Dune

Rating:
Summary: wicked good!
Review: I do not generally write reviews but this book was a necessary exception. I loved it. From the second I began to the instant it concluded, I was completely engrossed.
The world that Frank Herbert creates is believable (as much so as can be expected for the genre) and the characters are very real. They suffer and we suffer; they succeed and we are irrepressibly happy. It is a well-written novel with an engaging plot. Above all, however, the book addresses universally applicable themes and profound concepts. It is this fact that allows Dune to transcend to a higher plane than the average science-fiction novel.
The only negative aspect I found with this book is that, upon finishing it, I was terrified to experience anything else, any of its other forms. The sequels(Dune Messiah, House Harkonnen, etc.) and the movie stood no chance at all in matching this masterpiece. I am, to this day, paralyzed with the thought that at some time I may inadvertently witness some horrific misappropriation of the beautiful original. It would be a vile tragedy.

Rating:
Summary: Paired with The Lord of the Rings
Review: I've been always a huge Tolkien Fan. I've never had the opportunity to get the Dune books, besides, since I saw the original movie... I did not care to read them.

That was until I bought this from a used book bookstore. The book is incredible, the history deep, and intelligent. Since last april, I bought and read all 6 Dune Saga books, the complete House trilogy and I am 2/3 on the Butlerian Jihad.

I would highly recommend these books.

Rating:
Summary: The Waters of Your Homeworld
Review: Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, "Dune," is a work of startling depth and of lingering relevance to current readers. Creating a civilization out of bits and pieces of European feudalism, Arab and Islamic traditions, startlingly modern geopolitics, ecology, and an advanced handling of cultural mythopoetics, Herbert's "Dune" is far more than a simple "sci-fi" adventure tale. Like JRR Tolkien's earlier "Lord of the Rings" saga, Herbert fashioned a novel which has endured for 40 years because of its ability to appeal to so many readers in so many different ways.

"Dune" begins when the 15 year old heir, Paul Atreides, is preparing to leave his lush homeworld, Caladan, with his father Duke Leto and his mother, the Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Jessica, for their newly assigned fief, the desert planet, Arrakis (also known as the eponymous Dune). We are constantly reminded by the narrator and the characters that the political balance between the noble Houses of the Landsraad confederation is highly precarious - that plots within plots and feints within feints are to be found in any kind of political or economic maneuvre. Accordingly, the Atreides takeover of Arrakis is in a constant state of danger. The family they are replacing, the Harkonnens, led by the scheming evil of the nefarious and repulsive Baron Vladimir Harkonnen (who for good measure is coded as sexually-deviant) plots with the family of the Emperor to disgrace and unseat House Atreides. When the Imperial-Harkonnen plot succeeds in murdering Duke Leto Atreides, and forcing Paul and his mother into the deep desert, the true action of the novel begins.

The most valuable thing in Herbert's universe is the Spice, Melange, which is only found in the deserts of Arrakis, guarded, surrounded, and even produced by the dangerous giant sandworms. It is at the heart of many of the novel's conspiracies and power plays. In Herbert's anti-techonology universe, Spice enables mysteriously deformed members of the Spacing Guild to warp space for interplanetary travel; it opens the mystic order of the Bene Gesserit to extra-sensory perception; and most tellingly for "Dune," it gives the indigenous population of Arrakis, the Fremen, blue-within-blue eyes. It is to the Fremen that Paul Atreides and his mother must appeal, and even depend, to retake Arrakis. The water-zealous Fremen, living in the deepest desert regions, believe that Paul is the Mahdi, the savior of their legends.

Caught between politics and religion, Paul Atreides (known to the Fremen as both Usul and Muad'dib) becomes, if he wasn't before, the focal point of the novel. In a novel in which plots, breeding programs, and martial training seem to argue for the ability of people to control their own destinies, Paul cannot seem to escape the notion that the path of his own life is horribly fated. As the Fremen religious figurehead, Muad'dib, Paul spends the greatest part of the novel tortured by the idea that he cannot avoid the destiny he is hurtling toward, envisioning a future where his sect will terrorize the universe in an unstoppable jihad.

