dune book review

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Long-listed, Audible.com Best of the Year, 2007

Long-listed, Audible.com 100 Audible Essentials, 2007

Audie Award winner, 2008

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family—and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert's death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary fiction will live forever.

Reviewer: Chrissy
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: I highly recommend it to all readers
Review: DuneA book review by Nathan PoulsonWritten by Frank Herbert in 1959, “Dune” is an epic adventure of political betrayal, ecological brinkmanship, and messianic deliverance. It won science fiction’s highest awards—the Hugo and the Nebula—and went on to sell more than twelve million copies during Herbert’s lifetime. The mantel piece of sci-fi, Star Wars, owes many of its’ widely popular ideas to Dune. To this day, it is still acclaimed by readers and critics alike as a “science-fiction masterpiece”. I highly recommend it to all readers, as I believe it will put a new perspective on things, deepen your understanding, and excite you to the edge of your seat.Dune follows the 15 year old boy Paul Atriedies and his mother, Jessica Atriedies in the very distant future. He is an only child of the duke of the Royal house of Atriedies. The house is given the stewardship over the desert planet of Arrakis or “Dune”, which controls the most valuable resource in the universe, the spice. On the planet where water is more valuable than gold, desert sand worms that are bigger than spaceships, life is lived to the extreme. With the spice comes a longer life span, increased perception, and in some cases prediction of the future, but at the cost of being highly addictive. The Harkonens, a noble house that previously owned the planet is intent on revenge and recapturing the spice. The spacing guild, which relies on the spice for navigating their spacecraft, is also intent on preventing anyone restricting or destroying their monopoly on space travel. Paul finds himself thrown into the mystery of Dune and its fierce natives, the Fremen. They think he is the savior their prophecy speaks of - is he destined to be the great preserver of their world or a false prophet to be purged? With multiple factions fighting, deceiving, and pulling strings, you never know quite what to expect in this awesome futuristic battleground.One side I really like about Dune is that it is not just a distant sci-fi to be enjoyed, but a book to learn and understand from. I really enjoy the themes Herbert establishes in the plot; one of them including the danger of entrusting too much power to a super being. Although his themes might be very serious and almost depressing, I admire that he has the courage to end the story based in reality, instead of a unrealistic Hollywood ending with no depth.Although the plot was very engaging, at some times the writing style really dragged things down. This can be a real turn off for even patient readers as Frank ambles around in unimportant details describing made up words and the very boring thought process of the characters. This is the one thing that made this otherwise a perfect book. Even though I thought the plot was almost pulling me down, somehow I still enjoyed it through the few sparks of almost perfect harmony when the style actually worked for the story.What makes Dune so special is the pure atmosphere. You can really tell that Frank put in a lot of effort into his fictional world and society. Even though the story is set in another universe, the planets, the characters, and the motives seem very real. He had the worlds built before he set the plot on them; you can see he studied Greek and Near East history extensively to make this book really come to life.Most books have characters that you can easily relate to. With Dune, it is a little bit harder to do that. In it, you have a story that instead of a personal account, it is more like a “retelling” and it is sometimes a little harder to relate to the feelings and values of the characters. My favorite character Paul is the most distant character for most of the book. Most of this isolation comes from the fact that people look to him as an idol, even though he still has human flaws. Throughout the book Paul is the character with the most burdens, and in constant pressure that he doesn’t measure up to other’s expectation of him. “They think they have a God, but I am only a man”. In reality he is a character we can all reflect from, he just has some layers in his personality that you have to peel away to really get to the core.This book is near from perfect, but it still hits home. Frank Herbert has done a difficult thing that combines ancient myths and stories with laser guns and mind control. He was the first one to do it, and the last to do it so well. Even without its deeper meanings, this is still a great read to just casually absorb. I cannot explain to you how amazing this book really is; so experience it yourself and pick up a copy, you will be surprised to what it has to offer.

