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serafinam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Dune follows Paul Atreides, heir to his father's title, as his family moves to the planet Arrakis and is plunged into chaos.
My biggest complaints about the novel come from how minority characters are depicted and treated. Women in Dune are subservient to men, very manipulative, and are often depicted as slightly less intelligent than their male counterparts. While some of this can be explained by Paul's youth and the wickedness of some characters, none of the female characters are treated as equal and it does make the book harder to enjoy as a woman. The Fremen are more often that not depicted as mystical fanatics with outdated, or even primitive ways of living. Without their existence the entire plot would fall apart, and yet they are not treated with the respect they deserve, both as fictional people and as those based on an actual minority group. My final, and perhaps greatest issue, is with the Baron Harkonnen. It cannot be denied that he is a wicked, evil man--facts easily gleaned from his attempts to exterminate the House Atreides and his treatment of other characters. the inclusion of his penchant for young boys is wholy unnecessary to show just how evil he is. This is especially compounded by the fact that he is the only character we see to have same sex attraction.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book, though it does lean more towards love. I found the politics of the novel to be fascinating and the character motivations keep me guessing at who to trust at every turn. While the style of writing, lore introduced, and involved of the spice lends itself more similarly to high fantasy, it thrives as a solid science fiction novel. The time jumps and perspective changes could be a bit confusing at times, and I often found myself a little perplexed as to the importance of some characters, but I would still recommend this to anyone who loves works like Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, or Brian Sanderson.
My biggest complaints about the novel come from how minority characters are depicted and treated. Women in Dune are subservient to men, very manipulative, and are often depicted as slightly less intelligent than their male counterparts. While some of this can be explained by Paul's youth and the wickedness of some characters, none of the female characters are treated as equal and it does make the book harder to enjoy as a woman. The Fremen are more often that not depicted as mystical fanatics with outdated, or even primitive ways of living. Without their existence the entire plot would fall apart, and yet they are not treated with the respect they deserve, both as fictional people and as those based on an actual minority group. My final, and perhaps greatest issue, is with the Baron Harkonnen. It cannot be denied that he is a wicked, evil man--facts easily gleaned from his attempts to exterminate the House Atreides and his treatment of other characters. the inclusion of his penchant for young boys is wholy unnecessary to show just how evil he is. This is especially compounded by the fact that he is the only character we see to have same sex attraction.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book, though it does lean more towards love. I found the politics of the novel to be fascinating and the character motivations keep me guessing at who to trust at every turn. While the style of writing, lore introduced, and involved of the spice lends itself more similarly to high fantasy, it thrives as a solid science fiction novel. The time jumps and perspective changes could be a bit confusing at times, and I often found myself a little perplexed as to the importance of some characters, but I would still recommend this to anyone who loves works like Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, or Brian Sanderson.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Minor: Gore, Incest, and Grief
tay_bae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
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? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault and Colonisation
lanid's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
melancholymegs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I can objectively see why this book is held in such high acclaim. But subjectively my feelings toward this book are pretty neutral. Will continue the series, but not in the immediate future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, and Pregnancy
Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicide
b0ygenius's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-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? Yes
4.0
mild spoilers ahead ??? kinda ???? i tried to be as vague as humanly possible
after spending a literal month reading this book i am finally done. oh my god.
book 1? show stopping jaw dropping i was gagged the whole time omfg. THE END?????? no like i was screaming. it was so intense from start to finish. and tbh that is all bc of my man duke leto atreides omfg. i was rooting for him from the start simply because he is played by THE oscar isaac in the 2021 movie and tbh i think he was my favorite character. like he came he saw he SERVED!!!!!!! this part was sooo good based on this i thought dune would become one of my all time favorites but unfortunately. this was most definitely the peak of this book and tbh i was thinking of giving this like a 3.5/5 but i loved book 1 so much that i can’t give it anything lower than a 4
book 2 tho…. omfg. soooooo sloooowwww i literally spent like a week reading book 1 and a week reading book 3 and then book 2 took me two weeks bc it was just so BORING omfg the first like 150 pages were just [redacted] and [redacted] wandering around the desert and it was boring. and one of my main problems with this book is that some things weren’t explored as thoroughly as they should’ve been like some side characters were given such a large role in the beginning of the book and then had 0 appearance for literally 400 pages only to appear at the end of the book briefly again. and some characters had such unsatisfying deaths especially the ones at the end like it just felt like we never got a satisfying ending to the arcs of a lot of the characters who died.