Of course, there is much more to say about Herbert's "Dune," but I think it appropriate to mention just one more thing which really appealed to me in the novel. Along the lines of fate/free will, each chapter of the novel is tellingly prefaced by quotations from books, either about or related to the history of Muad'dib (note, not "Paul"), most of which are attributed to Princess Irulan (the daughter of the Emperor when the action of the novel begins). The prefatory excerpts, one of which actually begins the text of the novel, perform an intertextual struggle with Paul's own self-doubts throughout the novel. While Paul wonders if he can change his own fate, Irulan's excerpts, written from a time clearly after the action of the novel, seem to confound his attempts, adding a melancholy sense of fatalism to Herbert's novel. For me this renders Paul-Muad'dib less an epic hero than a tragic victim of a tale much larger and longer than this novel could contain. Brief allusions to our own Earth as part of the novel's distant past should cause us to reflect even further, as Tolkien's "Ring" novels do, on our own individual relationships to each other, to our world, and to our relationships to power. For an ostensibly "sci-fi" novel to do all of this, for me, is remarkable.

Rating:
Summary: The greatest writing, EVER!!! 10 STARS!!!
Review: Certainly the greatest Sci Fi stuff ever written. I can be no more eloquent than this: you have not read, until you've read Dune. End of discussion.

Rating:
Summary: A Sci-Fi Masterpiece
Review: I can't imagine somebody reading through these reviews who has never heard of Dune. None of you have blindly found this page, because everyone knows the legend of Dune. A book that is so strong that it has generated several movies (Well alright, one motion picture and at least two made for TV attempts.) and a legion of fanatical, nearly rabid, fans.

I'm writing this review for two crowds, those who've seen the movies and those who haven't read the book in years. If you've only ever seen the movies you should be made aware that virtually chapters of details and backstory are cut out of the movies. When I watch the Lynch movie version I'm left scratching my head, "OK, Paul's Muad'dib...but what does that MEAN?" "What the heck is Choam?" "Why do the they call Paul 'Usul'?" "What is so signifigant about Alia being born a Reverend Mother?" "What's the deal with the Spacing Guild?" If you ever got confused in the movies READ THE BOOK! There's a good reason everybody calls it a classic, it's just a good book. If its been a while since you read the book I recommend you try it again, it's not a kids book. You may find that you've forgotten why you like the book in the first place. It's an great story with some very interesting ideas.

Young or old, I recommend that you read this book. If you at all were entertained by the movie, or can't remember exactly your favorite part of the story I'd suggest you get a copy of the book and give it a try.

Rating:
Summary: Story and Worldbuilding are excellent, Character not so.
Review: My first reaction to the book was that I liked it. I knew a little about the plot beforehand from seeing snippets of the movie and hearing other people talk. But the story genuinely drew me in. I wanted to finish the book; I wanted to know what would happen, how things would turn out. On the level of Story, this book works extremely well.

The Setting is also intriguing. Though this book teeters dangerously toward the worldbuilding trap/no-no of having a whole planet with one ecology, Herbert isn't quite so amateurish about it. Dune is not all desert, just varying degrees of desert, and has a well-imagined ecology. I'm sure the concept is expanded upon in the later Dune books. Story and worldbuilding worked fine for me.

It's when we get to character that I start to have problems. The main character, Paul Muad'dib, is interesting, yes, but I felt no connection to him. As I said, I was interested in the story, and only vaguely interested in what might happen to the characters. I don't feel for them or with them.

This could be the product of the point of view Herbert employed. He uses omnipotent third, often changing viewpoints with each paragraph. I didn't find this particularly distracting, but I wondered if I might have felt more connection to any of the characters if I'd been allowed to spend more than a few moments at a time in their heads. But, perhaps not, because he sometimes spends an entire scene in one person's head, and yet I still didn't feel a connection.

I rather disliked most of the characters as people. They did feel like real people to me, so I'm not questioning Herbert's characterization skills. And characters do not always have to be likeable. I would have liked them to be likeable, though. It might have added another dimension to my enjoyment of the story. I was interested in what was going on, but not to whom.

