Reviews tagging 'War'

Dune by Frank Herbert

182 reviews

banned_book's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

The ideas presented here must have been mind-blowing during the time it was published for the impact it made on modern culture. I can recognize that. But the prose was insultingly basic, and gave no room for the characters to grow beyond cookie cutter tropes. The dialogue was a painful slog to get through, and almost exclusively constructed of as-you-know-Bobs. I heard for years that the worldbuilding was dense and difficult to follow. No. Herbert drives information into your skull repetitively as if you could not grasp it the first time. This book has not aged well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and War

dani_mac13's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

dramagnu's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Classism

leannanecdote's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lizzyjean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious fast-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

4.5

The storyline of this book was extremely intriguing the entire time. Even though this book is completely fantastical, Frank Herbert story builds as if the world of Dune truly exists. I highly recommend this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and War

Moderate: Drug use

The drugs mentioned are completely fictional, but can be related to drugs that exist in our world. The main story is about prophets and politically-driven war.

infinite_harness9030's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Racism, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Classism

trisha_clay's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

pkm48's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

 I can see why this book gets the praise it does, because it has a well constructed plot with great world-building and elegant writing. However, this book wasn't exactly my cup of tea, and perhaps I also missed the bigger picture of the novel as it extends to the real world which I felt the author was trying to convey.

In general, my biggest struggle was that it was difficult to find a character I could relate to and root for (even Paul). Everyone is pretty much painted as cold and calculating, with fairly little emotional depth to make them more human. The only exceptions to this seemed to be the characters of Lady Jessica and Gurney Halleck (and thus they ended up being my favorite characters). The overall story was gritty, dark, and violent which also added to the struggle of getting through the book. I'm grateful for the glossary at the end of the book because while the writing was easy to follow, the terminology as it relates to the fictional world of Dune was complex and often without any context. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

Minor: Rape

alterdd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War

Minor: Rape

becksusername's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism