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▾Recommendations

Member recommendations

d_perlo recommends The Lazarus Effect by Frank Herbert, "So you have read Frank Herbert's Dune series and want more? Thy The Lazarus Effect, The Jesus Incident, and The Ascension Factor, also by Frank Herbert. (see more) This is his take on a water world."
benmartin79 recommends The Iliad by Homer, "Dune stands in a long tradition of epic stories. The Iliad is not the oldest recorded epic, but is perhaps the most widely read of all."
Cecrow recommends Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert, "First book."
Vonini recommends Gateway by Frederik Pohl
reading_fox recommends The Faded Sun Trilogy by C. J. Cherryh, "Same basic sort of premise - SciFi set on desert worlds inspires the rise of a galactic empire, but very different outcomes!"
amysisson recommends Bright of the Sky by Kay Kenyon, "Different in tone, but similar in scope, plus it's also about the lengths to which empires will go to maintain the status quo."

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▾Member reviews

English (165) Dutch (1) All languages (166)

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Showing 1-5 of 165 (next | show all)

I've read this four times. I was 16 the first time, late thirties the last time. (

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woodge | Nov 20, 2009 |

The making of a man and the future of a planet are intertwined in this Science Fiction classic. Paul Atreides is the heir to his Father's Dukedom on th Planet Arrakis. The planet is the key to intergalatic commerece because of its large supply of spice. As Paul completes the rite of passage from child to man a new generation make their mark and it all begins in Dune.
Rarely, does a story capture me from the beginning like Herbert does here. The characters leave an indelible mark on the reader and move the story at a brisk pace. This is not an average sci-fi story. It has many levels of religious, political and ecological overtones that still hold significant meaning in today' world. I highly reccomend this brilliant Hugo and Nebula Award winning novel. (

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mickmckeown | Nov 17, 2009 |

Dune was so hard for me to get into. The first hundred pages dragged on and I often thought of just giving up on the book completely. Luckily I'm stubborn and kept with it because once I got into it, I really got into it. The last 400 pages flew and I began to understand why Dune is one of the most beloved science fiction classics. (

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JennSicu | Nov 13, 2009 |

It doesn't get much better than the original Dune. Herbert is at his best in this classic science fiction novel. He creates a three dimensional world that is a believable extension of our own, give or take about eight millennia. Religion, politics, and sandworms collide in this excellent book. (

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SendersName | Nov 11, 2009 |

Read Dune and stop, all other books in the "series" ride on the back of the masterpiece and spoil the real thing. Read the original version the "complete" aniversary edition is overblown and not as tight. This is a seminal book of Science Fiction in the top 20 of all time (so far at any rate in our current reality).

BobH1 | Nov 9, 2009 |

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▾Common Knowledge

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Series (with order)

Dune (1)

Dune: complete chronology (7)

Canonical Title

Dune

Original publication date

1965

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Butlerian Jihad (mentioned)

Awards and honors

Nebula (Novel, 1965)

Hugo (Novel, 1966)

Waterstones Books of the Century (1997, No 51)

BBC's Big Read (Best loved novel, 2003, No 39)

The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels (The Reader's List, 13)

(show all 10 items)

Epigraph

Dedication

To the people whose labours go beyond ideas into the realm of 'real materials' - to the dry-land ecologists, wherever they may be, in whatever time they work, this effort at prediction is dedicated in humility and admiration.

First words

Es en el momento de empezar cuando hay que cuidar atentamente que los equilibrios queden establecidos de la manera más exacta.

En la semana que precedió a la partida hacia Arrakis, cuando el frenesí de los últimos preparativos había alcanzado un nivel casi insoportable, una vieja mujer acudió a visitar a la madre del muchacho, Paul.

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

Quotations

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 has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

Let us not rail about justice as long as we have arms and the freedom to use them.

The thing the ecologically illiterate don't realize about an ecosystem is that it's a system. A system! A system maintains a certain fluid stability that can be destroyed by a misstep in just one niche. A system has order, a flowing from point to point. If something dams the flow, order collapses. The untrained miss the collapse until too late. That's why the highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences.

The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows — a wall against the wind. This is the willow's purpose.

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Clarke, Arthur C.

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (51)

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Set in the far future amidst a sprawling feudal interstellar empire where planetary fiefdoms are controlled by noble Houses that owe an allegiance to the Imperial House Corrino, Dune tells the story of young Paul Atreides (heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and scion 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 universe. The story explores the complex and multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as forces of the Empire confront each other for control of Arrakis and its spice.

▾Book descriptions

Amazon.com (ISBN 0399128964, Hardcover)

This Hugo and Nebula Award winner tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence.

The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privilege, though, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.

Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels ever written, and deservedly so. The setting is elaborate and ornate, the plot labyrinthine, the adventures exciting. Five sequels follow. --Brooks Peck

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:13 -0400)

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