Herbert's authorial voice was so strong, I don't think I ever completely immersed myself in this world. I felt that he might have had a quirky disdain for women from the way he characterized Jessica and the way Paul related to her. I also had mixed feelings about the Harkonnen Baron guy being evil and liking to rape young boys. It just felt a tad overdone to me. And offensive.

My final call: High marks for Story, Setting, and Prose. Midgrade marks for Character.

Rating:
Summary: Science fiction masterpiece; one of the greatest of our time
Review: DUNE is, simply put, a masterpiece. It's also a legend with spawned a movie and two TV miniseries which are nearly as famous as the novel. Frank Herbert's science fiction/fantasy tale centers around Paul Atreides, a young man who has recently moved to the planet Arrakis, better known as Dune, sometime in the far future. Paul is the son of a duke, and after the duke is murdered in a raid by the evil Harkonnen family, Paul and his mother journey in to the desert. From there, a prophecy shall be fulfilled and life as Herbert's characters know it, will change dramatically.

Never have I read a book as realistic as Dune. It plays out almost like a historical fiction. The characters are so real, with so much emotion, you can't help but believe these people may one day truly exist.

The story, which took in the first Nebula award, is complicated and may throw off some readers. Indeed, the book itself may prove to be a challenge to many readers. Unfortunately many will put down the book after the first about 100 pages, during which it is somewhat uninteresting. But, if you should make it past those pages, you'll find one of the most interesting and life-like masterpieces of our time.

Rating:
Summary: Sheer Brilliance
Review: Dune is a sci-fi classic. On the desert planet of Arrakis, the Great House of Atreides has fallen victim to a treacherous plot executed by Harkonnen house. Paul Atreides, accompanied by his mother Jessica, must avenge those killed by the Harkonnens and reclaim what is rightfully his.

It sounds average on paper, but when you read it and think on the many thought-provoking philosophical statements for hours on end, or thrill to the exciting and complicated plot, you'll realize what this book truly is: a masterpiece.

Now I just need to see the movies.

Rating:
Summary: Yet to be surpassed.
Review: Dune is easily the best book I have ever read. It is life changing on every level and awakens "the sleeper" in all of us. There is something here for everyone, but for me, it was the philosophical understanding that this book provides. It was, after all, written by an obvious genius. And even if you're not looking for this--it is still the BEST designed and plotted world and story that has yet been created--only comparable to Lord of the Rings--but so much deeper.

Read this book--it will change your life.

And for those out there who put a bad light on the other 5 sequels--please discontinue trashing some of the best books ever written, especially since you don't understand them. These books aren't for dopes. He wasn't beating a dead horse with them--he was merely taking his audience to another level--most notably with books 2 and 4: Dune Messiah and God Emperor of Dune. Dune was merely opening the window into Herbert's genius--preparing his readers for his more intense writing, but still, with the same flair, style and depth of story that most authors strive at.

If you're looking for the best example of what Speculative Fiction has to offer, Herbert is your man. As for the art of world building-he practically created it. 99% of all genius is imagination.

Yours,
R.R.

Rating:
Summary: Yet to be surpassed.
Review: Dune is easily the best book I have ever read. It is life changing on every level and awakens "the sleeper" in all of us. There is something here for everyone, but for me, it was the philosophical understanding that this book provides. It was, after all, written by an obvious genius. And even if you're not looking for this, it is still the BEST designed and plotted world and story that has yet been created, only comparable to Lord of the Rings--but so much deeper.

Read this book. It will change your life.

And for those out there who put a bad light on the other 5 sequels: please discontinue trashing some of the best books ever written, especially since you don't understand them. These books aren't for dopes. He wasn't beating a dead horse with them--he was merely taking his audience to another level. Most notably with books 2 and 4: Dune Messiah and God Emperor of Dune. Dune was merely opening the window into Herbert's genius--preparing his readers for his more intense writing, but still, with the same flair, style and depth of story that most authors strive at.

If you're looking for the best example of what Speculative Fiction has to offer, Herbert is your man. As for the art of world building, he practically created it. 99% of all genius is imagination.

Yours,
R.R.