book 3 was also kinda boring the end was alright but again i thought it was so unsatisfactory. like we spent, not even an exaggeration, like 350 pages building up to this so you would think it would be some grand dramatic end but it rlly wasn’t. go girl give us nothing. paul at the end was cool tho he was rlly badass and kinda hot tbh 😦 i was so conflicted abt him for a lot of the book i kept flipping back and forth between liking him and not liking him but in the end i think he had a really great arc and his development was done pretty well but his like prescient awareness or whatever stuff was kinda hard to follow. and it was hard to follow his the development of his abilities.. like it was hard to tell just how powerful he was he would do things or have some vision or whatever and i would be like “damn since when can he do that???????” maybe that was on purpose but either way i did not like it. paul was kinda giving me whiplash but whatever
i can definitely see why this book is considered one of the greatest sci fi books of all time and i could see how this influenced later sci fi stuff like star wars and i definitely do not regret reading this but this definitely isn’t for everyone bc it is very very long and it can be hard to follow at times and there is a Looot of world building (but tbh i didn’t mind the amount of world building as much as i thought i would, i rlly liked how intricate and immersive and thought out the world is). i personally did not find it that hard to read and i think that’s because i learned some of the basic background info abt the characters/the world/the politics/etc before i started reading. like the house system, the main characters, the spacing guild, bene gesserits, the butlerian jihad, etc etc and i think that really helped me so if you want to read dune i would recommend looking at some beginner’s guides there are plenty online
after spending a literal month reading this book i am finally done. oh my god.
book 1? show stopping jaw dropping i was gagged the whole time omfg. THE END?????? no like i was screaming. it was so intense from start to finish. and tbh that is all bc of my man duke leto atreides omfg. i was rooting for him from the start simply because he is played by THE oscar isaac in the 2021 movie and tbh i think he was my favorite character. like he came he saw he SERVED!!!!!!! this part was sooo good based on this i thought dune would become one of my all time favorites but unfortunately. this was most definitely the peak of this book and tbh i was thinking of giving this like a 3.5/5 but i loved book 1 so much that i can’t give it anything lower than a 4
book 2 tho…. omfg. soooooo sloooowwww i literally spent like a week reading book 1 and a week reading book 3 and then book 2 took me two weeks bc it was just so BORING omfg the first like 150 pages were just [redacted] and [redacted] wandering around the desert and it was boring. and one of my main problems with this book is that some things weren’t explored as thoroughly as they should’ve been like some side characters were given such a large role in the beginning of the book and then had 0 appearance for literally 400 pages only to appear at the end of the book briefly again. and some characters had such unsatisfying deaths especially the ones at the end like it just felt like we never got a satisfying ending to the arcs of a lot of the characters who died.
