Frank Herbert's Dune

[Eternal Padawan]

What, as opposed to Geraldo Rivera's Dune?

Sort of different from the Dune thread in the TV forums, I would like to talk about the book(s). I have thus far never sat down and read any of these until a few weeks ago when stillakid promised epic intrigue and machivellian double crossing. haven't seen any of that yet ( two thirds of the way through the book), but it's still a great read. Deferring to Jargo's thoughts on the intracacies of the Fremen society, I really appreciate that aspect of the novels. To see a culture revolving around a single thing (water) is very interesting. Herbert has a distinct writing style, which I enjoy. it's very difficult to compare this to LOTR ( two very different series) but I will say I'm not as impressed with it as I was Orson Scott Card's Ender novels when I first read those.

Ender's Game
Speaker For the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind

And to an extent, the 'sequel' series starting with Ender's Shadow. But that's a different thread, right?

All this may change by the end of the first novel. It's good enough that I want to read the sequels. Thoughts?

[stillakid]

Originally posted by Eternal Padawan
I have thus far never sat down and read any of these until a few weeks ago when stillakid promised epic intrigue and machivellian double crossing. haven't seen any of that yet

You've got nine more books to go. Patience, Dune-Padawan.

I think that it took me three false starts to get through the first book. After I finished, there was no looking back. The best part of the epic for me is that it isn't always the same. The first three books (DUNE, DUNE MESSIAH, CHILDREN OF DUNE) pretty much revolve around one basic time period with Duke Atreides, Paul, and then his children. GOD EMPEROR pulls us far away from that well illustrated era into something vastly different, yet with very recognizable roots. HERETICS OF DUNE and CHAPTERHOUSE DUNE again launch the fundamentals of the saga into a fascinating arena that is exciting and new yet maintains that familiarity with the opening story. The newer novels (HOUSE ATREIDES, HOUSE HARKONNEN, HOUSE CORRINO), post-Frank Herbert, manage to dig even deeper into the characters that we were introduced to in the first three books. House Harkonnen, in particular, was a difficult read for me. Not because of style or anything, but because of the frank brutality that those characters exhibit page after page after page. I guarantee that no film version less than a rated X could capture the twisted violence and sexuality that is central to much of this vast story.

If anything, it's a pleasure to read something that isn't so light and fluffy that it takes literally no effort to breeze through. Reading the DUNE series requires you to concentrate and focus and actually think, evaluate, and retain the concepts that appear on the page. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy popcorn escapism like Star Wars, ID4, and LOTR as much as anyone, but it's nice that there is still room for literature in this genre that not only allows the reader to think, but demands it as well. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.

Oops, I forgot the latest chapter: The Butlerian Jihad. I haven't had the chance to read it yet, but am looking forward to it.

All the books after Chapterhouse Dune are more or less "prequels" to the original DUNE. Reportedly, Frank Herbert was working on a continuation of the series when he died. There is a rather mysterious hint of what was to come at the end of Chapterhouse. I only hope that he left enough notes that his son can piece together some idea of where the story was going. It looked like things were just about to get really interesting.

[Bel-Cam Jos]

I read Dune last year, and it wasn't bad. I knew the story from the film, and the book was better (how could it not be?). Not awesome, but decent. I have no desire to read the other novels.