Dune
Ratings2,757
Average rating4.3
Dune is a book of contradictions.
For something written half a century ago, its style is visceral and modern.
For a book that barely passes the Bechdel test, the female characters are surprisingly strong and three-dimensional.
It revolves around a white messiah leading a native populace, but somehow deftly avoids pandering and falling into the noble savage trope. It's an incredibly progressive novel.
It's either the hardest soft sci-fi I've ever read, or the softest hard sci-fi.
For something so uniquely singular, its influences echo out through countless imitators. Everything about it has been rehashed and copied, but it still feels completely fresh.
It's easy to see why Dune is consistently ranked as the best science fiction novel of all time. Because it just might be.
5 stars
???He who controls the X controls the Y.???
A familiar concept, but very few writers have managed to adapt it so succinctly as Frank Herbert with the spice of Arrakis. The spice ??? a highly addictive substance, that makes your eyes blue and grants you powers similar to clairvoyance, is highly prized in the universe, especially since withdrawal from it is lethal. It is up to a young duke of the house Atreides to inherit his father???s throne and become the rightful prophesied ruler of the planet together with the help of the unique Fremen.
Recommended to fans of sci-fi, since Dune is a certified science fiction classic and people to whom guerilla warfare on a desert planet seems an attractive background for the schemes and disputes of nobles.
Excelente historia. No le doy 5 estrellas por sus escenas de acción, flojas y muy cortas, por lo demás excelente. Alía Atreides me ha encantado!!!
3.5 out of 5 stars
It feels good to finally check this science fiction classic off of my to-read list. I was expecting a slow, dry slog, but I found Dune to be surprisingly engaging and accessible. The worldbuilding and character building are top notch and I can see why the desert planet of Arrakis is such a legendary setting. I can't say that I enjoyed every aspect of the story, but I certainly appreciate Dune's place in the Pantheon of the genre and am glad to have read it. Looking ahead, I'm excited to see how Denis Villeneuve adapts this for the big screen.
See this review and others at The Speculative Shelf.
Best sci-fi book I've ever read. The only thing that's better is Malazan Book of the Fallen but that one's a fantasy. Erikson and Herbert have a lot in common and while Herbert's writing isn't perfect and is very dry, it's full of philosophy and life lessons. Just hold on for the first chapters, then the writing truly improves.
A masterpiece every sci-fi fan should read.
This book has been on my ‘to read' list for years. I have started it a few times, but I just couldn't get into it. My husband is a fan of this book, so we gave the audiobook a try while on a road trip. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed up late after getting home to finish listening to it. There is so much interesting detail and the imagination of the author must be very vivid. The ending was a little flat and I was a little disappointed by the last few sentences and the way they describe women so that is why I can only give it 4 and not 5 stars.
I know it is a classic and somehow groundbreaking book in the genre, but nevertheless I couldn't stand how pretentious and naïve it is. Didn't age very well in my opinion.
How interesting is the experience of reading a book so iconic it inspired lots and lots of the works you read and watch and like on a daily basis? Dune is... an experience, there's no other way of putting it. It is an experience. It took me a good while to get into it, too—200 pages or so—, but I could finally reach a point where all I could think about was Dune. I certainly can understand why it's a classic, and I can't wait to read its sequels—well, actually, I can... I'll probably wait a while.
Do you know what I really want to do, though? Watch SyFy's Frank Herbert's Children of Dune with James McAvoy. Yes. Thank you.
Reading this more than 20 years after I first read it, I am a little surprised how much I enjoyed it second time around. Indeed, as other reviewers have mentioned to be their experience, I drew more depth from it this time around.
Absolutely fantastic. There was never a dull moment. The plot was creative and there was a great amount of character development.
If you haven't read Dune before, you've probably at least heard of it. It's one of the best-selling science fiction (or science fantasy) novels of all time, selling over 20 million copies. It won the Hugo in 1966, as well as the inaugural Nebula. The incredible worldbuilding was almost unheard of for the time, and it is still considered a classic.