book 3 was also kinda boring the end was alright but again i thought it was so unsatisfactory. like we spent, not even an exaggeration, like 350 pages building up to this so you would think it would be some grand dramatic end but it rlly wasn’t. go girl give us nothing. paul at the end was cool tho he was rlly badass and kinda hot tbh 😦 i was so conflicted abt him for a lot of the book i kept flipping back and forth between liking him and not liking him but in the end i think he had a really great arc and his development was done pretty well but his like prescient awareness or whatever stuff was kinda hard to follow. and it was hard to follow his the development of his abilities.. like it was hard to tell just how powerful he was he would do things or have some vision or whatever and i would be like “damn since when can he do that???????” maybe that was on purpose but either way i did not like it. paul was kinda giving me whiplash but whatever
i can definitely see why this book is considered one of the greatest sci fi books of all time and i could see how this influenced later sci fi stuff like star wars and i definitely do not regret reading this but this definitely isn’t for everyone bc it is very very long and it can be hard to follow at times and there is a Looot of world building (but tbh i didn’t mind the amount of world building as much as i thought i would, i rlly liked how intricate and immersive and thought out the world is). i personally did not find it that hard to read and i think that’s because i learned some of the basic background info abt the characters/the world/the politics/etc before i started reading. like the house system, the main characters, the spacing guild, bene gesserits, the butlerian jihad, etc etc and i think that really helped me so if you want to read dune i would recommend looking at some beginner’s guides there are plenty online
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia
tarnishedcopper's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Genocide, Torture, and Colonisation
Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
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, Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War
stephbakerbooks'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 😅
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 😅
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: Death, Fatphobia, Violence, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Child death, Racism, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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? Yes
4.0
Embarking on the odyssey that is this book, my only expectation was that I would be confused, having been warned (correctly) by Booktok that Herbert’s worldbuilding is of the variety that throws you in the deep end and expects you to figure it out. With Zendaya and Timothee Chalamet as my motivation, however, I flew through the first hundred pages or so (which, in my opinion, were the most confusing), and was quickly sucked into the world of Arrakis. The first 100-or-so pages of confusion aside, the worldbuilding was incredible—not only did the scientific explanations in this science fiction novel make sense (as a former biochemist, poorly researched or explained science is one of the biggest reasons I rarely read this genre), but I also found myself becoming extremely conscious of my own water use. In the (likely not-too-distant) future, water will be a much rarer and more valuable resource. This made me wonder whether Herbert suspected as much when Dune came out, or if this all came from his imagination.
I’ve heard about a lot of controversy surrounding the content of the novel, and I’m still not sure where I fall in the debate. My initial impression was that this is a classic white savior story (it definitely gave me blue-people-Avatar vibes), and Herbert definitely uses some orientalizing imagery—yikes. On the other hand, Paul doesn’t seem to be the glorified hero that so many stories have; in fact, as the story progresses, he becomes more and more clearly flawed. If this was Herbert’s intention (and I confess, I don’t know enough about Herbert or the historical context of the novel to determine whether or not it was), then the novel could be a critique of the white savior narrative. But then again, if it’s not obvious enough, then this message is lost of many readers and will be used to justify that which it critiques. To me, the much more obvious problems were the rigid gender roles (this man really wrote a novel set far in the future and thought men would still be in charge of everything?). Of course, the Bene Gesserit have power, and I did find that whole concept fascinating (not the eugenics, but the idea that they planted folktales and prophecies in various communities that could be used as protection for their own whenever they might need it). But despite their power, they have all taken a backseat role, and besides their order, we meet only a few other named female characters. I also don’t like the concept of multiple wives/concubines (again, this feels problematically orientalizing).
The added information at the beginning of each chapter (usually from Princess Irulan) was interesting (though sometimes confusing). I have never minded spoilers in the way that some people do, so I kind of liked that Dune essentially spoils itself with this framing. I was surprised, however, when we learn (somewhere around halfway through the novel) that Princess Irulan is actually alive concurrently with Paul—I had been imagining her as a scholar farther in the future, recording this history a generation or two later.
As a side note, I found it very funny that Herbert named whole planets and invented multiple new civilizations, but named his main characters Paul and Jessica (rather along the lines of Tolkein coming up with several entire languages, but calling the location of the story’s climax “Mount Doom”).
Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the general vibe of the ending): I don’t know that this could really be called a happy ending, though it’s honestly better than I was expecting (I wouldn’t have put it past Herbert to kill Paul in the end). It’s not exactly a cliffhanger, but definitely feels unfinished, and I’ve already put the sequel on hold at my library!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
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, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide