice to see the progression of the families and characters.
NibbledToDeathByCats wrote: "What is the best order to read the Dune books in?Recommending not to read specific books is fair game, but please keep the discussion positive.
Please avoid spoilers, other than minimum 'book-ja..."
I would read the first one and stop, or skip to "children . . ." I found the books steadily less interesting.
I've enjoyed all of the books, by both authors. They definitely have a different style, and it seems many have a hard time coping with that. I read Dune first, then the rest in chronological order, revisiting Dune in its place. I loved the perspective that the prelude books gave to the original book. I feel they increased how much I enjoyed the original Dune.
Read the originals by Frank in the order they were published and forget about the rest.
Read the original; forget the rest.
Never understood all the hatred for the "new" Dune books (ones by Anderson and Brian Hebert) they are a little different in the way the story is told but they are still amazing books!!! Kevin and Brian are a great writing team. Their books add so much to the Dune universe I will read any and every book they put out.
Ryan said that Chapter house is where should have ended but even Frank didn't want it to end there! He wanted to write at least one more book, Kevin and Brian used Frank's notes to write their own final two books after Chspter house
Nathan wrote: "Never understood all the hatred for the "new" Dune books (ones by Anderson and Brian Hebert) they are a little different in the way the story is told but they are still amazing books!!! Kevin and B..."It means they will always be very cheap at the secondhand store, and that's okay too.
I wanted to say "massive thanks!" I am trying to read in proper order CHEERS @ Rico !
The Anderson Dune books are silly, but fun. The last 2 Dune bks by Frank Herbert himself, however, are practically unreadable.
Andrew wrote: "Read the book "Dune" first. Then stop there :)"Stick to Dune. Having read all 6 of Frank Herbert's Dune books, I found the first Dune far superior to the rest which seemed to drag, for me anyway.
The first sentence of Brian's first sequel begins something like "Lean and muscular, Baron Harkonnen looked out..." If you've read the original books, you have to keep reading, because the Baron is definitely not lean in Frank Herbert's universe.
i came here to find out if there is any necessity to read the brian herbert books in any specific order since they are not as cronologically in order than the original 6 books. But after reading so much criticism on the originals, i feel the need to add my opinion.first of i wanna say im still on chapterhouse, and haven't read any of the brian herbert books yet.
i agree with many here, the original dune is without a doubt the greatest book of the series, and stopping after godemperor, would be a good point to stop since it wraps up the main story.
i was not really enjoying messiah to be honest, so my tip to new readers is, dont stop after messiah... children of dune and godemperor were amazing books as well... after that point only continue if u are hooked on the whole universe like me and just wanna read more about surrounding factions.
i did enjoy heretics very much, not through with chapterhouse, so i can't give my opinion on that yet.
i assume the brian herbert books are not at all living up to his fathers standard, but i will see.
in conclusion, after seeing here that the order is not too important, i will probably read it in the order which interests me most, which is:
the originals first:
dune, messiah, children, godemperor, heretics, chapterhouse
then to wrap it up:
hunters, sandworms
then either:
paul and winds or the butlerian trilogy
then probably the 3 houses, but only because the sisterhood of dune seems to become another trilogy
I can't remember if I mentioned this before in my previous reply but let me just make sure I set you straight: in general, whenever you pick up a book from any author (not just Frank Herbert) the recommended method for reading it to to hold the book with the spine facing outward and the pages facing your body; place one of each of your hands on either side of the edge of the book and lift the cover 'open' (it turns aka bends from the right-hand-side towards the left) to expose the title page, the preface, and the first chapter of the book. Its a 'folding' action, made possible by the edge of each page being held fast by the spine! Once you have the cover open, proceed to read each page in a left-to-right direction of course (if you're a westerner) starting from page 1. In order to read, you maintain a steady grip on the book edges and hold each page in place as you turn it over to see the next side. The pages should be double-sided (verify this when you purchase the book). Anyway, that's the general procedure. The main rule to bear in mind is never to start reading a book from the last page (on the right hand-side) proceeding in a backwards or 'reverse' order towards the front. Good luck!
I would recommend reading Frank Herbert's books first, in order of publication, and then Brian Herbert's. Though the world of Dune is supposedly the same, I find the interpretation slightly different.
I suggest the first three books: Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. Arguably the best three of the series. The Dune Trilogy is by far the best series in Science Fiction from that era. When you finish, start over, none of the rest compare!
:) Dune 1, Dune 2, stop :)
I love the comments that say only read the first three Dune books, or only the Frank books, because all the others are not as good.... kind of comments. That is like saying only read Dante's The Divine Comedy because nothing is as good as that book, or only look at the Mona Lisa because no painting is better than that, or only listen to Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor because nothing will beat that.... What a strange logic. I wonder what the Mentats would think. What would the Bene Gesserit think? Read them all they are all good in their own right. I have read every Dune book to date and will continue to read them as long as Kevin and Brian write another one.
Nathan, good for you, stick to your guns if you must or better yet, try Herbert's other books and see what we all are missing since Frank is writing no more. As far as the Dune series is concerned, it is still Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune...reasonable people can choose to disagree.
Oh trust me I have read A LOT of Frank's books!!! If I go to a used book store I always look for some of his out of print books! I have at least 20 if his books that I have read!
Bravo! So you can understand that as Frank Herbert "purists" we stick with his writing when it comes to all things Dune.
Actually... no I cannot understand that. I have never been a snob or turned my nose up at things that are different. I love Frank's vision of Dune; I also love Kevin and Brian's vision. I have read several books by all three authors and like some, love some, and some I do not like but I as a whole all three are good authors. I can understand saying, “I liked this book the best” or “I did not care for this book because…” To say not to bother reading something because someone else wrote it I don’t understand. ANy kind of "purists" as you put it cut themselves off to a whole bunch of great things. Never cared for that label. Too many people have used that label to exclude for no other reason than to just exclude what is not the same as what they feel comfortable with. Fremen became purists and cut off contact with the outside world,I think one thing Frank taight me at least is to expand my understanding and look to the unfamiliar and embrace it. "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."
Well, I can't disagree with your philosophy regarding the 'Dune' series, nor your urge to read them all. Its certainly your prerogative to do so.But as far as the practice itself (let's call it 'tapering off') is concerned--'abstaining, when quality slackens' is a fully defensible aesthetic stance. For books, music, movies, for anything.
Failing to 'segregate wheat from chaff', failure to identify the best products to devote one's attention to (dismissing the dross) is simply rational good sense as an audience member. To consume everything without selectivity, indicates one is not applying any discrimination at all; or suggests (falsely) that every creative product is of exactly the same quality as every other--without ever any variance. And we know that is not so.
Just sayin. If the Bene Gesserit had anything to opine on the matter, it would probably lean towards this.
You obviously like to use big words to impress people... If you followed the whole thread I said I really like both even though they are different. I never said you should read all of them only you should not tell someone to not read them based solely on them being written by someone else. I stated I have no problem saying one book is better or worse but just to say only books written by this guy/gal are the only ones you should read because it was the original. I do not think that Kevin and Brian's vision or execution is "worse" than Frank it is certainly different but very good. If the series got really bad than yes I would taper off but I do not see that happening with Kevin and Brian at the helm.
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And so on...you can skip the rest of them."
I wish I had headed that advice"
Concur, Stavros. Every time I re-read DUNE I want more. So I watch the 3DVD William Hurt version of DUNE. I've tried to read several of the sequels; abandoned all but one, and that one I wish those images would leave my mind. Cheers! @hg47