The majority of the book takes place on the desert planet of Arrakis (sometimes known as Dune). Water is almost non-existent, and the entire culture of the planet revolves around conserving it. Perhaps the most iconic part of the setting is the giant sand worms. These things are gargantuan and can eat helicopters right out of the sky.
The other iconic part of Dune is the melange, or spice. Those who live outside of Arrakis consider the production of spice to be the planet's primary role. This spice is highly addictive and has somewhat magical properties.
Dune takes place around 8,000 years in the future. As such, the technology is advanced (though computers are shunned for religious reasons). Most people have access to personal shields that protect against projectile weapons, so melee weapons like swords are still in use.
There are also several “mystical” orders, including the Bene Gesserit and the Mentats. The Bene Gesserit are women who are trained to sense the smallest details of body language, can compel people with their voices, and see likely paths the future will take. The Mentats are supremely logical and serve as advisers to those in power.
Most of the important characters in Dune are affiliated with House Atreides, which is given governorship of Dune at the start of the novel. Their main enemy is House Harkonnen, whose Baron is about as evil as evil gets (to the point where it's almost a caricature at times).
Jessica is a Bene Gesserit and concubine to the Duke of House Atreides. Her son, Paul Atreides, is the central figure of the book. He is the Kwisatz Haderach, one with the ability to see the future and the product of hundreds of generations of selective breeding.
Early in the book, House Atreides leaves their home planet and arrives on Arrakis, which was previously controlled by the Harkonnens. They suspect that it is a trap, but the order for them to move came from the emperor and they can't refuse.
On Arrakis, they meet the local people, called Fremen. The Atreides hope to form an alliance with the Fremen, who are intimately familiar with the planet and formidable fighters. As the Atreides struggle to adjust to the harsh life of a desert world, they must also outmaneuver the Harkonnens.
This book starts out slow. There are a lot of fantasy words and names to adjust to (though the main character is just called Paul), and the plot is heavily political. Around halfway through the novel, the pacing picks up quite a bit. I wouldn't call the second half action-packed, but it definitely moves quicker.
The prose is a step above average. It's not too flowery, and the descriptions strike a balance between length and painting a clear picture of the unique world. There are a good number of memorable lines and passages. My favorite was the litany against fear.
If you enjoy science fiction, original worldbuilding, and political intrigue, this is the book for you. It's widely considered a classic and holds up well even more than 50 years later.
However, the weakest part of the book is the characters. If you need to feel a connection to characters, you might have a hard time with this. Also, the book is fairly slow for the first half.
Overall, this book is definitely worth trying if you like what you've heard so far. There's even a movie being made, so now might be a good time check this out.
I really struggled with this book. The massive amount of “made up words” threw me off. I didn't understand half of what went on in this book. If your book requires you have a dictionary in the back...you're doing something wrong.
It was not an easy book to get into...I stopped reading it at one point early on but I forced myself to read this book. If only because a lot of people seem to think it's a must read for sci-fi lovers...it's not. It's dull and needlessly convoluted.
The only saving grace for this book is the setting. I thought the setting in a desert planet was pretty cool. I also liked the plans the Fremen had for reshaping the planet.
But the writing...I'm a fast reader and it took me nearly a month to read this small (in my opinion when compared to some of the things I've read) book. Somethings wrong with that.
People keep calling this book a “grand epic”...I can think of plenty of other books that fit that title a lot better.
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.
Dios creó Arrakis para probar a los fieles
Esta obra maestra de Frank Herbert es una de las mejores novelas de ciencia ficción de todos los tiempos, ha sido ganadora de los premios Nebula en 1965 y Hugo en 1966.
Había pospuesto Dune por demasiado tiempo, por fin me atreví a leerlo después de casi 10 años. Herbert llevó el feudalismo a niveles galácticos, creó un universo con un poderoso marco cultural, político y económico con un nivel de detalle impresionante.
