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h1v3r's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
alesh's review against another edition
2.0
Pretty underwhelming, I gotta say. The first few chapters were very engrossing and set a high bar, and it went slowly downhill from there for most of the book.
There's a middle section that involves a lot of wandering through the desert, then later meeting up with the desert people, and the slow process of our hero becoming their leader. The plot is very much, "boy, destined from before birth for greatness, achieves greatness." It's telling that the occasional chapter where we visit the bad guys, a family whose lifestyle is a high-tech version of ancient Rome style debauchery and barberism, are an entertaining respite.
All the big dramatic moments in the story are explained and foretold repeatedly before they happen. There's lots of irritating repetition in general. Words like "crone" that get repeatedly used, sometimes to describe the same character, sometimes within a page or two. We are reminded, constantly, that everyone's eyes are blue, yes, even the part that's normally white. You live on Dune, you eat food from Dune, you have blue eyes. Simple, but it's, like, a big revelation every time we meet a new character that their eyes are completely blue.
I wonder if some of this stuff isn't related to the story that, supposedly, like 20 publishers passed on this book before it was accepted by Chilton, a publisher of car repair manuals. Maybe Herbert just refused to let any edits be made, even clearly helpful ones.
Despite all this, lots of the book is very good. His imagination is engrossing and his ability to create weird and believable systems of things is remarkable. And when you remember that it's a 55-year old book, it reads remarkably modern, despite some weird gender politics and mesianic white man stuff.
There's a middle section that involves a lot of wandering through the desert, then later meeting up with the desert people, and the slow process of our hero becoming their leader. The plot is very much, "boy, destined from before birth for greatness, achieves greatness." It's telling that the occasional chapter where we visit the bad guys, a family whose lifestyle is a high-tech version of ancient Rome style debauchery and barberism, are an entertaining respite.
All the big dramatic moments in the story are explained and foretold repeatedly before they happen. There's lots of irritating repetition in general. Words like "crone" that get repeatedly used, sometimes to describe the same character, sometimes within a page or two. We are reminded, constantly, that everyone's eyes are blue, yes, even the part that's normally white. You live on Dune, you eat food from Dune, you have blue eyes. Simple, but it's, like, a big revelation every time we meet a new character that their eyes are completely blue.
I wonder if some of this stuff isn't related to the story that, supposedly, like 20 publishers passed on this book before it was accepted by Chilton, a publisher of car repair manuals. Maybe Herbert just refused to let any edits be made, even clearly helpful ones.
Despite all this, lots of the book is very good. His imagination is engrossing and his ability to create weird and believable systems of things is remarkable. And when you remember that it's a 55-year old book, it reads remarkably modern, despite some weird gender politics and mesianic white man stuff.
savannahwelch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really liked the depth that it went into. There was so much going which I think both added and took away from the story at times. I could definitely re read it and I plan to at some point. Love the characters.
alexrich4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Way more readable than I thought it’d be but damn… covered so much ground in this book I almost could have had it split into 2 movies ;) but yeah incredible story, way before it’s time and potentially even more relevant now than when it was published.
mqabbadbest's review
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.75
rufio7's review against another edition
4.0
Some great world building - however I found the last third of the novel rushed. Often the narrative focused on pushing the plot forward with less opportunity for character exploration and underlying motives.
bncarlozzi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
No other single syllable means as much to the science fiction genre, a single word that conjures images of sandworms, spice wars, great battles between rival dynastic families and a massively detailed and intricately crafted universe. No wonder this is widely regarded as not just a Science Fiction masterpiece, but a literary achievement as well.
Like a study of Shakespeare, the reader finds that this is an archetype upon which many influences and imitators have based their works. The complexity and depth of the creation is staggering and I am continually astounded at the discipline with which Herbert must have focused his imagination.
This is the book upon which Herbert would base his greatest series and one that would outlive him as his son has continued to expand and add detail to the vast, immaculate tapestry woven by a true master of the genre. Encapsulating political, economic, sociological, biological, cultural and dynastic themes, Frank Herbert has set a high standard for later practitioners.
Brilliant.
***2015 reread - Read years later, this has lost none of its narrative power, if anything I can better appreciate the virtuoso attention to detail Herbert exhibited in his epic creation. From the perspective of having read his later 5 Dune sequels, I am astounded at the rich tapestry he has woven. Most impressive was his close omnipresence, analyzing the thoughts and minute actions and subtle nuances of his complicated dynamic interplay of characters. The exhaustive training of the Bene Gesserit and the intricate relations of the Houses and the Guild would stand as a monumental benchmark for speculative fiction ever since.
This time around I found myself looking more closely at the Harkonnens and will likely read some of Brian Herbert's additions to his fathers great work.
Like a study of Shakespeare, the reader finds that this is an archetype upon which many influences and imitators have based their works. The complexity and depth of the creation is staggering and I am continually astounded at the discipline with which Herbert must have focused his imagination.
This is the book upon which Herbert would base his greatest series and one that would outlive him as his son has continued to expand and add detail to the vast, immaculate tapestry woven by a true master of the genre. Encapsulating political, economic, sociological, biological, cultural and dynastic themes, Frank Herbert has set a high standard for later practitioners.
Brilliant.
