A review by sunn_bleach
Dune by Frank Herbert

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!
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