Brian Herbert

Kevin J. Anderson

A Dune prequel portrays the "Butlerian jihad" against technology, a background story vital to the Dune universe.

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

Frank Herbert

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for....

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream. 

Dune

tanaz

The mind commands the body and it obeys. 

The mind orders itself and meets resistance.

tianna

“But never twice the same,” he said. “It’s like life—it presents a different face each time you take it…And, like life, never to be truly synthesized.”

“Once, men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them." 

“‘Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man's mind,’” Paul quoted.

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see is path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Before The Matrix, before Star Wars, before Ender's Game and Neuromancer, there was Dune: winner of the prestigious Hugo and Nebula awards, and widely considered one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written. Melange, or 'spice', is the most valuable - and rarest - element in the universe; a drug that does everything from increasing a person's life-span to making intersteller travel possible. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis. Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And whoever controls the spice controls the universe. When the Emperor transfers stewardship of Arrakis from the noble House Harkonnen to House Atreides, the Harkonnens fight back, murdering Duke Leto Atreides. Paul, his son, and Lady Jessica, his concubine, flee into the desert. On the point of death, they are rescued by a band for Fremen, the native people of Arrakis, who control Arrakis' second great resource: the giant worms that burrow beneath the burning desert sands. In order to avenge his father and retake Arrakis from the Harkonnens, Paul must earn the trust of the Fremen and lead a tiny army against the innumerable forces aligned against them. And his journey will change the universe.

Bart Veldhuijsen 

The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve but a reality to experience.

Jordan

He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it

How often it is that the angry man rages denial of what his inner self is telling him.

Mandy

One does not risk everything to settle and score prematurely 

There is no escape - we pay for the violence of our ancestors.

"You lead well," Paul protested. "You govern well. Men follow you willingly and love you."

"My propaganda corps is one of the finest," the Duke said.

There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man-with human flesh.

Halleck stirred, said: "I think what rankles, Sire, is that we've had no volunteers from the other Great Houses. They address you as 'Leto the Just' and promise eternal friendship, but only as long as it doesn't cost them anything."

"One date palm requires forty liters of water a day. A man requires but eight liters. A palm, then, equals five men. There are twenty palms out there-one hundred men."

Nick

Today's assignment: Ask your partner one big question and see where it goes. A big question is an open-ended ques- tion; there's no dead end of a yes/no answer avalable. There

Jess (the og)

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear is gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.  

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

DUNE

raquel

Tem Nugmanov

I'll give you my father's answer to those who act without thinking: “a stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both."

Paul’s motif, realized it returns on page 291

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see it’s path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Anastasia Illner

horu

“Nothing money won’t repair, I presume,” Paul said. 

“Except for the lives, m’Lord,” Gurney said, and there was a tone of reproach in his voice as though to say: “When did an Atreides worry first about things when people were at stake?”

He felt emptied, a shell without emotions. Everything he touched brought death and grief. And it was like a disease that could spread across the universe.

finally finished this fucking book. enjoyed it. i can’t stop picturing timothee chalamet and rebecca ferguson even though their characters couldn’t be more different from the movie. unexpectedly funny 

julia

The good: Standard-setting worldbuilding. Compelling villain. Interesting blend of myth, fate, will, and power.

The less good: Heavy use of prophecy kills suspense. Protagonist has no personality besides being exceptional. Clunky writing.

elizabeth

The good: Standard-setting worldbuilding. Compelling villain. Interesting blend of myth, fate, will, and power.

The less good: Heavy use of prophecy kills suspense. Protagonist has no personality besides being exceptional. Clunky writing.

Fucking fantastic, cannot describe my elation at having read this to get to marvel at the book and adaptation!!!! Knowing what they changed and why in the movie….. I could go on for days

Bailee Strong

Bailey Jennings

What's is there to add? This book is packed with life lessons and a rich story of humankind. Definitely one to add your shelf.

Monicap

Ahhh, I loved it, I did. Like kind of embarrassingly a lot? 

Thing is, *this is my shit*. There's a reason I loved this when I was sixteen, there's a reason I rewatch the miniseries like once a year, there's a reason.

I didn't think I would love this as much as I did though. For one, Dune is kind of a douchey bro thing to like. For two, I think my memories of read this book through Children of Dune was tainted by the fact I also read God Emperor through Chapterhouse. I can't even think of a single thing that happened in God Emperor through Chapterhouse other than (view spoiler)[Leto turning into a sandworm and Duncan coming back as a ghola (hide spoiler)] both of which I hated and I thought this would read more like that.

But. *But*. I loved it, I did. I was talking with my brother about this book while I read it and his sentiment was along the lines of "I don't get why people like this book the way that they like it" see above my comment on how this is a douchey bro thing to like. And I realized that I was enjoying this book in the same way I enjoy Animorphs fanfiction. Melodrama! Tense situations made absurdly tense by the depth of relationships between the characters! 

