Dune

I may be in that small category of people who saw the 1984 movie before reading the book. I don't recommend this, actually.

Great... great... great.

3.5

A cerebral piece of writing that weaves scifi with religion, politics and espionage more deftly than any other work I've read. Herbert also does a great job of peeling back the construct of mythology and legend and showing the power that they hold over a society. The fact that the book is also written partly like a religious text adds a lot to the atmosphere of the book. While the pacing occasionally struggles, it is more than made up for by the world building and the intricacy of the dialogue between characters. 4/5.

Loved it. Hard to get through at times but what a story and world. Will write out further thoughts on book review page

Dune is een klassieker die op mijn lijst ontbrak. Ik ging er redelijk blanco in aangezien ik niet veel van het verhaal wist. Ik wist dat het over een woestijnplaneet ging en iets met wormen.
Tot nu toe heb ik ook nog geen enkele verfilming gezien

Vanaf het begin heeft dit boek de uitstraling van een epos. Dit wordt versterkt door de citaten aan het begin van elk ‘hoofdstukje'. Het geeft de illusie van een enorme diepte in het universum van Dune.
Ik moet eerlijk bekennen dat het in het begin hard werken was. Termen worden niet gelijk duidelijk en Herbert doet niet aan een geleidelijke aanloop. De lezer wordt direct ondergedompeld in zijn universum.

Ik weet niet of het de tijdgeest is, waarin dit boek geschreven is, maar ik kreeg een “foundation” vibe. Veel nadruk op world building, politieke intriges en het uitwerken van concepten en een wat minder actie-gedreven plot.
Voor mij is dit positief, maar ik kan me voorstellen dat de wat jongere lezer dit boek een beetje taai of “langzaam” vindt.

Toch krijg ik absoluut nergens het idee dat dit boek gedateerd is, wat best bewonderingswaardig is voor een boek uit 1965. Herbert gebruikt hiervoor een slimme truc door te beschrijven dat er ergens in het verleden een ‘pogrom' is geweest tegen ‘computers' en ‘AI'. Om dit ‘probleem' te omzeilen roept hij een soort van verhoogde staat van bewustzijn met AI-achtige capaciteiten bij mensen, in het leven. De zogenaamde ‘Mentat' en de orde van de ‘Bene Gesserit'. Dit verschaft Herbert de speelruimte om relevant te blijven. Ik heb geen idee of dit bewust om deze reden is gedaan, of niet, maar het pakt 60 jaar later nog steeds goed uit.

Tot slot een persoonlijk irritatiepuntje.....waarom vinden veel schrijvers van epic fantasy en SF het noodzakelijk om allerlei gedichten en liederen in te voegen? Het grijpt allemaal terug op de romantische middeleeuwse minstrelen, terwijl ik alleen maar met mijn ogen kan rollen....
En kan je echt niets anders bedenken? Toch blijft het een ding binnen de fantasy en SF. Ik zal het Herbert niet erg aanrekenen, hij weet zich nog redelijk te beperken ten opzichte van andere auteurs........

Om tot een conclusie te komen. Voor mij is dit boek meer dan 4 sterren, maar het haalt ook de 5 sterren niet. Misschien in combinatie met de sequels wel, maar als standalone is het wat mij betreft 4,5 ster.

went into this thinking it would be the book everyone told me it would be.. a masterpiece but i got shite instead

the beginning was sooooooooooooOOOOO good but it tanked after that

A tour de force of science fiction and a classic for a reason. A difficult book to walk into but the result is incredibly rewarding with a rich story of how religious institutions and corrupt politics shape our world and the Fremen. 

While I found a lot to enjoy in Dune, I don't disagree with the main points presented by many of the people writing negative reviews. The early chapters are slow and tedious, but they lay the foundation for a lot of interesting things to come. Although the book has a dated writing style that comes across as long-winded and stuffy, I gradually got used to it after a few chapters. To me, Dune excels most in its world-building. While reading, I constantly found myself wanting to know more about this society, where computers are outlawed, yet FTL space travel is still possible. Overall, Dune is an excellent read, featuring a fascinating setting that extends far beyond the bounds of the story contained in the book. If these elements pique your interest and you don't mind the writing style, you'll probably enjoy Dune, as I did.

