This Hugo and Nebula Award winner is widely to be considered the most prescient SF novel ever. It tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence. The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen ...
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This Hugo and Nebula Award winner is widely to be considered the most prescient SF novel ever. It tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence. The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privileges, however, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.
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I didn't read much at all before this book, but once I read it, I couldn't stop picking up other books. Dune ignited a hunger for books inside me that I haven't felt since I was a young boy. I believe Dune comes in at around 800 pages, and I finished it in a week. I was exhilarated the entire time by Frank Herbert's world-building and incredibly interesting characters, all of whom form a unique mosaic that describes the dangers of idolatry, among other things. Dune is absolutely worth reading.
Sergey
Feb 4, 2021
They advised me to read, as one of the brightest and most fundamental representatives of the genre, and the release of the film this year only added intrigue. As a result, I can say: a detailed world, religion, glossary. Strong and memorable heroes. An incredible mixture of everything that could only be mixed. The story is multilayered and not easy to understand. But as elsewhere there are disadvantages and the main disadvantage is a rather dry language and manner of narration, to which you get used only by the middle of the book.
Tom C
Nov 8, 2014
Great book!
The book is in very good shape and was delivered in a timely way. The story is great -- I'm rereading it now, but needed to buy my own copy.
db25
Apr 7, 2009
unequivocally...
the best science fiction book of the last century. herbert draws you into his world full of spice, prescience, witchcraft, revolution, and everything else you can imagine. it's elegant and lively, stimulating and suspenseful. i've read it probably a dozen times and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
Ellyb
Sep 29, 2008
A great idea but clunky writing
Let me tread carefully here. I fully understand why so many reviewers are so taken with this novel, and I cannot blame them. The idea behind the story is a good one, maybe even a great one, and I can only imagine that if Herbert were working in Hollywood today, he would be the creator behind some pretty amazing shows (and I'm not talking about that travesty of a film version). But what bothered me about "Dune" is that the writing did not hold up to the level of the idea. Throughout, Herbert utilized a bizarre device in which a character's thought would appear in italics, usually set up with the phrase "s/he thought," which to me just screams of the amateur. Isn't the big advantage of the written word the fact that the reader can know the character's thoughts without it having to be presented in voice-over narration? Then, the main character, Paul, was pretty much a cipher up until the last chapter or two, and even then he was...not much. At times Herbert revealed the ability to turn a phrase beautifully, which only made it more frustrating that the writing elsewhere was so....not what it should be. I really wanted to know how the book would resolve itself, and so I carried through to the end. I guess I could say that the infrastructure of the book is quite good. The world-building, the political intrigue, the religious complications, were all interesting and deftly woven. It's just that the actual writing of the thing was too much of a distraction for me to really enjoy myself.
