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A review by mabelsyrup
Dune by Frank Herbert
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This being the first scifi NOVEL I've ever read is giving the same vibe as when the second Stephen King book i read was It, I'm all or nothing
Dune is so fucking exquisite fr, the worldbuilding is so detailed and extensive; it feels like every single term has a backstory and a significance, some people have said that the story relies too much on dumping all the explanations into the glossary but to me that was a huge bonus cuz imagine explaining ALL those things in the main story, the book would be 1000 pages lmao and cutting some of those things is actually not an option, you could just get by with the context clues sometimes or you could go in and read on what this random Butlerian Jihad means and then you go down a rabbit hole because that is so fucking cool but it isn't the point of the book so you gotta move on.. yea.
Going into this story for the characters and the relationships and the relationship between Chani and Paul teehee ISNT GONNA WORK yall, Dune isn't about the good side of humanity and finding brotherhood and community it's about literal assasinations, opportunism, the exploitation of religion and resources, and how fucked up people are even thousands of years into the future, these characters are not ones you feel fondly about (except Duncan my one and only.. and Alia? maybe) because they suck from the beginning or they start going to hell as the story goes along. This ties into the theory i have that one MUST watch the Villenueve movies before reading this (at least the first one) as it gives a more explicit view that this isn't the type of story that you think it will be.
I do think the book suffers from the typical white male author in the 20th century syndrome; it is said many times that the Fremen women are just as savage and efficient in battle as the men and the children are also trained and capable of fighting and blah blah..okay? show it to me then? show me a section where the women are actually killing some people don't just tell me and expect me to believe you cuz... i'm not buying it lmao, the women in Dune are either spiritual, a witch or just hanging out, obvs there's nothing wrong w being a witch (i actually wanted MORE from the Bene Gesserit and their scheming little plots) but it annoyed me that they kept saying that Chani was such a slay fighting baddie but all she did was follow Paul like an assistant, not even a bodyguard just his assistant, although I was expecting much much worse from her, she seems to be more of the analytical type in the book.
Another thing is that yeah, the story sometimes is a lot. There's many threads connecting and unraveling and sometimes i felt like i couldn't follow everything seamlesly, and i felt some actual plot lines could've been explained better but for some reason it also made me like it a bit more? like i was amused every time i went "tf is going on rn?"
IF Only you could see my copy of this book i went crazy, i almost ran out of ink and post its, I'm taking a break for like a month and then I'm jumping right into book two rrraahhhhh
Dune is so fucking exquisite fr, the worldbuilding is so detailed and extensive; it feels like every single term has a backstory and a significance, some people have said that the story relies too much on dumping all the explanations into the glossary but to me that was a huge bonus cuz imagine explaining ALL those things in the main story, the book would be 1000 pages lmao and cutting some of those things is actually not an option, you could just get by with the context clues sometimes or you could go in and read on what this random Butlerian Jihad means and then you go down a rabbit hole because that is so fucking cool but it isn't the point of the book so you gotta move on.. yea.
Going into this story for the characters and the relationships and the relationship between Chani and Paul teehee ISNT GONNA WORK yall, Dune isn't about the good side of humanity and finding brotherhood and community it's about literal assasinations, opportunism, the exploitation of religion and resources, and how fucked up people are even thousands of years into the future, these characters are not ones you feel fondly about (except Duncan my one and only.. and Alia? maybe) because they suck from the beginning or they start going to hell as the story goes along. This ties into the theory i have that one MUST watch the Villenueve movies before reading this (at least the first one) as it gives a more explicit view that this isn't the type of story that you think it will be.
I do think the book suffers from the typical white male author in the 20th century syndrome; it is said many times that the Fremen women are just as savage and efficient in battle as the men and the children are also trained and capable of fighting and blah blah..okay? show it to me then? show me a section where the women are actually killing some people don't just tell me and expect me to believe you cuz... i'm not buying it lmao, the women in Dune are either spiritual, a witch or just hanging out, obvs there's nothing wrong w being a witch (i actually wanted MORE from the Bene Gesserit and their scheming little plots) but it annoyed me that they kept saying that Chani was such a slay fighting baddie but all she did was follow Paul like an assistant, not even a bodyguard just his assistant, although I was expecting much much worse from her, she seems to be more of the analytical type in the book.
Another thing is that yeah, the story sometimes is a lot. There's many threads connecting and unraveling and sometimes i felt like i couldn't follow everything seamlesly, and i felt some actual plot lines could've been explained better but for some reason it also made me like it a bit more? like i was amused every time i went "tf is going on rn?"
IF Only you could see my copy of this book i went crazy, i almost ran out of ink and post its, I'm taking a break for like a month and then I'm jumping right into book two rrraahhhhh
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Pedophilia and Torture