I don't want to say anything. I just feel as if I read something really great and I want to leave it at that.

TL;DR

I didn't grow up with this book like many people had. I recently just started reading and was recommended this book. I don't know if it's because I don't have much experience in the science fiction genre to compare it to but this book is amazing. I really liked everything about it, the story, the world building, the characters, the environments, the history... If you want to read a good science fiction story that even though it's a series can be read as a standalone perfectly fine. It has a good and satisfying ending. Go read this book!

My Scoring System

I have five things I look for in a book, if the book checks all five it's a 5/5 stars book, if it checks none it's a 1/5 stars and everything else is a combination:

✓ - Main Story: Great story, I like the way this story is told and how it was written. I don't have any mayor gripes with it. Good stuff.

✓ - Side Stories (if it applies): I liked all the side stuff, the Baron's plan, the Fremen's plan all the stories were great. I really enjoyed reading them.

✓ - Characters: Amazing characters, from the "good" ones to the evil ones are all amazing. I didn't dislike any of them.

✓ - Setting/Ambiance: Arrakis is always an amazing place, a desert planet filled with sandworms. I reall like the desert theme.

✓ - Ending: I liked the ending, you can stop here and it's a perfectly good spot.

Extensive Review

Not much to add here since this is the section where I say what annoyed or bothered me about the book. I pretty much liked everything about it, again, this might be due to me having just started reading science fiction and not having many pieces to compare it to but I really liked this book.

The characters were well written, my favorite, Jessica is amazing. Every chapter with her which is pretty much the whole story thankfully was a blast to see how she thinks, reacts and takes action. The bene gesserit as a whole I really like, the idea of a group of very powerfull females that select which genes gets to pass on is interesting. Then we have the Baron, such a cool villain I was looking forward to every chapter with him in it. The fremen were also cool, every faction is great in this book.

Easily one of the best sci-fi books of all time and astonishingly ahead of its time being written in the 60's. I love the characters I love the world I love the religions and the enemies are pretty cool but I feel like the movie did a much better job capturing the Baron's evilness. Just a super fun read and I will immediately read the next book

I don't care for Frank Herbert's prose at all. This is a book that makes a better movie and I regret wasting my energy reading it.

4.5 stars

this story was absolutely brilliant. I can't wait to continue on in the series and see what happens! War? Treachery? Peace? I was completely taken by the story. Engulfed in it so much that I was listening to this any chance I could get!

3.5ish (maybe 3.75) rounded up to 4 stars

If I viewed this book from the perspective of where it stands in the “history of sci-fi”, and how much of a trailblazer it was in that regard, I might have given it the clean 4 – but I'd much rather judge it solely on the merits of the book.

There are two things Herbert seems to greatly enjoy writing – political squabble and biologically accurate world building/planetary elements. Dialogue between characters is unique and well written. Descriptions of the world that is Arrakis are meticulous enough to evoke feelings akin to reading a textbook about a country you've never heard of.

Outside of these two primary concepts, Dune fell slightly short to me. Multiple times, I found myself longing for just... more story? Time would cut, locations would change, perspectives cut short, and I'd walk away deeply curious for everything that actually did happen in between those windows.

The last 70 pages are a shining example of what Dune “could have been” to be a 4.5, or even perfect 5 star book. Without getting into any spoiler territory, I'd honestly argue that the book is worth a read to get through to that point – especially if you pay close attention while reading until that point.

A classic of science fiction with epic scale and depth to its worldbuilding and universe, combined with riveting action adventure.

“Duna” é um clássico definitivo que influenciou inúmeras obras de ficção científica e fantasia. Se você gostou de “As Crônicas de Gelo e Fogo”, “The Witcher”, ou é fã de “Star Wars” ou “Star Trek”, este livro proporcionará uma excelente jornada.