El Imperio, el Landsraad, la CHOAM, la Cofradía Espacial, la Bene Gesserit con su Missionaria Protectiva, los Fremen, la especia, los gusanos de arena .... ¡Dune!
Summary: Underwhelming. Didn't meet high expectations. Unfortunately became a bit of a slog to get through.
The Good: Herbert creates a world, highly realized, with its unique cultures and language and history and politics. With depth and detail. Well plotted, bringing together many threads and characters with political intrigue.
The Bad: Despite such a variety of characters, with a variety of roles and actions, somehow they lack humanity. All their dialogue, all their thoughts, all their actions, tend to be in the service of the plot, or exposition, or enlightening the reader to this world. But despite seeing deep into the thoughts of the characters, we seem to get little enlightenment of their feelings on the matters at hand, let alone personal, particular, character-driven, and character-revealing aspects of their thoughts and feelings. Characters often seemed hyper-intellectual. I don't think there was a single argument based upon emotional conflict, or bit of humor in the entire book. Another for instance: the deaths of characters close to others did not seem to elicit much emotion, thought, or feelings on the matter. Characters felt too often unrelatable (as a result). I think this is why I did not feel enough care for what happened to the characters.
The Ugly: Suspenseful moments there were, but more as a result of the plot, and less the result of how he handled those plot moments, or how they actually played out on the page. Similar with the action scenes, which were intense almost despite the writing itself. A great hero, but one which did not have a lot of endearing or relatable qualities. And one who felt too entrenched in the tired (and even racist) trope of the civilized/western/white hero going in to lead and save the savage/exotic/eastern people of color (a la the films “Dances with Wolves” or “The Samurai,” which while I might have enjoyed, can nonetheless be rather troubling and problematic from a race perspective). Chapter introductions from books written about the events of the story, giving interesting insights and commentary, but whose foreshadowing crossed the line into actual spoiling what otherwise would have been suspenseful events if the outcome wasn't already known. A glossary that was helpful, but also felt a bit of a crutch, as Herbert then appeared to feel free to simply not bother to try to integrate the explanations of their meaning within the text itself (which would have required a more deft hand with storytelling, but which would have been more enjoyable and easier for the reader. The metaphysical/supernatural aspects lent some more other-worldliness to the story, but at times left me a bit confused or uncertain about their meaning, significance, or even a good sense of what was actually happening. A compelling tale, but one which at times seemed rather derivative of history (see T.E. Lawreance “of Arabia.”) Interesting cultural idea, but ones which also seemed extremely derivative. A story which might be an interesting analogy on the times in which it was written (Middle East politics, oil), but if there was something beyond just being borrowed or derivative, and which actually might be a commentary, I did not see it (though I acknowledge both that it might be my failing to see it, and that all works are derivative in some sense).
Disclaimer: Expectations can be important. I did see (at least most of) the 1984 film something over 20 years ago. My rather awful impression of it colored my view of the book. I wish I had not seen it beforehand. On the other hand, my expectations were high due to the rave reviews and #1 rankings on the all-time-best science fiction lists.
This was a really good read and I can see what all the praise is for. I felt a little disappointed by the ending I think I was looking for something more grandious. But I think I feel this way because of the way books are written today with more action.
This is ultimately the story of how Paul Maud-Dib becomes the prophet and becones the ruler of a planet. I am eagerly awaiting the othe books in this series. I do not believe that the main charecters from this book are in future volumes. This is a book about Maud-Dib while the series is about Arrakis.
This was a really good read and I can see what all the praise is for. I felt a little disappointed by the ending I think I was looking for something more grandious. But I think I feel this way because of the way books are written today with more action.
This is ultimately the story of how Paul Maud-Dib becomes the prophet and becones the ruler of a planet. I am eagerly awaiting the othe books in this series. I do not believe that the main charecters from this book are in future volumes. This is a book about Maud-Dib while the series is about Arrakis.