Dune

Many mediocre sequels followed, but this first is a great piece of political sci-fi. Imagine the oil-producers were extraterrestrial cultures, producing not lubricants and fuels but a natural psychotropic which facilitated hyperspace navigation. Now imagine an Asimovian empire trying to rest control of the source. Imagine that there is a fanatic desert uprising seeking to regain that control, resisted not by the Husseini nor the Ibn Saud but by a royal gang which looks for all the world like the Hapsburgs. Throw in a heroic noble family, political intrigue, brilliant, West-Wing level smartwriting, and just for, the helluvit, a tribe of real witches and some giant snakes which patrol the =deserts by tunneling under the sands. Completely addictive read. A modern classic..

What is there to be said that already hasn't been said better by someone else? What a thouroughly enjoyable and interesting book this really is.If I hadn't already been aware of the film and the documentary into the failure of the 70's film, I would of struggled to comprehend that this book is over half a century old.But from that, if you are a fan of any epics, from sci-fi to fantasy, books and film, you'll never know just how many authors have been influenced by Frank Herbert.On the surface it may seem a basic structured story, but keeping attention to what each character values and understands, you realise that as the book goes on, that every idea and thought carried are in fact wrong, that these characters all come to the realisation that their closely held truths are in fact falsehoods, as well as many characters having plans within plans, and plots within plots withing plots!The pages just fly by once you get started and I was saddened when I realised the story was drawing to its conclusion.A 5 star review from me, and I hope that this inspires someone else to dabble in the story of the people of Arrakis

I’ve tried reading Dune three times, and three times I’ve had to give up.I just can’t get on with it. It’s not the story, which is of course one of the greatest SF worlds ever created. I think it’s the overall assault of Herbert’s writing style that eventually wears me down-it just gets a bit too much by about 3/4 of the way through the novel.One day I’ll manage to finish it once. I owe it that much.

I first read Dune in 1978 as a teenager, it was recommended to me by a relative who read it when it came out in 1965, it amazed me , it is a truly epic read, having just seen the original Star Wars as it was released in 1977 I recognised that more than a few of the Star Wars plot lines seemed remarkably similar to Dune, also I think a certain Mr George RR Martin has borrowed some ideas from Dune for Game of Thrones. This is my favourite book of any genre and I bought it again after recommending it to my Daughter who is in her 20's, before passing it on I read it again and got as much enjoyment reading it again as I did the first time and it has stood the test of time, infact its timeless and should be relevant for ever. Basically its a book about politics, power and religion that just happens to be set 10,000 years in the future where the key natural resource that drives the whole universe is a narcotic called spice (think oil in our times) and the person(s) that controls the supply is all powerful and has many enemies and friends and allies. The various characters, groups, races and religions in the book are all brilliant and memorable enough that I remembered them all from 40 years ago and the genius for me is that although this is set far in the future computers have been banned for thousands of years so there is very little technology in the book which is great as the focus then is on the actual story which is superb. My daughter has finished reading it and she was blown away by it as well. Luckily there are several sequels which I will now read again.

Lovely hardback edition, but the text is the same error-riddled version. I think I might just type up my own copy, draw my own cover and have done with it. Don't waste your money on this.

Review is of the Penguin Galaxy presentation only.Shorter than a standard hardcover by about one and a half inches. Great smyth sewn binding. Just the right amount of flexibility. Easily kept open. Font is readable and pretty and a great size. Paper is acid free cream. Only down side is that the cover is made from very cheap cardboard and the text on the spine faces the opposite direction to all my other English language books; turn your head left to read it as it sits on the shelf. Shame really, without these two issues it would get 5 stars.I recommend purchasing one of two other Dune hardcover editions: Folio Society or Barnes and Noble Leatherbound.