Frank Herbert

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.

Dune

Drowned? It was the stillsuit manufacturer's daughter. Paulhestitated, then: "Yes. Immersed in water until dead. Drowned”

Emmie B.

The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future

Veronica Palmieri

Camila Sánchez

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.

Lincy

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.

Revna

SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling. Frank Herbert’s classic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and one of the bestselling science fiction novels of all time. 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. 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.

Madison Bowyer

Francine

Jasper

Anthony

Originally posted on my website: https://anthonymorris.dev/books/dune

If you enjoy reading science fiction, you've no doubt heard of Dune. Written in the 1960s by Frank Herbert, Dune is a futuristic tale about the politics that drive society on an interstellar scale.

The world of Dune unravels when the Atreides family is assigned to rule of the planet Arrakis by the Emperor of the Known Universe. Arrakis is a dry, desolate world where water is scarce. The planet is the only source in the universe of spice, which influences the political interest of the planet and the way its inhabitants live their lives.

Moving to Arrakis is a trap. The Emperor is threatened by the Atreides family, and the head of the family, Duke Leto. Leto's son, Paul, and concubine, Lady Jessica, end up fighting for survival across the unwelcome planet.

Paul discovers himself in a unique way as he moves through the desert with his mother. He is capable of seeing the future. As a young boy, Paul fights through his visions to become a messiah to the natives of the Arrakis. The boy we meet at the beginning of the story becomes a man driven by stories of prophecy and power.

Jessica is one of the most interesting characters in the story. She's a member of the Bene Gesserit, a group of females that have great influence on politics and the way the world moves. Her children are gifted with the powers she has attained. She watches her son grow to become more than she could have ever imagined. While she does help him realize his potential, I wonder if she would've hoped for a simpler life for him.

There are many, many more characters that bring life to Arrakis and beyond. Some will piss you off while others will make you cheer. They all have struggles of their own to deal with as they weave through the story of Paul Atreides and the universe of Dune (Duniverse?).

I loved that the world is in a post-computer era. Unlike most science fiction, there is a fear of artificial intelligence that has prohibited the use of computers. There are no robots and computers have been replaced by Mentats. It isn't how I imagine the far off future which makes it all the more interesting to me.

Some people might have issues with Herbert's borrowing from various languages, cultures, and religions, especially Arabic and Islam. I never found a problem with this because I imagined a world further evolved from where we are today. It doesn't seem unrealistic to me that these cultures and religions could've combined to make something new.

I found the book a little slow at the start. Perhaps it was because of a lot of terms that were new to me or the writing itself. By the end of it I was definitely a fan. The world feels immersive to me, the characters build slowly but surely. I closed the book wanting more, not because there wasn't enough, but because Herbert's world captivated me.

Dune is a story about the perils of heroism, the consequences of blind faith, political struggles, and humanity's potential future. It's a world packed with dynamic characters both terrible and great. It isn't perfect. No art is. But it is wonderful and well worth reading.

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.

Gavin

The bottom line of the Dune trilogy is: beware of heroes. Much better [to] rely on your own judgment, and your own mistakes
– Frank Herbert

  'Didn't you learn the difference between Harkonnen and Atreides so that you could smell a Harkonnen trick by the stink they left on it. Didn't you learn that Atreides loyalty is bought with love, while the Harkonnen coin is hate?
– also Frank Herbert


Dune shouldn't work: there's a lot of the worst of fantasy fiction in it. The spurious black and white morality, above; cod-medieval dialogue; noble-savagery and bizarro Orientalism; its spoilers for itself (through its constant first-person precognition); and the po-faced chapter epigrams about how great the main character is... *

But it does work. It works because of the loveable setting and its thrilling ecosystem; the sharp, rapid dialogue; its sheer, smushy pastiche of human history (American environmentalism, medieval feudalism, Arabic sheikism, and Zen martial hokum ("he is a Zensunni prophet", "to use the family atomics"); its mystical anti-Star Trek historical materialism; excellent setpieces; and because the book contains a realist reading of its own magical-heroic events. (Here's a start: Everything takes place on a world made of shroom heroin! You can't trust a thing these people say!)

