Title: Dune
Author: Frank Herbert Genre: Science Fiction Synopsis: 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. Favorite quote: "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.” |
Review
After reading enough books, I've given up on silly concepts like having a "Favorite" book. I have lots of favorites, for lots of reasons. If you put a gun to my head though, I would probably say that my favorite book of all time is Dune. Seriously, I really love this book.
I should lead into this with a warning about the book, it seems to be a bit hit-or-miss with it's readers. Half the people that read it will just find it boring, but the other half tend to absolutely love it. It's hard to fault either viewpoint, it really just depends on what kind of books you enjoy.
Dune is a science fiction book set over 20,000 years in the future, so a lot of things have changed. One of the things I love so much about Dune are the Sci-Fi aspects to the book. One of the things that gives Dune it's very unique feel comes from future-humanity's distrust of "Thinking machines", which leads to them having what is still a high-tech world, but with a decidedly different feel to it than our heavily computerized world. They spend some time explaining how the human race adapted to a better way of life than relying on those "Thinking Machines" of the past. This leads to the setting being an engaging mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, into what I usually just refer to as "Science Fantasy", borrowing elements of both, but staying closer to Sci-Fi. There's a lot of world building going on, and that's the part I think some people find a bit dull, but personally I eat that stuff up when it's done well, and Frank Herbert really did a good job making the universe of Dune feel real to me.
The story follows the life of Paul Atreides as he lives through a power struggle between the house of his father the Duke Leto Atreides, and their largest direct rival, the house of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. The Harkonnens are especially intriguing, as Frank Herbert is able to write them as being both despicable, and very intelligent. In the end it's hard to pin a simple story archetype on Dune, as so many could be said to apply. Personally, after my first read through, I've tended to think of this book as more of a tragedy, when you really see the toll the story has taken on the once young Paul Atreides, despite having cheered while he was still walking down the path.
In the end, I think Dune stands high among the very best that Science Fiction has ever had to offer. I've read it three times so far, and look forward to reading it again.
I should lead into this with a warning about the book, it seems to be a bit hit-or-miss with it's readers. Half the people that read it will just find it boring, but the other half tend to absolutely love it. It's hard to fault either viewpoint, it really just depends on what kind of books you enjoy.
Dune is a science fiction book set over 20,000 years in the future, so a lot of things have changed. One of the things I love so much about Dune are the Sci-Fi aspects to the book. One of the things that gives Dune it's very unique feel comes from future-humanity's distrust of "Thinking machines", which leads to them having what is still a high-tech world, but with a decidedly different feel to it than our heavily computerized world. They spend some time explaining how the human race adapted to a better way of life than relying on those "Thinking Machines" of the past. This leads to the setting being an engaging mix of Sci-Fi and Fantasy, into what I usually just refer to as "Science Fantasy", borrowing elements of both, but staying closer to Sci-Fi. There's a lot of world building going on, and that's the part I think some people find a bit dull, but personally I eat that stuff up when it's done well, and Frank Herbert really did a good job making the universe of Dune feel real to me.
The story follows the life of Paul Atreides as he lives through a power struggle between the house of his father the Duke Leto Atreides, and their largest direct rival, the house of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. The Harkonnens are especially intriguing, as Frank Herbert is able to write them as being both despicable, and very intelligent. In the end it's hard to pin a simple story archetype on Dune, as so many could be said to apply. Personally, after my first read through, I've tended to think of this book as more of a tragedy, when you really see the toll the story has taken on the once young Paul Atreides, despite having cheered while he was still walking down the path.
In the end, I think Dune stands high among the very best that Science Fiction has ever had to offer. I've read it three times so far, and look forward to reading it again.
Special Awards: (Things the book did very right)
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Audible Review
The Dune Audiobook, narrarated by Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance, and Ilyana Kadushin was very well performed. Really, the only critique I have about the production value of the audiobook, is that they occasionally switch between the primary narrarator doing all the voices, to having a few specific voice actors doing some of the parts. In both cases they were done well, but it can be a bit jarring going between the two, also I didn't like Paul's voice actor as much as the rest. All in all though, it was a very enjoyable listen that added to my enjoyment of one of my favorite books. 4.5 Stars!
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