Reviewer: Daniel Rumbell
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Wonderful presentation of a great novel
Review: Physical product: Well made, nice bluing on the edge of the pages. The lithographs are a nice touch to what is normally a picture-less presentation. Quality paper and easy to read type. There is a little question of the binding having pulled too much but it is something that might have occurred in transit as it is something that I have had happen with other improperly packaged or handled hardcovers through Amazon.The book: I've reviewed this on Goodreads in more detail, so I'll just add this quickly. This is a complete and readable text that works its way through messianic exploration(its function in a society and its personally impact), environmental manipulation and its impact, cultural clashes between peoples who all consider themselves to be living the 'right way', and the family dynamics that drive power real or perceived.This novel covers so many things and yet does it all with a clear, logical narrative. That balance is very impressive and the character depth achieved across so many different characters is, frankly, inspiring. Perhaps not a lightweight read, but not difficult. You can ignore the various maps and appendices as they are referential to things covered in the body of the text in digestible ways.It is often, rightly, called the greatest science fiction novel of all time, and this particular presentation is a knockout. Five out of five stars...but still wait for holidays so you can get it for half the price.

Reviewer: J. Lee
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A must read epic that leaves you hanging a bit
Review: Right off the bat, this is one of the most enjoyable and thought provoking books I’ve ever read. I’ve always struggled with books this long, but this book was such a page turner that I looked forward to getting back to it night after night for about 10 days. Two very different types of work, but the only time I’ve ever felt like this about a book of this magnitude in volume was with the lengthier Harry Potter books. Despite all the made up terms that Mr. Herbert created to delineate this massive interplanetary world, which can be a bit confusing in the beginning, you’re sucked into the vortex that is Dune from 1st chapter. Some of the most enjoyable aspects of this book for me were constant flow of inner perspectives from one character to another in beautiful prose, timeless characterization of human society, religion, politics, technology, etc., and the sheer scale of this universe which goes much beyond the planet of Arrakis where the majority of this 1st book takes place. From the beginning, the reader gets very much invested into the main character of Paul Atreides. Early scenes make you excited about the potential of his power and influence, you ride along with early trials and tribulations that include massive loss of loved ones, and you see the ascension of his power and stature from the lowliest of place. But things aren’t all rosy, along the way, you see the boy becoming a man while giving up his innocence. The sense of righteousness and compassion for people that he’s held so dearly seem to fade in the process as he wades his way through the realization of his extraordinary power, though you don’t really see how those inner transgressions manifest themselves down the road. On a related note, the sole downfall of this book for me is the abruptness of the ending. Up until the very end, you’re treated with a barrage of character and story development, but Mr. Herbert throws a changeup at the end with a very economic conclusion to the story. You’re left hanging wondering what in the world the ending means for the plethora of characters you’ve become invested in. You wonder whether Paul will walk in the light, or in the darkness in his new position. I don’t know whether this was done intentionally to introduce a sense of comic irony, or whether a sense of cliffhanger was placed to get people to read the subsequent books. If the latter was the case, I must admit my disappointment. This was such an amazing book for me until the end. The subsequent books should’ve been recognized on their own merit, and not rely on the momentum of this first book. But I could be wrong, I’m just a casual reader, and perhaps this sort of ending is a pure touch of genius to the experts. But as a casual reader, I felt left hanging, grasping for something that’ll never be fulfilled….like life (and perhaps that was the author’s point too).

Reviewer: Marilú
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Fue un regalo para mi novio que es fan de Dune y le encantó, viene en inglés y es hermoso. Tiene detalles únicos que otras ediciones de dune no tienen, por lo que lo vuelve especial. Sin duda no te vas a arrepentir de comprarlo.

Reviewer: Kat Meerkat
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The book is very beautiful and made the way it can live a long life. It looks so serious I wash my hands every time before reading. The pages are thick and have a proper texture, so you can read 50 pages non-stop without noticing the turning process. There are no pictures inside, except for the cover, but it's good enough for people with imagination, and the story makes up for it. Staring at the turquoise side of the book can be enough for the eye entertainment. It's also pretty heavy and can be used for self-defense. I made a nice gift to myself. If you think of buying it, do it. It's worth the money.

Reviewer: pharmDanny
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: The touch and feel of the book is amazing. Would make a perfect gift.

Reviewer: Mercedes
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Hace años lo tuve en castellano, lo perdí en un traslado y lo he vuelto a comprar, esta vez en el original en inglés. Herbert nunca decepciona.El libro, de segunda mano, en perfectísimo estado. Hay que seguir dando vida a los libros, no hace falta comprarlos nuevos!

Reviewer: The modern spartan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: 👍