Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)

There is so much going on in these six books. Herbert gives us Paul Atreides, a figure with a more than tangential likeness to Lawrence of Arabia, who is the recipient of unwanted talents and instruction far surpassing that of most of mankind. In the wake of his father's death and the usurpation of his family's fiefdom, he is thrust among a tribe of nomads known as Fremen.
In this and the next, we watch, among other things, his progression from outcast to tribal leader to Emperor and all of the political maneuvering that that involves. While Herbert's aptitude for writing may have made these interactions an interesting read in and of themselves, he provides us with much, much more.
Through Paul and later Leto, he creates a dialog with the reader about the implications of determinism and contingency. Another ongoing theme of the novel is that classic problem of "the needs of the few versus the needs of the many." In his fashion though, he puts a very interesting spin on it. In his prescience, Paul is aware that civilization is threatened by stagnation and he is readily able to visualize the necessary steps that would need to be taken to thrust humanity along the "Golden Path," which is their only hope. However, the Path includes galactic jihad and a tyranny to last thousands of years. Paul finds it very difficult to cope with the idea that he would have to bear the responsibility of those deaths in order to save the rest of mankind.
A third, though certainly not the last, great feature of the book is the ecology that Herbert develops. While he approached it in books like "The Lazarus Effect," the system he develops and the characters' general ignorance of the workings of that system are riveting. While "locally" on Arrakis, the connections between the sand worms and the spice raise a lot of good questions and can even serve as a metaphorical device for real environmental issues, Herbert is able to take it quite a few steps further. By fashioning a "universe" where the spice is required for so many different things, not in the least is travel, he looks into both economics, and the social consequences of becoming dependent on a commodity.
I could go on forever, and I think that is a testament to Herbert's genius. Not only does he combine all of these different "issues" with a few consistent themes that bind the six novels together, but he does so while simultaneously engaging the reader in a vivid, living environment of war and high politics.

Fucking read it!

It’s been around a while now, this book, yet it remains as intriguing and brilliant as it must have seemed when it was published in 1965.

The melding of medieval feudalism with space opera is now familiar – especially because of Star Wars, which seems to have borrowed a lot from Dune, with its emperors, evil empires, desert planets and mystical religions.

Herbert also draws on the story of Lawrence of Arabia and – generally – of the colonial days of British (and other's) occupation of various Middle Eastern lands, resulting, ultimately, in uprisings with religious overtones that seemingly sophisticated military powers were unable to defeat.

The concept of Jihad is writ large in this book, although the work is of course pre-Osama Bin Laden/G W Bush. Back in the 60s Jihad was just exotic history.

As for the bad guys (the Jihadists are the good guys here, more or less) – the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is highly entertaining – at once barbaric, clever, cynical and darkly funny, he acts as a kind of light relief, if you can call it that, to the earnest striving of all the others.

Finally, Dune introduces the whole "Dune Cronicles" range of books – which, for fans of complex Science Fiction world-building sagas, is a must to get caught up in. The following volumes do not fall into the usual ghetto of pointless money-making sequels (at least not the ones, six in all, that Frank penned), but build on an intricate vision of a future mystical universe.

If you can’t be bothered reading it all, audible.com are releasing the whole series as downloadable audio books.

Sit back and let it roll.

Very strange books. I enjoyed this one. I had seen both versions of the movie for this one so figured I'd try out the books. You need to really think when reading these novels. Lots of politics and subtlety in these.

One of the best books ever written. The combination of great writing with ecological, religious, political, and adventure into a single novel is just so impressive and so wonderful. I discover new things every time I read it. Seriously, unless you hate science fiction, you must read this book.

Quite simply the most magnificent story ever conceived, made more incredible by the fact that a mere mortal was able to put it to paper to be read by people as unworthy as we.
Easily one of mankind's most significant and beautiful accomplishments.

Extraordinary!!! Herbert invented a hole new world for us, with all of it's important components (politics, religion, etc...)....

Some say this starts slow, but keep in mind it's building the foundation of a 6 part series. The LotR of the sci-fi world. (Well...it may have to compete with Otherland for that.)

Interesting... very interesting. A lot of people claim this book is the be all and end all of sci fi, but I wonder if they're just jumping on the wagon a bit too early- even though it's widely quoted as being the greatest sci fi book of all time, that doesn't make it true; you still have to think for yourself sometimes.

Clearly Herbert is incredibly intelligent, and clearly he put an enormous amount of time and energy into crafting the plot and dialogue- giving it the meaning within meaning withing meaning that is so crucial to his characters. He is very bold as well; most authors shy away from revealing the secrets of the universe their smartest characters deduce, while Herbert will plainly state them. Also, his description of battle is remarkably clear and precise, and he doesn't fall into the temptation of describing large events in a single sentence, such as "they continued circling and attacking for some time." rather he describes each feint, each decision, and gives each move a crucial importance.

This is enough for me to revere him, enough for me to learn from him, to study him. However it is not enough for me to call him a master of writing, nor is it enough for me to automatically denounce every following sci fi work as beneath Dune.

As has been previously stated, it is common knowledge that Dune commences with agonizing slowness. This, in my personal (albeit uneducated) opinion, is a critical mistake for a novel to make. At different times throughout the novel I found it a chore to continue reading. Combine that with the fact that I simply didn't care about what happened to anyone in the novel- all the characters were very emotionally separated. There was precious little I could connect to in any given person; some may counter that it's the very nature of the Bene Gesserit to be emotionally detached and almost inhuman in their analysis of situations, but I would argue that it was Frank Herbert who made that so. It is equally important for an author to structure his plot to allow for emotional connection as it is to allow for excitement. In my opinion, and, bearing in mind this could be far from the truth and I myself may change my mind down the road, (I know I'm treading on sacred ground here) Herbert should have changed Paul's reaction to the Bene Gesserit training so that we could connect with Paul; he should have inwardly loathed the suppression of emotion. I know sometimes he shows emotion, but he always immediately calms himself. This, more than anything, kept me from caring about Paul, and thus, caring about the plot of the book.

In conclusion; Herbert is an inspiration in many respects, however, to counter the statement from the cover of my copy of Dune, it is not science fiction's supreme masterpiece.

A classic science fiction novel, a great example of world-building on a grand scale. Dune inspired me on many levels.

Although I enjoyed this book, I struggled to find out what all the fuss is about. I do not think I shall continue to read the further books of the series.