O início da leitura pode ser complicado, especialmente até a metade da Parte I. Muitos personagens, locais e conceitos são introduzidos sem explicações claras, o que pode ser confuso. No entanto, conforme a leitura avança, as intenções de Frank Herbert começam a se revelar. De maneira magistral, ele usa as próprias narrativas dentro da história para esclarecer o universo que criou. Dessa forma, o leitor é introduzido de maneira única a um livro extremamente rico. Embora o começo possa ser cansativo, o esforço será recompensado no final.

Aos poucos, as aparências enganosas dão lugar a uma abordagem mais realista. Política e religião começam a ganhar forma e são constantemente debatidas. Temas como biologia e geografia se incorporam à história, mostrando o meticuloso cuidado de Herbert ao escrever sua obra. Comparações com a realidade são inevitáveis: questões como petróleo, fanatismo religioso e elitismo estão presentes de forma evidente.

Para tornar a leitura mais prazerosa, concentre-se nos personagens que interagem com Jessica, Paul e Leto. Tudo começa a se encaixar ao final da Parte I. Boa leitura, ou melhor, uma boa jornada!

OBS: Considerando que o livro foi escrito na década de 1960, optei por ignorar as partes que fazem referência ao vilão “afeminado”, Barão Vladimir Harkonnen, retratado de maneira pejorativa como gay e possivelmente envolvido em incesto e pedofilia. Esse estereótipo, que aparece com frequência nas cenas em que o vilão é mencionado, é um dos principais pontos fracos da obra, pois ele é retratado de forma unidimensional, sem nuances que poderiam torná-lo um personagem mais complexo.

Outro tópico que me incomodou foi a eugenia. Em nenhum momento há uma crítica substancial a esse tema, exceto pela relutância de Paul em seguir o caminho que sua mãe determinou. Esperava que o autor mostrasse os perigos dessa ideologia, mas isso não ocorre. Quem sabe esse questionamento apareça nos próximos livros.

flipped through it, not like it's that good.
the film to me is so-so, but the book itself is too.

The beginning felt like it was missing a few chapters, very difficult to follow what's happening. It references things that don't seem to be explained or have context, and while it does get a bit better later on in the book it remains a problem The plot is interesting though.

I think this is the first book I've finished that the most people on my friends list have given 4-5 stars to.

There's no point in adding a review to such a well known book so I will simply say, I did not realize this film had such an environmental bent. I can't believe it was written in 1965. I really enjoyed it and it's plain to see the influence of Dune on other writers is profound.

This book was PHENOMENAL! I loved every single part. The world building, the characters, just everything.

First half was pretty solid. Second half jumped around way too much for my taste.

For as long as this book was, it was a surprisingly easy read. The world was interesting, the character building was engaging, though towards the end of the book ...I found myself not particularly caring for or about any of the characters.

I had extremely high expectations for this book, and perhaps that ultimately contributed to my disappointment with the lapse into being a product of its time - primarily, in regard to its treatment of women. I had hoped, especially with the initial introductions of the two most important female characters, that sexism would be less rampant in Dune compared to other sci-fi novels of the time, and while lessened, it was enough to affect my overall enjoyment.

3 ⭐

I can see the appeal of this, but it wasn't really my thing. Listening to the audiobook helped a lot except how distracting I found the switch between narration and full cast. Sometimes the general narrator would read out the dialogue and sometimes the individual actors would, for no discernible reason. Paul was like THE most boring character, which reinforced how I felt about him when I watched the movie. Watching the new movie before reading did honestly help me understand the book more (and reading afterwards helped me understand the movie more as well). Honestly I wish the whole book had been focused on Jessica, she was truly the coolest character. I briefly considered continuing the series but the next book is about more PAUL, so I think I'm going to pass. Also, it was incredibly distracting how Herbert constantly described how fat the Baron was, and I hated how he played into the ‘predatory gay' trope, but I guess it was written in the 60s.

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I read this at least once long ago and decided to read it again after seeing the recent movie.
I think it holds up pretty well and I enjoyed the movie and the book.
In the book. much of the dialog is very stilted and the political discussions were tedious.
The movie, while only covering less then 1/2 the book, flows a lot better.