I suppose that most of my readers who are also science fiction buffs have already read Dune: for the rest of you, it’s… it’s just one of the Books. This one volume alone justifies the title ‘epic:’ a combination of religion, political intrigue, war, and ecology that pretty much blew the minds of every science fiction author that read it. Even the people who hate it now can’t really avoid it: Dune helps define the entire genre.
Plus, it has giant sandworms and people fighting with swords. That always brings in an audience.
And so, adieu to Great North Road.
Eh. I read “Dune” and several of the sequels long, long ago ..
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I don’t hate it, but I don’t think it’s all that either. I find Herbert annoying, as an author – some stuff he goes all detailed on, even when it doesn’t move the plot; some stuff that would be interesting, he gives only a surface view.
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The swords and the sandworms are cool, though I have a very hard time, in retrospect, not thinking in terms of “Tremors”.
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Mew
I couldn’t get past page 30. Twice. Maybe I oughta give it another shot.
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But not until after I read this year’s Hugo nominees, at any rate. Doing my part to solve the problem of puppy-related sadness.
The book is very good, but could have used a bit more editing.
Don’t bother with the sequels.
My main dislike of it lays in Herbert’s affection for some pretty noxious philosophies. That said, I’ll still recommend it. Kind of like the Foundation series.
What Luke said. Read the first book, but skip everything else.
I like the idea of Dune. I think that suffices.
Dune was epic. The sequels were unnecessary and deconstructed everything good about the original. A patent case of someone who got so wrapped up in his agenda he forgot to write stories. So really, skip everything after the original.
If I recall correctly, it was his son who wrote the sequels.
ISTR the son writing some of the last sequels, but not the early ones.
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Mew
Exactly, I mean Children of Dune and the books succeeding to Chapterhouse of Dune. You get the change in tone about midway through Children, and from then on, he was more interested in tearing down his characters than telling a story.
I recommend the documentary, “Jodorowsky’s Dune”…fascinating look at the movie which was almost made.
The book was great. I avoided the sequels.