There's a scene towards the end of this book where Paul sees Hawat again after 2 or 3 years and it gave me the same feeling as an Animorphs fanfiction where Tom was freed met Tobias and thought Tobias was an actual Andalite.

Lines from Dune taken out of context would sound just as corny as lines taken out of context from Animorphs. 

I might have more to say but it escapes me at this moment

Pretty epic read, is occasionally a bit hard to follow but really draws you in and allows your imagination to flourish when you get really into certain parts. 

Jackie Lu

addyson

Listening to this book was tedious. Exhausting. Tiresome. 

It’s one of those stories where, when you stop paying attention for 2 seconds, happen 10 year time jumps, three marriages and the introduction of 5 new characters. As I was already stressed while watching the movie I could have known better but I really wanted to love it and to find a new fantasy universe to get lost in. But maybe I have to accept my defeat and acknowledge that not every book has to work for you. 

Stephanie 

Listening to this book was tedious. Exhausting. Tiresome. 

It’s one of those stories where, when you stop paying attention for 2 seconds, happen 10 year time jumps, three marriages and the introduction of 5 new characters. As I was already stressed while watching the movie I could have known better but I really wanted to love it and to find a new fantasy universe to get lost in. But maybe I have to accept my defeat and acknowledge that not every book has to work for you. 

maia

6% DNF the concept is cool and i wanted to like it but it’s so boring. also what is the point of the spoilers at the top of each chapter?

Honestly I don’t know what I expected out of Dune, but it’s so rich. The world-building is so nerdishly researched that I feel so… seen (??) as a fellow nerd. It has all the elements of cunning politics (to me familiar in its Game-of-Thrones likeness even though it probably should be the other way around) and the tragedy of the main character that initially denied his “Chosen One” role but finding himself compelled into it one way or another. The book just adds a lot of sense and complexity that makes the Villenueve movies a lot richer in hindsight. Great. Just fantastic.

Mattea Marjorie

coffee and catholicism make it hard to suspend disbelief 

Jeremiah Cha

"First published in the United States of America by Chilton Books 1965"--Title page verso.

This is a classic for a reason. (And I don't know why I avoided reading it for so long. Shame on me!)

Angela

ryan carlos tsumire de Guzman

Ik ben er snel doorheen gegaan en dat zegt wat. Ik heb geen analyse dit keer over de ondertonen, en misschien zullen die er wel zijn, maar ik was vooral bezig om alles te begrijpen. Aangezien niet alles direct verteld wordt en er veel politieke gebeurtenissen zijn. Het einde vind ik nog een beetje verwarrend, maar dat komt omdat alles een beetje open is en niet definitief. Hopelijk maakt het tweede boek het allemaal wat duidelijker, en anders moet ik maar weer teruglezen.(wat ik wel een paar keer heb moeten doen) 

Bella Baxter

I honestly had to force myself through the last 400 or so pages. It just really slowed down and apparently there was a time jump, then suddenly Paul and Chani had a baby, and I just got really…lost. I hate to table a book I spent a good chunk of money on, so I slogged through it for Jason Momoa.

1. I feel like the sandworms weren’t really in the book? There was like, five minutes of actual sandworm action. Even then, the story really didn’t capture the looming threat that the sandworms posed to inhabitants on the planet. 

2. It would have been nice to not have to flip to the appendix-glossary for every other word. 

3. I was honestly expecting more for Jessica. Like maybe she’d be revealed to be the H.K. (I’m not spelling that out) after becoming the Reverend Mother, which would have been one hell of a plot twist. But that’s not what was established in the first 100 pages, so…

I was also expecting more for Chani…?

4. I really love Alia. Like, a LOT. She was the only one that called the Baron exactly what he is: “one frightened old fat man too weak to support his own flesh without the help of suspensors.” 

A fucking TODDLER was the only one brave enough to that tell him what he deserved to hear and succeed at doing the one deed that needed doing. (Yeah, I enjoyed Emperor Shaddam H*ssein tearing into him too, but he’s all words, nothing special)

5. I cackled reading the last line. Kinda has “Bran the Broken” energy and idk how I feel about that, it’s a little cheesy. Quite nice being delivered from Jessica, though.

6. I kinda wish I’d understood more about the structure of the Empire and the Great Houses. Tbh, I really didn’t get much of a sense that the Emperor was scheming, just the Baron…but maybe that was the point? Idk. 

Overall, I’m still very much looking forward to seeing the adaptation. It’ll be really awesome.

Additional thoughts (2022): I did not enjoy the adaptation. I was boring and way too fucking loud. I will be watching part 2 ONLY for Alia (and Zendaya) and I will be bringing a pillow and some earplugs.