This hidden realism is clearest in the (heavy) appendices to the book - these aren't the ordinary conceited footnotes of fantasy, which assume you care about its little world as much as the author does. They're instead a rationalist palate cleanser after 600 pages of woo. A scientific, academic register erupts, mocking the internally real mysticism of the foregoing. I was even a little disappointed to find a huge glossary at the end, containing all the words I had been puzzling over. Mystery and gnosis and not-quite-getting-it suits the plot. The appendices say the book is more than its plot, and the world more than its books.

(The big realist moment within the book is when you see that the great prophecy is just a scam, planted to manipulate people.)

The baddies, the Harkonnens, are a bit much though: nothing they do is not repulsive. Herbert has the protagonists use mysticism and authoritarianism, while having most of the best characters resist and despise these things. There's no such tension with the main antagonists, no nominally redeeming feature. So you can feel Herbert hissing and booing the Harkonnens. Here is the first scene with the evil Baron:

  
 It was a relief globe of a world, partly in shadows, spinning under the impetus of a fat hand that glittered with rings... A chuckle sounded beside the globe. A basso voice rumbled out of the chuckle:
 'There it is, Piter, the biggest mantrap in all history. And the Duke's headed into its jaws. Is it not a magnificent thing that I, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, do?'


Herbert gets away with this because Harkonnen is supposed to be over-the-top, and, more, because his world has a black and grey morality. (Do you want the genocidal decadent rapist Machiavels or the square-chinned aristocratic Machiavels?)

The greyness of the Atreides leads to the biggest plot problem. (It's not exactly a plot hole, but it takes interpretive labour to make it make sense.): Paul's Jihad is unmotivated. Nobody wants it, including the Messiah it is carried out for. Paul even compares himself to Mega Hitler:

  
'There's another emperor I want you to note in passing - a Hitler. He killed more than six million. Pretty good for those days.'
'Killed by his legions?'
'Yes.'
'Not very impressive statistics, m'Lord.'
'... at a conservative estimate, I've killed sixty-one billion, sterilised ninety planets... We'll be a hundred generations recovering from Muad'dib's jihad.'


and it's implied that the previous tyrant, Padishah, did not do such things. This completely undermines the exciting and righteous revolution that we spent a book and a half cheering on. If unprecedented death and misery is the payoff, what is the gain of having a noble ruler?

OK, Paul frequently speaks of not being able to stop the jihad - scrying that, if he does try and stop it, he just gets usurped and then it carries on worse. But then he shouldn't have come to power at all, and the book tacitly tells us that things would have been better if the Harkonnens succeeded and none of the last three-quarters happened.

The way to make sense of this is to take Herbert's anti-hero line above seriously. Paul made a terrible situation worse. We're not supposed to root for him. But, Herbert knows, we can't help it, because Paul is the Underdog and Loyal and Smart and Competent and (obvs) dead handsome.


  
    
  



Notes:

 
  

   There's very good dialogue throughout, with some of the best lines given to an array of anonymous guards. It is good because spare in the face of a baroque religion and politics. 
  

  

   The Nietzschean philosophy of the book (that is, of Herbert, not just of the Fremen or of Paul) suggests a stronger connection between strength, suffering, and spiritual superiority than there actually is. But, even here, it would not be too hard to make a dove reading of Dune, where the actions of all ruthless parties are actually perverse. 
  

  

   Dune even has a proper dialect, not the usual mere conlangs. Vocal memes: several different characters say "Ah-h-h-h-h" in a particular way. 
  

  

   The Bene Gesserit are the best thing in the book, a cabal of galactic, psychic, eugenicist spies. 
  

