Rating: 
Summary: If you don't like Dune . . .
Review: If you love politics, intrigue, and a marvelous world that just leaves you wanting more and more, DUNE is it. I have yet to meet a fellow Political Science major who didn't find these books inspired. If you don't like Dune . . . then you can check out the Dick and Jane books in the children's section.
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Summary: Truly the Lord of the Rings of Science Fiction
Review: I have been turning up the pace on my reading lately, and last time I entered a book store I remembered multiple friends had been urging me to read Frank Herbert's Dune. I snagged a copy of the book, and noted on the drive home that Arthur C. Clarke was quoted as saying "the only thing I know comparable is Lord of the Rings." I could not help but consider this an extremely bold statement.As I read it, however, it did not take long for me to realize how true this statement rings. In Dune, Frank Herbert has crafted a dizzyingly imaginative universe. Every social group and race of people, from the Bene Gesserit to the Harkonnens to the Sardaukar to the Fremen is described in such mad detail that one cannot help but believe these societies exist in some remote corner of our universe. The ecology and geology of the planet Arrakis, from the sandworms to the barren deserts, are crafted with such grace that there is no doubt in my mind Arrakis has to be real somewhere in the galaxy, if not merely inside of Frank Herbert's head. And it gets better. All of the characters, from the confused-yet-focused Paul Atriedes, to the Baron Harkonnen, one of the easiest to hate villains ever crafted, are completely real and filled with depth, and the way they interact with the world around them is absolutely believable. All of the characters are involved in a breath-takingly epic story of politics and religion, with many subtle and not-so-subtle parallels of our own society interwoven with the entertaining quest. However, this grand story never overtakes the development of the individual characters, which always remains key to Dune. I didn't feel like I was reading a story with a beginning and end and a clear message to be brought out of it as I read Dune. I felt like I was watching these people play out a small portion of their lives, and when it was all over I was heart-broken that I would not be able to follow them any longer. In the end, I could only agree with Arthur C. Clarke's assessment of Dune. The amazing degree of craftsmanship in creating the planet of Arrakis has not been seen in any book less epic then J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and, if it is possible, I found Dune to be even more believable. Despite my hectic class schedule this quarter, I found a way to tear through this book in under a week. If you have not read Dune, pick up a copy: you will not be disappointed. Exaggerated one-line review: Dune is science fiction's Lord of the Rings.
Rating: 
Summary: twaddle
Review: There are some good things in Dune. But the bad swamps the good. Clumsy writing, heavy-handed symbolism, self-righteousness, unbelievable dialogue, characters even a comic book would blush at. A book that insults the intelligence at every level.
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Summary: Wow.
Review: Is this book boring or what? I got through the first 100 pages with great difficulty (it was hard to keep from falling asleep) but it didn't get any better. So, I bagged it. I have no idea what the hype was about. I have enjoyed sci-fi and fantasy books before, so that wasn't the problem. It just happens to be a very tedious book.
Rating:
Summary: One that I can keep on reading and reading
Review: I loved this book. The book is a great story with lots of intrigue and detail that keeps you turning the pages. I have re-read this book several times and get more pleaure every time. I HATED THE MOVIE. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THE MOVIE.
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Summary: Literature, not just Fiction!
Review: I first read Dune at the age of 15. I never really liked fiction and I wasn't all that much of a reader. But after reading a few lines from a copy of that book, that I just happen to be holding for a friend, I knew that this was no ordinary piece of fiction. Few books, save maybe The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings are comparable with it in terms of the depth and vision. In certain aspects I find Dune even greater. Many of the poems and songs composed by the fictional Gurney became my own songs. I recall them even now, 15 years after I first read them. Dune is not just a piece of fiction. It is literature in its finest form. In the world of science fiction, there is nothing that can be compared to it as yet. Few writers have mastered the art of making the unreal future, as tangible and believable as Frank Herbert does in this book. My only disappointment is the fact that the sequels never live up to the promise seen in the original. Nevertheless, that fact does not in any way detract from the greatness of Dune. To a fifteen-year-old mind, the impact of such vision is profound indeed. I can still smell the spice, I can still feel the dryness of the desert sand and I still believe that the dreams we remember may be visions of the future. Such is the product of great literature! Such is Dune!
