Reviews tagging 'War'

Dune by Frank Herbert

148 reviews

oozeloot's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Genocide

philosopher_kj's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, War, Xenophobia, Death, Murder, Gaslighting, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy, Classism, Colonisation, Addiction, and Child death

Minor: Slavery

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I read Dune over 12 years ago in 2011. I strongly enjoyed it; and, this revisit has changed some of my perspective. Herbert doesn't know when to trust you to get things; so much of the subtlety of the book is undercut by the characters giving you one- or two-line summaries about whatever's going on. No! Stop that! The best part of this series is figuring out the intrigue yourself! Herbert feels terrified that a reader might be slightly confused, which is ironic given the obfuscation around the Bene Gesserit and Missionaria Protectiva.

I also found that the book does a lot of telling rather than showing. We're told Paul is ~special~ and ~precocious~ from the start, but he's just asks normal questions. We're told the Suk school has unbreakable conditioning, but the *only* example we have is someone who can't. We're told that Thufir Hawat is a dangerous mentat, but he really screws up everything but one (Feyd-Rautha's gladiator battle). I almost feel like this is one of the few long books that could have been longer; we're given so much from the very beginning that feels subverted without establishment.

I still enjoyed this reread, but more for the ideas than Herbert's prose. Not a horrible thing to have, though!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

Minor: Child death

banned_book's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The ideas presented here must have been mind-blowing during the time it was published for the impact it made on modern culture. I can recognize that. But the prose was insultingly basic, and gave no room for the characters to grow beyond cookie cutter tropes. The dialogue was a painful slog to get through, and almost exclusively constructed of as-you-know-Bobs. I heard for years that the worldbuilding was dense and difficult to follow. No. Herbert drives information into your skull repetitively as if you could not grasp it the first time. This book has not aged well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Slavery, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Drug use, Colonisation, War, and Cultural appropriation

dani_mac13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Torture, Death, Murder, War, and Addiction

dramagnu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Murder, Addiction, Classism, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Slavery, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, War, Violence, and Torture

leannanecdote's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Sexism, Misogyny, Slavery, Death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Colonisation, Death of parent, Violence, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Grief, Child death, and Alcohol

lizzyjean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

The storyline of this book was extremely intriguing the entire time. Even though this book is completely fantastical, Frank Herbert story builds as if the world of Dune truly exists. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Death

Moderate: Drug use

The drugs mentioned are completely fictional, but can be related to drugs that exist in our world. The main story is about prophets and politically-driven war.

infinite_harness9030's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Pedophilia, Slavery, Death, Drug abuse, War, Violence, Death of parent, and Racism

Minor: Classism and Adult/minor relationship

trisha_clay's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War