  

   The books eventually turn against the Bene Gesserits' specific eugenics program, but it never lets up with hardass Darwinism (which in respectable form has been called Haidtism). Lots and lots of woo:

 The race of humans had felt its own dormancy, sensed itself grown stale and knew now only the need to experience turmoil in which the genes would mingle and the strong new mixtures survive. All humans were alive as an unconscious single organism in this moment, experiencing a kind of sexual heat that could override any barrier.


There's a Randian seduction in the Fremen hardass ethic. As in Nietzsche: Herbert is inviting the reader to view themselves as strong, above the mob. (If you feel nothing seductive about these books - well, you've a modest soul.) 
  

  

   The second book goes into even more gritty detail: the Fremen toilets are 'reclamation stills', for instance. (I'm just impressed at the speech-act of grossing out your readers with your hero characters.) 
  

  

   I've been toying with a connection between Kynes (Dune's divine ecologist, who designs the rejuvenation of Arrakis) and the Kynde of Piers Plowman (Nature itself, or the intuitive transcendental grasp of it). I mention this mostly just to score a literary point: no-one else has noticed. 
  

  

   The Fremen, his Muslim Tuareg, are actually Thracians in complexion. Xenophanes about Thrace:

Men create the gods in their own image; those of the Ethiopians are black and snub-nosed, those of the Thracians have blue eyes and red hair.


 
  

  

   I also love his Vulcans. Rather than being the mockable and inhuman they are just whaddya know better at thinking:

'A mentat could not function without realising he worked in infinite systems. Fixed knowledge could not surround the infinite. Everywhere could not be brought into finite perspective.'



"Be a man and a mentat!"
"I am a mentat and a man."

 
  

  

   * On the last page you are told that the epigrams are all written out of sexual frustration, the joke on the author of them:
'See that princess standing there, so haughty and confident. They say she has pretensions of a literary nature. Let us hope she finds solace in such things; she'll have little else.' 
)
Cue laughtrack, applause, credits. 
  

 

The quality dropped sharply between books: Dune is amazing, Messiah is slow but satisfying, Children of Dune is ok. Believe the hype.


*********************************

How does it do as Serious science fiction?

 Social development: Done pretty well, despite appearances. Dune is a wild repudiation of Whig history, that our technology and our society must progress, and progress together. "Feudalism with energy weapons" as Heath says, half in contempt.

 Software development: No.

 Actual Science: No.

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

Cathy Trình

Read this book quickly, and then reread it again, and again, and again. There is always something you haven't noticed in the pages, regardless of how many times you've read it. That's how intricate and brilliant this book is.

Fatima Kadri 

dnf @80% 
Things just got progressively boring after a certain point that I won’t specify because spoilers.

Sabanar

This book took soooo bloody long to get through the start since it was just overloading with information on the world, people and the politics. The first 1/4 literally took me more than a year to get through . But the rest of the book I went through quickly since the world began to make more sense and the story started get real good. 

I really enjoyed the story, especially the world building and the Arab influence it has. Towards the end the book the initial Jihad that was alluded to kinda felt underwhelming and a bit rushed. I also didn’t like the time jump that happens, though I do see why the author did it.

Good read if you can get past the start.
🏜

The new hardcover release of a sci-fi classic follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce, nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny. Reissue.

I'm sure that I'll need to come back and reread Dune to see most of the facets making it up, but even with the understanding of only just finishing it, I'm incredibly impressed.

This book is romantic, it's depressing, it's bordering on too dense for my tastes, it's sooo rich with care. I honestly don't feel the exhaustion at a book this long that I was expecting coming out of it. I never felt required remember every detail of the universe, but when I did (or went back to reference something) it was so satisfying to understand the story threading itself together.

 the outset I was so daunted by the prospect of this book's length and prominenece that I had no consideration for reading the sequels, but now, dare I say, maybe?

Spoilery fun thoughts in the comments I think, depending on how Literal works.

