Dune

Rating:
Summary: Dune
Review: I have to admit that this is not a proper review of the book Dune, but actually more of a review of the mini series. The other reviewers have done well in convincing me that I should buy the first book, but it was actually the mini series that first provoked me. This is not the movie I am talking about, this is the mini series of 3 parts. Each one is more or less feature length. The movie was not very good and friends of mine assure me that it was a complete failure in capturing the book's mystical fantasy and amazing vision. When I saw the mini series of Dune I was amazed. My friends who have read the book say that it is a very good representation of the story, but as with any re-make or television adaption there will be parts you dislike or parts that you wish were included. Watch it! It is great! I think it's better than any Star Wars episode I have seen to date. That's why I knew I had to find the book, because if the TV version was that good, the book had to be out of this world. Muah'dib, the Spice, worms, everything! If you don't like it...keep in mind that it was at least good enough to make me want to read the novel and all the other books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best
Review: I had great expectations when I picked this book up from the store last month. This book is okay, but certainly not "the best" as many claim. My suspicion is that people on this review site tend to be a small but determined bunch of supporters. The biggest flaw is that the book is boring. It truly is difficult to keep turning the page. After being 1/2-way through, I just had to toss the book out. If you scroll through the "real" reviews, you will find this is a common lament. Also, it doesn't have the same emotional life as "The Lord of the Rings" and does not draw one in. Dune is certainly not in the same league as Tolkien's works.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but Overrated
Review: This is one of those sci-fi epics with legions of fanatical adherents, so it's a little daunting to play the role of the heretic...but...it's kind of overrated (there, I've said it). Herbert has certainly done a great job of what is commonly called "world building." That is, he's created an nicely detailed setting for his story, centering on the desert planet of the title. His rendering of the political and geographical milieu is certainly impressive, however, he has the unfortunate habit of using five words where one will do. This imperial universe is populated by a Byzantine cast of players, all belonging to various factions, with hidden motives, allegiances and so forth. It's kind of a utopia for Machiavellians. Unfortunately, these characters are so bound by adhering to "the form" (i.e. codes of proper address, conduct and comportment), that much of the dialogue is ponderous and borderline silly. When he leaves the scheming aristocracy and concerns himself with the natives of Dune, things improve somewhat. Their desert culture is based somewhat on elements of traditional desert Arab culture, with a some elements of Islam, and more interestingly, post-holocaust Israeli world view. The story is, at its core, a fairly basic one of a good family done an injustice, and a boy becoming a man (and much more) as he seeks his revenge. Around this is built a rather overly convoluted and tedious narrative spanning about 5 years in which many things come to pass, but basically we are waiting for the climax. The book's action and battle sequences are quite good, but there's far too much time spent setting the stage, especially dealing with some of the more mystical aspects. The five sequels are apparently even more tedious than this (and that's according to people who love this!), making it certain this will be only foray into Herbert's world. If you love the lengthy epics, this might be your cup of tea, but if you're like me and like your prose a little cripser, there is much better sci-fi out there (I'd suggest Orson Scott Card's brilliant "Ender's Game" or maybe something by Robert Heinlein or Philip K. Dick).

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: I have read this book so many times that I can't even remember the exact number.The reason for my behaviour is not that I don't like to read other books,it is just that every time I read this one I get something new from it.Every page reveals something else and I get the feeling that I am not only readig a very good science fiction book but also a very good philoshopy book.

Rating:
Summary: Dune
Review: The book of Dune is a well thought up book. It is deep it went over my head a lot of the time. Dune is book about a boy that is the age of 14-15. He taught me that fear cannot affect the way do things, if you always think positive. Paul grew up learning from the best, I think that is the way that things should be learning from the best and practicing every day. This alows you to be the best. I liked the principal of being the Messiah you knew that he would not really die. The part that I really did not like is trieing to understand the new words and their definitions and picture that in my mind Eric C

Rating:
Summary: Complicated, but interesting
Review: I am not a Science Fiction fan, but I really enjoyed reading Dune because it was unique and interesting. It was hard to understand what was happening lots of the time, but I liked it that way. It had a unique and layered plot that I haven't seen in a book before. I thought that each character was interesting a carefully created. The only downer I have about "Dune," is the ending. It ends just like almost every other book ends with the bad guy loosing and everything ending happily ever after. I feel something dramatic should have happened at the end. I would recommend reading it, and I think Frank Herbert is an excellent writer.

Rating:
Summary: Descriptive and interesting
Review: I thought that this book was very discriptive, so discriptive that I sometimes got lost reading it, and I had to re-read some pages as much as five times, but I really liked how Frank described the characters, when you read about them, it was like you were actually them and I got really involved in the reading. The only thing that I didn't like was that the reading was diffucult to get through. I think that Frank Herbert was an excellent writer, his ideas are so BIG that sometimes you have to keep reading something he said so you could understand what he was saying.

Rating:
Summary: Merry Christmas
Review: Dune was a great book. I had a lot of fun reading it. One of my favorite parts was when the people would fight, it was very discriptive I could imagine the intire fight in my head. Dune was a very good book, the begging was a little slow but I would read it again just to pick up on everything I missed out on in the first run. My favorite character was Jessica because she was right in the middle of everything that was going on. If it wasn't for Jessica none of this would have even taken place. Frank Hebert is an excellent author I think he had a talent for writing in deep depth. In one chapter of Dune you can find many hidden meanings in everything that is what makes Frank Herbert a good author I will look forward to reading other books he has written.

Rating:
Summary: Conflicting Thoughts
Review: Dune is a very complex book, but its design is absolutly brilliant. I enjoyed how well Frank Herbert made his story so detailed, and how he still keeps you to the story at hand without detailing you to death. My only problem with the book however is Frank Herberts ideas conflict too much with my own. I find myself debating over many of his thoughts and ideas. I rate the book a three only in prospective to my ideas. But for creativity, complexity, and shear genius, this book I would give a five star rating for.

Rating:
Summary: Thick but worth it.
Review: Dune is a very difficult book to read and one must have the ability to understand big words and a good memory. The ability to layer plots the way Frank did must have ben very difficult and intens. The new word he creates are very difficult to read. It makes you want to know what the word is and what is going to happen next.