Rating: 
Summary: Great - but.....
Review: 4???? 4 stars???? How can any self-respecting sci-fi fan dare, heck even dream to give less than a full 6 stars (x10) to one of the pillarstones of sci-fiction. A book so immense in scope and in imagination, in knowledge and in mystery that even the self-appointed guardians of 'true literature' quail at the thought of dismissing it - well my friends, my knife is sharpened and I'm kinda hankering for some holy cow cutting-down to size. Dune is magnificent, it blows your mind with the sheer scope of the imagination, you really can believe 10,000 years from now human society may develop along these lines. Herbert cleverly plays on the idea that often the future is a derivation of the past - thus this feudal society, with Barons & na-Barons, Emperors & peons, where swords are used, atomics are House heirlooms and huge spaceships depend on the psychic power of their Navigators. It's crazy, it's clever, it's captivating - his use of economics and arcology, his prescience regarding terraforming, the shaping effects of ecology and terrain on peoples and cultures, his synthesis & evolutions of religions - all of this is blinding and really, really makes your imagination soar. Compare it to most standard current sci-fi novels and settings they describe (even pre-made ones like the Star Wars series) and it's frankly pitiful, the paucity of imagination with over-elaboration they display. Compare and contrast if you will with the recent prequels to Dune....oh dear. And yet, yet....it's is sometimes overly pompous, sometimes overly obtuse and sometimes in the later novels it frankly seems the Frank-ly decided to stick in a escape hatch from a story-line when it got too bogged down and ran into the mud that was once the sands of Arrakis.
Rating: 
Summary: Go ahead, click "not helpful..."
Review: ...but I honestly don't see what's so great about this book. Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon" and Arthur C. Clarke's "Childhood's End" are both better science fiction stories than Dune. They make powerful, emotional statements about the human condition without rambling on incessingly or clogging the pages with useless action scenes. If you want epic literature, read Lord ot the Rings. That story about an innocent hobbit thrown into a destructive war is a million times more epic and personable than this rambling nonsence about a superhuman destined for greatness since birth. Everything is predictable about the plot, not to mention the fact that Paul is next to impossible to relate to. On the other hand, Frank Herbert DID exert a lot of artistic effort into this, which is to be commeneded. Perhaps he should have exerted this effort into a better idea.
Rating:
Summary: Reasonably entertaining and original
Review: Since its publication, Dune has recieved an impressive reputation in the SF community. If you expect this work to be the greatest novel ever, you'll probably just be dissappointed. On the other hand, if you just expect it to be above-average science fiction, you'll get what you're looking far. Dune is set in the far distant future, when a single emperor rules all of humanity and various Houses govern individual planets. The main character is Paul of the House Atreides, which has recently been sent to govern the planet known as Dune. Dune is important for political and economic reasons because it produces a special spice that is necessary for interstellar travel. As others have already stated, Dune is one of the most remarkable and original worlds ever created by an SF author, featuring a parched and hostile landscape populated only by rugged "Freemen" and gigantic sandworms. However, I should also warn that Herbert's explanation about the relationship between the spice, the sandworms, and Dune's climate is a bit cryptic (as a matter of fact, a lot of this book is tough to comprehend), and you may need to reread some passages many times before you understand what is being said. The plotline of the novel is very intricate and suspenseful, and you will want to keep reading to find the outcome of the battle between Paul, the Freemen, and a rival house. However, Herbert cannot right a decent battle scene, and the numerous fight sequences lack any suspense. Also, the strange dreams and premonitions that Paul experiences throughtout the book are poorly written and overdone; most of them should have been left out. Still, Dune is overall an engrossing read, and you won't regret buying it.
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Summary: Dune
Review: I LOVE DUNE. Frank Herbert goes into such detail that I am wordless. If you reading this review right know just buy the bokk you will thank yourself after you have read it
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