Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Dune

Dune is a wonderfull exploration of the economics and sociology of its universe, sadly for me Pauls character development takes precedent over the worldbuilding.

Additionally the pace of the book speeds up uncomfortably fast towards the end, which is definitly intended to bring across the feeling of a snowball effect gliding out of control but it still feels a bit to rushed towards the end for me. Overall the setting, mood and Pauls development are a delight to read, even if some of the themes are a bit out of their time.

Content Warnings

johnathanwet's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Wow, another true classic under the belt, and I couldn’t be happier to have finally read Dune. This was almost a 5 star read for me here. The vast majority of this book is just conversations between people who are all constantly trying to hide the truth from each other, but never quite succeeding - until it suddenly becomes an action move in the 3rd act.

I found the pacing quite surprising with that 3rd act; this is a famously ‘slow-paced’ book, and I would say that is almost true. The first act is certainly slow, and the 2nd act is closer to medium, but it still waltz through the story it is telling. The 3rd act feels like the author ran out time or was told to drastically reduce the word count. I feel like we could have spent much more time with these characters in between the time skip. I feel like the some of the Barons story gets cut, especially considering he is a major POV character with all of these plans.

I would be remiss not to mention the way Herbert uses POV in Dune. It is fascinating. In each chapter there is a character that we follow, and we mostly see the situation through their eyes - but we see the situation through glimpses into everyone else’s experience of the situation too, little thoughts that they have to themselves, reactions that they try to hide from others. The POV structure puts you into Paul’s shoes, who sees everything that could happen or is happening; how other characters cannot hide from him in any meaningful way.

Content Warnings

katydied's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Content Warnings

sunn_bleach's review against another edition

Go to review page

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!

Content Warnings

More...