Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the ‘spice’ melange, the most important and valuable substance in the cosmos. The story explores the complex, multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis.
Title: Dune | Author: Frank Herbert | Series: Dune #1 | Publisher: Ace Books | Pub. Date: 1 June 1965 | Pages: 687 | ISBN: 9780441013593 | Genre: Science Fiction | Language: English | Triggers: NA | Rating: 5 out of 5 | Source: Self-purchased
Dune Review
A book that features sand worms? Ew, grosssssss! I thought I would have been running for the hills. But these were some of my FAVOURITE parts of the book. I wanted even more of these scenes.
It can take a little bit of time to get into this book, it took me about 30 or so pages, I just wanted to get to the meat of the book since hearing so many amazing things about this book. Fair warning, there’s a fair bit of made up language; reading a physical copy so you can flick back to the glossary to do some translations is super handy and definitely recommended by me if you’re going into this book totally blind (like I did). There’s also no chapters to this book, at least on a first glance. It is split into three sections and new chapters start off with extracts from the Princess Irulan; I liked these short extracts, feeling they added more depth to the story. Overall, my favourite section of the book was section 2, in particular with how it ended. It’s a lot faster paced than the first section, and some very interesting developments occur.
This book without a doubt stands the test of time in terms of how it is written. It doesn’t feel at all old or outdated. There are a lot of details, beautiful (and not so beautiful) imagery, and a depth to the book that I haven’t found myself experiencing for a long time.
Jessica (Paul’s mother) is one of my favourite characters, I found her storyline to be more exciting than Paul’s and I am looking forward to seeing what happens to her in the sequels. There are also some seriously well written villains in Dune as well, *cough*, I’m looking at you Baron Harkonnen. Harkonnen is one of the best described nasty and ruthless villains I have read in a long, long time.
I am carrying on with this series for sure! At least the books written by Frank, and I am excited for what is to come. I’m also super excited for the new movie that is being released next year! If you haven’t read this yet, it is perfect timing to do so!
4.5 sandworms, rounded to 5!
You can find this book at many retailers via clicking on the appropriate link on GoodReads (Buying direct from retailers is a good way to support indie authors); however, in the spirit of supporting literacy programs, we would like to point out that you may be able to purchase this book through BetterWorldBooks.
Sian joined the Coolthulu crew in March 2019 and reviews horror and science fiction books for the site.
She’s trying hard to play it cool but she’s more excited than Lilyn’s new puppy to be part of the crew. PS we got T-shirts!