Vietnamese edition of Dune. This is the chronicle of Young Duke Paul Atreides' life and death adventure on the desert planet of Arrakis, where each of his action would contribute to the fate of all... Vietnamese translation by Tran Tien Cao Dang. Distributed by Tsai Fong Books, Inc.

Sarah Sammis

Monday, April 12, 2004

Dune took Herbert a long time to write and it shows in the craftsmanship. I love the vastness of the universe he's created. Dune even though it is a desert planet is still complex in its descriptions and native peoples. My favorite character continues to be Duncan Idaho even though he's not one of the main characters.

Lindy

aleksandra

3.5/5

Honestly, I never know exactly how to start my review after finishing a nearly nine hundred pages book, but I guess I'll start by saying that I definitely enjoyed it, but was it a life-changing reading experience? Unfortunately, not for me. This book is considered a classic of the science fiction genre, Frank Herbert did an amazing, or even one of a kind job, creating the entire universe in which Dune takes place, all the characters, descriptions and practically everything in this book was simply fascinating. I really wanted to be one of those people who closes this book and is completely in love with it, and then when someone asks if they've read it say "Yeah, I love Dune, it's my favorite book." but as it turns out, I'm not that person. At least, yet. This is the first story in a six-volume series, so I hope that changes.


Like I said, I liked it, but I genuinely think I would have loved it if I hadn't watched the movies. In my opinion, the movies are even a close-to-being-perfect adaptation of the Herbert’s work and pretty much everything that happened in the book also happened in the first two films - with some small changes and a few scenes were in a different order, but it didn't change the fact that I still very much enjoyed watching both of them. Dune I and Dune II, being great adaptations, unfortunately meant that watching them before reading the book wasn't the best idea as I was bored for most of the story because I just knew what was going to happen. The first four hundred pages took me the longest to read because I watched Dune I twice, but thankfully it took me much less to finish the rest. The beginning (read the said first four hundred pages) were hard to read - which may not be much of an incentive for those planning to start I know - but the second half of the book even got me hooked. Frank's writing style may not have been entirely to my liking, the "wow, what's happening" moments didn't shock me as much as I thought they would, but the characters were amazing so I have to thank them because they are the reason for me being invested. Jessica was definitely my favorite here, followed by Paul, which I know is a boring answer, but what can I say, I liked them. They may even have become my favorite son and mother duo in books, which says a lot considering I've read a lot of stories in my life. 


  
    "If you harm my son,” she said, “you’ll have me to meet. I call you out now. I’ll carve you into a joint of—"
“Mother.” Paul stepped forward, touched her sleeve. “Perhaps if I explain to Jamis how—” 
“Explain!” Jamis sneered."
  



Finally ending my rant, because I didn't plan to write so much, which is basically still nothing, because you could talk and talk without the end about this book, but I definitely plan to continuing this series. Maybe I'll even manage to finish all six books this year, we'll see. I hope at least.


——————

maybe I'll be able to read all six books by the time the next movie comes out (2027?) we'll see (I'm already having trouble with all the names)

Much easier to read than what people were saying it would be like. It definitely helped to watch the movies first.

Camille Mounce

Before The Matrix, before Star Wars, before Ender's Game and Neuromancer, there was Dune, one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written.Melange, or 'spice', is the most valuable - and rarest - element in the universe. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis.Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And whoever controls the spice controls the universe.When stewardship of Arrakis is transferred to his house, Paul Atreides must travel to the planet's dangerous surface to ensure the future of his family and his people. But as malevolent forces explode into conflict around him, Paul is thrust into a great destiny beyond his understanding.And in this game of power, only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

hana

A brilliant and stimulating read that is only more enhanced from previously watching the Dune (dir. Denis Villeneuve) films. I have such great respect for Frank Herbert's vision; his attention to detail and commitment to worldbuilding has magnified this tale to cement itself within literary and popular culture. To know that this was once a stepping stone in the world of science fiction literature and to now experience it firsthand as a reader sixty years after its genesis tells me that humans have always been the same. We have always had our philosophies, beliefs, and faith that are forever intertwining on this planet that we share. Dune tells us a story that could happen, or perhaps is happening, on our very own Earth. Truly a love letter to humanity, a letter that tells us, we must keep going within the sufferings of life, we must keep fighting against oppression, and we must protect this Earth we call our home.

A deluxe hardcover edition of the bestselling science-fiction book of all time--part of Penguin Galaxy, a collectible series of six sci-fi/fantasy classics.sics.

andrea valentina 

Frank Herbert had a lot to say about the relationship between native populations and the restoration of the earth, as well as the power of religious hold on people and the exploitation of natives and their land. A lot to unpack.

Vicky  Nuñez 

I sometimes forget classics are classics for a reason, because despite the passage of time they can effectively move and inspire through generations. Dune is a book published in 1965, a relatively newer classic but its importance in the genre is unmistakable.

I can't wait to reread it and find hidden meanings behind every new read through.

Dune: The Butlerian Jihad

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