Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Dune

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Dune by Frank Herbert

18 reviews

infinite_harness9030's review against another edition

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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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becksusername's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

It took me almost a full year but I have finally read Dune. Still can't get over the main characters being called Paul and Jessica. And in my head "Chani" is pronounced "Zendaya"

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giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

As a book written in the 60s, Dune carries a modern touch to it that is quite surprising, unless you forget that's the appeal of science fiction: to imagine worlds and systems where technology has advanced to levels we normal humans wouldn't dream of. Another interesting aspect was the "ecology" of Dune, put in quotation marks given that the biological science behind it wasn't as well explained as I would've liked. Still, my own knowledge of ecology allowed me to pierce together the importance of the sandworms and that was quite an exhilarating reveal to achieve. The overlying theme of colonialism and fighting back for your own land was refreshing, with tactful care to portray the Fremen as humans as worthy as the Greater Houses, another refreshing aspect when considering how the myth of the good savage can spread so pervasively on literature. It was a book definitively ahead of its time; after reading it I finally understood the appeal of the story and I'm interested in reading the rest of the Chronicles, which is an excellent sign. My only complaint, which is not to the detriment of the book because it's obvious it was the author's choice, was the fact that many important details of the story are not explained, and one has to pierce together fragments of information throughout the book to fully comprehend what's happening. Doesn't remove the interesting world-construction of the book but definitively makes its first pages very confusing.

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Review:

From the way people talk about Frank Herbert’s Dune, I thought that it was going to be super dry, confusing, and hyper-intellectual. I was surprised to find that it is pretty easy to get into and understand on the narrative level. If you’re not used to reading science fiction and fantasy, then it will probably seem intimidating and confusing at first, but otherwise, it’s not hard to get into. The intricate, thoughtful worldbuilding and political intrigue drew me into the story. I read through the first two parts of the book, watched the first part of Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation, and then finished the rest of the novel. In hindsight, that was a mistake. The movie so beautifully adapts the story, with its breathtaking and haunting visuals, minor changes to the plot and characters for improved storytelling and daring action. For instance, the movie transforms the book’s Baron character from a cheesy and cartoonish villain into an absolutely terrifying, creepy, and loathsome figure. After watching the movie, the book felt like a letdown.

Although on the whole I enjoyed Dune, both in terms of its plot and themes, there were aspects to the story that detracted from the experience. The supposedly deeply intelligent characters could be infuriatingly obtuse at times, to the point where I didn’t feel bad when they faced the inevitable negative consequences of their actions. This was part of my issue with Paul as a character, whose character arc is fascinating but underdeveloped. It’s not that I don’t understand how someone in his position could end up where he does at the end of the book, it’s that Herbert doesn’t spend enough time with Paul’s perspective to show that character development.

I don’t know about you, but if I were in Paul’s position, and I saw a strong potential future where I end up the figurehead of a violent genocide, I would do anything I possibly could to prevent it. Paul ends up doing the worst thing possible, which is to actively cultivate a position of a religious messiah with the Fremen, to the point where he cannot stop the jihad no matter what he does. Now, there could be any number of reasons he chooses this route. Perhaps he’s so driven by revenge for his father and his house that he puts concerns about the jihad on the back burner. Perhaps he ends up believing the messiah narrative himself, taking up the mantle of his position and believing in the cause of the jihad. Perhaps he cannot resist the lure of incredible power he gains by leading the Fremen. Or, perhaps, he’s just profoundly stupid, because I can think of a hundred different actions he could have taken to avoid the whole “jihad in my name” thing if that’s truly what he wanted to do.

I hate that Frank Herbert fails to explore the workings of Paul’s mind, leaving the audience to guess at the driving forces behind Paul’s actions.

The Run-Down:

phantomgecko's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

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

3.5

Classic, impactful, science fiction novel but anticlimactic.

The novel before the two year time jump lives up to expectations, but the last section just seems rushed compared to the careful world building previous. (More specifics under the cut)

Take the Baron. In the beginning he really seems to be a competent and formidable enemy. Sneaky, smart, whatever. But then he becomes more and more pitiful until he's finally murdered by a literal four year old. And I get that the Emperor shows up as a bigger badder guy™, but still. Underwhelming.

The Emperor only gets to be the bigger badder guy for like half a chapter anyway. Ostensibly he gets to return as the antagonist in later books.

I understand that Paul is a literal CHOSEN ONE and all that, but he's pretty OP. Being able to molecularly change a poison administered to him seems like cheating.

Also not a big fan of Paul's son dying. I feel like that was needlessly depressing. Character development or whatever bs.

idk, I guess the takeaway is that this is not a strong standalone novel. It's impotent without the rest of the series.

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bettysbookishworld's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Literary masterpiece! I fell in love with Arrakis so much. Herbert created another reality of this planet by establishing its own politics, race, economics, culture, religion, and environment.

The worldbuilding is the most complex aspect of the book and described imaginaries of Arrakis fell so real.

The political story was very compelling and engaging. The characters have complex personalities and chatacteristics. All these aspects made Dune the genre defining literary piece with a story told on the existential level of Arrakis and other planets.

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kaylabrotzman's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No

1.0

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luminifera's review against another edition

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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

4.5

I find some of the characters very annoying for many different reasons, but the worst for sure is Chani. She simply

has no personality outside of being Paul's love interest

, which is kind of outrageous.

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ivybaggs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i don’t know what to say all i can think is i want to re read it rn this is probably my favourite book on earth and i know it’s hard for readers to pick one but this this is it

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stampest's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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