Logan Stone

I'm sure that I'll need to come back and reread Dune to see most of the facets making it up, but even with the understanding of only just finishing it, I'm incredibly impressed.

This book is romantic, it's depressing, it's bordering on too dense for my tastes, it's sooo rich with care. I honestly don't feel the exhaustion at a book this long that I was expecting coming out of it. I never felt required remember every detail of the universe, but when I did (or went back to reference something) it was so satisfying to understand the story threading itself together.

At the outset I was so daunted by the prospect of this book's length and prominenece that I had no consideration for reading the sequels, but now, dare I say, maybe?

Spoilery fun thoughts in the comments I think, depending on how Literal works.

Matthew Royal

Great world-building, great story, but only "okay" story telling. Despite being a long book, the ending feels like it rushes to a conclusion. 

Important characters are introduced out of whole cloth, familiar characters from the beginning of the book are changed, but in ways that don't feel authentic. The emotional dynamics in this book have potential, but are never explored, because of the need for the characters to be superhumans with exquisite control of their minds and bodies. 

The uberman thing is fun for a while, but story lines with them are always limited to "he gains control" or "he wasn't really an uberman." This book has a reputation for being a more "mature" sci-fi book with political machinations and backroom deals, but it didn't seem to follow the rules of politics or human motivation that exist in our world. I think Gordon R Dickson's "Tactics of Mistake" in his Dorsai series paints a more realistic picture. The characters in this book openly scorn the 3 branches of power in their government and do little to offer systemic solutions other than to say with subtext that it'll all be better when our uberman is in control.

Still, I'm looking forward to rewatching the movie and seeing the TV miniseries, now that I have some background, and look forward to reading more stories from this universe... particularly what happened to the machines made with the image of man's mind.

sarah stevenson

after watching Dune in theaters, i was so enamored with the story that i went to buy the book that same day. the book gave me what i wanted, which was simply a deeper understanding of the story that i had come to love through the movie alone, but with more description and even a small dictionary in the back filled with Herbert-created terminology. i do feel that if i had picked up this book before watching the movie, it would have been far too confusing for me to understand without certain imagery or ideas provided through the film.

Meghan Navoy

I really wanted to love this book but it was quite a slog to get through!

Prashanth Srivatsa

That's the problem with creating a messiah. You get so consumed in unshackling his limits that you end up severely undermining those he fights against. Brilliant villains end up being pawns. But the desert planet of Arrakkis is so majestically portrayed that you can't help but fetch yourself a glass of water when you finish reading.

A fantastic re-read that was more educative, and brimmed with masterful worldbuilding that was easier to miss half a decade ago.

Wow this was really good! I'm definitley glad i had seen the film 4 times before deciding to start reading this because i could tell i would have been so confused lol - I loved the world, i loved the characters - i loved the plot - i loved the politics - i loved how it was written, just all round a good time - the only thing stopping it from 5 stars was i would have loved some more emotional moments idk 

Emma Brothers

ania

Just like many other sci-fi/ fantasy books, in between line sharing more insights about the world and its magic than “real life” literature does.

So if you need a sign, there are plenty of them there.

Follows the adventures of Paul Atreides, the son of a betrayed duke given up for dead on a treacherous desert planet and adopted by its fierce, nomadic people, who help him unravel his most unexpected destiny.

Michael Bettis

Great world-building and singular character development. The book includes a good bit of unique vocabulary with little context to define them, but overall not distracting from the narrative as you go along. Reading it for the first time in 2021 certainly calls for needing to dismiss from your brain all established tropes; having to remind myself that this was published in 1965, it's kind of a grandfather for its genre. It was my first novel I've read in 10 years (I had children, work, and life), so quite a leap back into reading (took me a minute to get going), but I really enjoyed it.

Arun Khanna

I feel very torn about this book. There's definitely a lot to like: the science fiction elements seem fascinating, the politics of spice, the Bene Gesserit cult, the depiction of Fremen, Fear is the mind-killer, etc. I thought Herbert's worldbuilding was absolutely superb and immersive. 