***2015 reread - Read years later, this has lost none of its narrative power, if anything I can better appreciate the virtuoso attention to detail Herbert exhibited in his epic creation. From the perspective of having read his later 5 Dune sequels, I am astounded at the rich tapestry he has woven. Most impressive was his close omnipresence, analyzing the thoughts and minute actions and subtle nuances of his complicated dynamic interplay of characters. The exhaustive training of the Bene Gesserit and the intricate relations of the Houses and the Guild would stand as a monumental benchmark for speculative fiction ever since.
This time around I found myself looking more closely at the Harkonnens and will likely read some of Brian Herbert's additions to his fathers great work.
doctorwithoutboundaries's review against another edition
3.0
Part of me feels embarrassed at my arrogance in rating this only 7/10... By what right do I belittle a book that won both the Hugo and the Nebula? But coming to this after watching the 2021 adaptation twice and wanting more of the world, I will say boldly: the movie is better... I'm looking forward to watching the sequel, but the thought of more Dune books is exasperating.
Villeneuve ignores whole swathes of the book, and it's not hard to see why; so much feels dated. Well, no, actually, it's just lazy. Dated implies that it has aged poorly, but some things stick out simply for their astonishingly stunted imagination and bad writing. Making the villain fat, ugly, homosexual... this isn't wrong because it's 2022; it's wrong because apart from being bigoted, it displays a lack of any real effort. It's a fairy tale trope in a geopolitical saga, i.e., a sore thumb.
And these problems begin very early on in the book with the clear gender binary at play. It's so farcical: a society of women witches, limited by virtue of being women which inhibits their sight into the masculine? I mean, come on. It doesn't help that, excepting these witches whose true purpose is revealed as breeding, the remainder of the female cast too are only permitted the roles of concubine or wife. It reminded me of Heinlein; clearly the science fiction of the time was being written for boys.
Then there's the White Saviour trope, made worse by the realisation that Herbert's sympathies truly do lie with the resistance, those being exploited by imperial forces. He just cannot envision them without a non-native at the helm. The indigenous population is portrayed as primitive, violent, superstitious, prone to hero-worship, and despite centuries of history, surprisingly willing to set aside their beliefs at the behest of "outworlders".
Most disappointing was the world-building. What world-building, you ask? Precisely. While there's definitely original bits here, Herbert doesn't bother creating a language or customs so much as appropriating elements directly from the Arabs of the desert. Yet there's a timelessness to the central conflict that could apply to any era and thus becomes an indictment of Western civilisation: think America (House Atreides) and Russia (House Harkkoenen) plundering the Middle East (Arrakis) for oil (spice melange).
That brings me to the positives. This is a big book, one might even say needlessly dense, and I can imagine hordes giving up on it because of the jargon. But it's a big book of ideas—in reward for sifting past extraneous details—covering religion, politics, economics, environmentalism. Each time that I thought this is old ground, I had to remind myself of the publication date... There would be no Luke Skywalker without Paul Atreides, no Spock without Thufir Hawat, no 'Mad Max' movies without Arrakis, and so on. There's no denying the lasting impact of [b: Dune|44767458|Dune|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555447414l/44767458._SY75_.jpg|3634639] on our culture.
After all, what is culture if not the stories we tell one another?
Villeneuve ignores whole swathes of the book, and it's not hard to see why; so much feels dated. Well, no, actually, it's just lazy. Dated implies that it has aged poorly, but some things stick out simply for their astonishingly stunted imagination and bad writing. Making the villain fat, ugly, homosexual... this isn't wrong because it's 2022; it's wrong because apart from being bigoted, it displays a lack of any real effort. It's a fairy tale trope in a geopolitical saga, i.e., a sore thumb.
And these problems begin very early on in the book with the clear gender binary at play. It's so farcical: a society of women witches, limited by virtue of being women which inhibits their sight into the masculine? I mean, come on. It doesn't help that, excepting these witches whose true purpose is revealed as breeding, the remainder of the female cast too are only permitted the roles of concubine or wife. It reminded me of Heinlein; clearly the science fiction of the time was being written for boys.
Then there's the White Saviour trope, made worse by the realisation that Herbert's sympathies truly do lie with the resistance, those being exploited by imperial forces. He just cannot envision them without a non-native at the helm. The indigenous population is portrayed as primitive, violent, superstitious, prone to hero-worship, and despite centuries of history, surprisingly willing to set aside their beliefs at the behest of "outworlders".
Most disappointing was the world-building. What world-building, you ask? Precisely. While there's definitely original bits here, Herbert doesn't bother creating a language or customs so much as appropriating elements directly from the Arabs of the desert. Yet there's a timelessness to the central conflict that could apply to any era and thus becomes an indictment of Western civilisation: think America (House Atreides) and Russia (House Harkkoenen) plundering the Middle East (Arrakis) for oil (spice melange).
That brings me to the positives. This is a big book, one might even say needlessly dense, and I can imagine hordes giving up on it because of the jargon. But it's a big book of ideas—in reward for sifting past extraneous details—covering religion, politics, economics, environmentalism. Each time that I thought this is old ground, I had to remind myself of the publication date... There would be no Luke Skywalker without Paul Atreides, no Spock without Thufir Hawat, no 'Mad Max' movies without Arrakis, and so on. There's no denying the lasting impact of [b: Dune|44767458|Dune|Frank Herbert|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1555447414l/44767458._SY75_.jpg|3634639] on our culture.
After all, what is culture if not the stories we tell one another?