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he_slaughtered's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual violence, Fatphobia, and Homophobia
izzymmcfarland's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Pedophilia, and Fatphobia
Minor: Rape and Slavery
mikeapo's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My reread of Dune was steeped in nostalgia, and while it remains a foundational piece of science fiction literature and a wonder of world-building to rival Tolkien, it is marred by its outdated and judgemental characterization of its queer presenting villain. If you can read past its shortcomings there is still an epic story of survival and mysticism in an incredibly rich world. It does function as the beginning of a saga, and lacks a satisfying conclusion. Despite this Dune remains a classic sci fi adventure worth a read - if only to experience Arrakis.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Fatphobia
libbyhb's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
DUNE! Loved it, had such a good time reading this. The world is so cool, and I love that the terminology is just kind of thrown at you while you read, and that there's different words for the same thing (? there's probably a better way to say that). I enjoyed seeing the story from the different perspectives, showing Paul's journey from various lenses. The characters were both not very fleshed out or three dimensional AND extremely easy for me to love and root for, for some reason. I was so invested in Paul and Jessica and Chani and everyone else, except the baron, who I hated and hated reading about. Can't wait to see the next movie and read the rest of the series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death of parent, Violence, and Fatphobia
tinyjude's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Homophobia, and Fatphobia
lunaloewenherz's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Cannibalism, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexism, and War
sara_54l54's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia
thebakerbookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I have so many mixed feelings about Dune I don't know where to begin! So I'm making things easier on myself by just listing what I liked and didn't like...
What I liked:
- the setting, and cool world-building
- the planet of Arrakis
- stillsuits were pretty sweet
- Jessica, for the most part
- the fact that nothing is really explained, we just have to figure it out from context or by reading the glossary
- riding sandworms
- the intros at the beginning of each chapter, which tell you exactly what is going to happen in the future so there are no real surprises
- Kynes
- sometimes liked Paul when he wasn't being boring or spouting nonsense because he can
- the fact that I got through all 600+ pages
What I didn't like:
- I could not connect to the characters and didn't see a ton of development. An "important" character would pop up and then disappear for three hundred pages, only to return just briefly or die or never get mentioned again. Paul was special because he was special and automatically good at everything, so there wasn't really any room for his growth.
- the slowwwwww prose
- the "chosen one" trope, which maybe wasn't as common when this book was written but is very overdone now
- the evil character is evil just because he is evil and fat
- the late late late arrival of Chani
- the intros at the beginning of each chapter, which tell you exactly what is going to happen in the future so there are no real surprises
- the random two-year time jump
- and lastly, I perhaps could have forgiven all the above, if not that I just do not like Herbert's writing style...it drove me crazy. This is written in third-person omniscient, which was already my least-favorite POV style, and the constant jumping between character's heads and thoughts plus the disconnected way Herbert writes about the characters had me bored or frustrated for most of the book.
Okay, so maybe there was more that I didn't like then did like...but I did still like some of it. And I appreciate the fact that it did a lot for the science fiction genre in its time. But I also just don't understand why people love it so much ๐
I did watch the movie and enjoyed it a lot more than the book!
Also as always, please be wary of the content warnings; if you ever need more info about one, don't hesitate to ask!
What I liked:
- the setting, and cool world-building
- the planet of Arrakis
- stillsuits were pretty sweet
- Jessica, for the most part
- the fact that nothing is really explained, we just have to figure it out from context or by reading the glossary
- riding sandworms
- the intros at the beginning of each chapter, which tell you exactly what is going to happen in the future so there are no real surprises
- Kynes
- sometimes liked Paul when he wasn't being boring or spouting nonsense because he can
- the fact that I got through all 600+ pages
What I didn't like:
- I could not connect to the characters and didn't see a ton of development. An "important" character would pop up and then disappear for three hundred pages, only to return just briefly or die or never get mentioned again. Paul was special because he was special and automatically good at everything, so there wasn't really any room for his growth.
- the slowwwwww prose
- the "chosen one" trope, which maybe wasn't as common when this book was written but is very overdone now
- the evil character is evil just because he is evil and fat
- the late late late arrival of Chani
- the intros at the beginning of each chapter, which tell you exactly what is going to happen in the future so there are no real surprises
- the random two-year time jump
- and lastly, I perhaps could have forgiven all the above, if not that I just do not like Herbert's writing style...it drove me crazy. This is written in third-person omniscient, which was already my least-favorite POV style, and the constant jumping between character's heads and thoughts plus the disconnected way Herbert writes about the characters had me bored or frustrated for most of the book.
Okay, so maybe there was more that I didn't like then did like...but I did still like some of it. And I appreciate the fact that it did a lot for the science fiction genre in its time. But I also just don't understand why people love it so much ๐
I did watch the movie and enjoyed it a lot more than the book!
Also as always, please be wary of the content warnings; if you ever need more info about one, don't hesitate to ask!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child death, Grief, and Racism
Minor: Pedophilia
saphirabloom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Violence, War, Death of parent, and Pedophilia
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide
gennysreadingroom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is definitely of itโs time but my enjoyment of it was what gave this a 5 star rating for me. It is not perfect but the fun I had reading it was perfection and much needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Homophobia, and Fatphobia