Dune

I bounced off this pretty hard the first time I tried to read it, but decided to give it another chance and I'm glad I did. Seminal sci-fi masterpiece that creates an imaginative world. At this point, I think Dune is so subsumed into the collective literary consciousness that it's hard to talk about, because so many people are at least familiar with it. References to it abound in popular culture, so much so that even I could recognize them without having read it.

Two chief complaints:

1. The writing is inconsistent. Mostly, it's fine. Occasionally, especially at the beginning, it's unacceptably expository, with characters discussing things that they should all know perfectly well for the benefit of the reader.

2. Paul is borderline omniscient, except when he's not. You can see the roots of R. Scott Bakker's Kellhus here with the Bene Gesserit training, but when it's convenient plotwise, those abilities suddenly don't seem as powerful. Little explanation is generally offered.

Loved it anyway. Definitely worth a read.