However, when it came to the story itself, I found it to be fairly mediocre. Lots of the actual plotlines hinged on extremely contrived points ((view spoiler)[For example, the betrayal of Yuey barely made sense to me. So this doctor whose wife was kidnapped and most likely killed by the Harkkonen's betrays and essentially kills the man who was their greatest threat for the small possibility that he would be able to kill the Baron? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  (hide spoiler)]). The characters seemed pretty unconvincing and rely heavily on tropes: the boy genius, the dutiful father, the embodiment of the deadly sins in the Baron (he's a pedophile, morbidly obese, and decadent!).

I honestly feel very disappointed overall. The creation of the world is a genuine achievement, especially given its time. Herbert was so close to something extraordinary but in my opinion, failed because of terrible storytelling. Maybe this can be a foreboding to writers everywhere that even if you have an amazing universe, you still need to have a good story in that universe.

Nick Gracilla

It's been more than 25 years since I've read Dune, although, at that time, I was obsessed enough to complete it several times and all the other books in the series. But over the years, my memory of the story has been warped by the 1984 Lynch film. I had forgotten epic scenes: the Atreides' dinner party, filled with intrigue, hidden messages, and hidden agendas. I had misremembered Paul as a god-like figure towards the end of this book. And I had forgotten the political mechanisms, the immersive quality of Herbert's writing, and his age-defying world-building skills. I was initially intimidated by the paperback's impressive weight—could I tackle nearly 900 pages? Fear not—they fly by like sand on the wind.

Talha Muhammad

Deserves the hype. Pacing is a little off at points.

Fantastic otherwise. 4.5 stars.

Tiago Mariz

the writing style kinda ruined the experience for me although i still enjoyed the overall story

Mudita

** spoiler alert **
           For a book as thick as this one, very little actually happened in it. While the parallels drawn were interesting, I thought they lacked any depth and just seemed silly at times. I was deeply intrigued by the concepts around Arrakis, the Bene Gesserit, the Guild, but the book never delved into them. Heck, the appendix is more interesting. Also, the ending was ridiculously abrupt.

Rushed through this book and enjoyed it, initially. In the beginning I had to go back to the attached glossary a lot, just to be sure I get everything. I am disappointed with the end (bit anticlimactic), I am disappointed with the lack of struggle for the main protagonist (yes, his dad dies and some other shit happens but everything comes easy to him) - it is a good book, but does it deserve all the hype? I am not sure. 

sina (she/her) 

Was initially put off my all the Dune Jargon thrown at the front, but the appendices helped in my understanding of the world Herbet paints in this book. Overall the book was an amazing read with such a colourful cast and interesting plot.

Jordan Sun

Liam Dyer

- Basically Lawrence of Arabia with acid trips and ecology in space. 
- Paul is the best at everything he does: stabbing people, doing acid trips, being a witch, etc, etc. It's a bit much, we get it, he fucks.
- Sand worms are fuckin' cool
- The appendices on terraforming and ecumenical council riots is the good shit honestly

The definitive graphic novel adaptation of Dune, the groundbreaking science-fiction classic by Frank Herbert Dune, Frank Herbert's epic science-fiction masterpiece set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar society, tells the story of Paul Atreides as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis. A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism, and politics, Dune is a powerful, fanstastical tale that takes an unprecedented look into our universe, and is transformed by the graphic novel format. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's adaptation retains the integrity of the original novel, and Raúl Allén and Patricia Martín's magnificent illustrations, along with cover art by Bill Sienkiewicz, bring the book to life for a new generation of readers.

Book 1

Ryan LaFerney

Excellent adaptation of the first part of Frank Herbert's epic space opera. The art is stunning. Muad'dib in spring 2022 can't come fast enough!

reread: Jan. 2022

Dune

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