Well, after checking out Dune for the third time, I finally decided that I'm actually going to read it. It seems interesting, and it's supposed to be one of the greatest science fiction books ever. I've never gotten past the second chapter in my other readings, but now I'm on the third chapter! Right now I'm a little confused as to what exactly is going on however. Is there anything (no spoilers please) that would help me understand some things? Thanks.
Well, it was written in 1965, so it is in a style that conforms to the time. It's political, it throws religion under the cold light of scientific scrutiny and it is rather complex in plot line and in writing style. It is ridiculously awesome. I have read it and the following books in the series uncounted times. I don't think Herbert really got a true masterpiece again in the series until God Emperor of Dune. Wikipedia has a pretty decent article concerning the storyline of the book. Dune
I've read Dune twice, and it still doesn't pull me in. I know that it's deep, complex, and full of richness, but none of that actually makes it's way from the page into my head. Allthough it does have one of the coolest quotes ever, the words written on the doorway of the spaceport.
God Emperor was excellent, whereas some of the others, especially Dune Chapterhouse seemed a bit... dead on the inside, and required an near encyclopedic knowledge of the past books. As for the original Dune, merely calling it political doesn't do it justice. The thing is nearly a parable in terms casting an unforgiving light over of the faults of imperialism and subjugation that rings very very true today.
Yeay! Another fan! I could not agree more. Had Herbert been interested in starting a cult or political movement rather than an author of spec-fic....
It almost seems kind of fantasy-like (which is my favorite genre) because of the swordfighting and princes and stuff.
It does wear the clothes of a feudal system on the surface, but you will soon find that this is just the surface. The real business goes on with the Bene Geserit.
Read Dune about 15 years ago and loved it then. Have to read it again. Btw, his son Brian appears to be filling out his father's shoes quite nicely. I'm a bit into his book The Race for God and it shows a lot of promise. He has a killer sense of humor!
Dune is one of my absolute favourites...I’ve read up to God Emperor but somehow got sidetracked halfway through and never finished it. Will have to give it another go after Wreybies’ recommendation! I tried reading The Butlerian Jihad by Brian Herbert but it didn’t interest me like the originals – has anyone read it? Not sure whether to try again or just go back to the original series...
I've read a few of Brian Herbert's books, and the writing style is different to be sure. He is not a bad author, but the distinct writing style put me off.
Yes I think that was the problem – I read it hoping it would be similar to Frank Herbert’s work but really the only connection was the storyline/setting etc. The style couldn’t have been more different.
Yeah, Brian's style is much lighter, and a bit quirkier with a tendency toward humor where Frank was darker, brooding, and with such an emphasis on the introspection of the characters. Edit ~ This holds true in his Destination: Void series as well (Destination: Void, The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor) Also, the core concept of resource allocation plays heavily in this series as well as in the original Dune series. It is interesting to note that the first novel of the series, Destination: Void, was published just one year after Dune.
The first four books are excellent (well, perhaps except Dune Messiah, which is just 'good'). The last two are terrible. Herbert always walked a fine line between 'sci-fi' and 'literary'. God Emperor is, I think, his crowning achievement. Heretics and especially Chapterhouse are, as you say, 'dead on the inside'. They're over-literary, hollow and dull. He's definitely more interested in relationships and powerpolitics more than, say, technology. He's a very different type of writer than, say Asimov. Herbert is, in many ways, closer to Tolkein than he is to more 'standard' sci-fi writers.
I actually like Heretics. I'm reading it now and while it starts slow, it gets pretty interesting later. As for the original...really the only masterpiece in the series in my mind. Granted, I have a lot of pages earmarked in God Emperor that have to do with governance and the like, but as it's connection to the storyline, that's when things started deviating from where I liked it. 3,500 years passing between books? I was not a fan. Still, it's a great series. What you need to know to enjoy the book is that most of the action takes place beneath the surface. A lot of body language and movement related action as opposed to grand set pieces.
I might have been a little hard on Heretics, it's alright. It's about as good as Messiah, albeit for completely different reasons. My real beef is with Chapterhouse, which I found painful to read.
I will get there soon. As much as it seems to be ridiculed, it's essential to me to read the entire series.
Oh yeah, you should definitely read Chapterhouse. After five books there was no way I wasn't going to read the sixth! And you never know, you might really enjoy it! One of these days I'm going to read Brian Herbert's two books that round off the series, Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune.
I plan on reading it, after I finish the ten books I've already got stacked up in my closet waiting to be read.
Dune topic arise!!!!! Well, I myself just finished Dune last night, and I can definitely understand why my copy has this slogan on the cover: Science Fiction's Supreme Masterpiece. It most certainly is. Well, for it's time it certainly was, it still really freaking good. I've read a few Sci-fi books better than this, but dang, Dune is fantastic. I had a really hard time getting into it at first, due to the scope and complexity that Herbert created for this universe, but once I did, man oh man did I have a blast. Also, my copy has a terminology glossary and map in the back, and I was really fascinated with how intricate this novel really was. Herbert was a genius. There's not a single sentence or paragraph or page that is not superbly written. truly a masterpiece in it's scope and literary narrative. I just started Dune Messiah. I've heard that the series began to wane after the first couple of books. Should I just read all of them to have the complete saga, or should I stop somewhere along the line?
