I found Dune by Frank Herbert to be superbly entertaining but am not quite sure I understand what makes it the best-selling sci-fi book ever. To me, the underlying themes of environmentalism, politics, and human psychology are too subtle to make it more than an adventure saga for sci-fi/fantasy fans. I’d have expected the best-selling sci-fi book to be something more palatable to casual and non-sci-fi fans but perhaps the lack of heavy themes is what people are drawn to. Although done well, I was also surprised by the amount of fantasy elements included. That being said, I still really enjoyed reading Dune and rated it 4 stars; it’s just not one of the books I’d recommend everyone read.
Book Stats
- Title: Dune
- Author: Frank Herbert
- Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Classics
- Publication Date: 1965
- Pages: 884
- Est. Reading Time: 20-25 hours
- My Rating: 4/5 Stars
- Buy Now: Amazon or BAM!
Dune: Plot Summary
The story of Dune centers around Paul Atreides and the desert planet Arrakis that his family has been tasked with taking control of. The planet is so inhospitable that daily life is driven by thoughts of water conservation but is made worthwhile as the only source of the “spice” melange in the known universe. Highly valuable, the spice brings exorbitant wealth to those in power and won’t be handed over easily.
Although the transfer of power on Arrakis to House Atreides was ordered by the Emperor, Paul’s family is soon betrayed and he must rely on the local Fremen population to survive. Caught up in a number of prophecies, Paul must walk a fine line to keep everyone’s support and fulfill his destiny. Becoming known as Muad’Dib among the Fremen, Paul seeks not only to reclaim his family’s place but change the course of humanity.
Dune: My Thoughts
From an entertainment perspective, I loved Dune! If you like sci-fi or fantasy and don’t mind big books with a lot of plot depth, it’s definitely a must-read! It’s been on my to-read list for a while and I finally got to it in preparation for the new movie. Sadly, the movie’s release has been delayed to October 2021 by the pandemic but this gives me more time to read further into the series.
“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 me I will turn to see fear’s path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune
Pacing
Dune starts off a little slow and was a bit hard for me to get into. With all the character and world set up at the beginning, I found myself having to re-read quite a few sections to understand what was happening. From the other reviews I’ve seen, this seems to be the most common complaint. But after the first few chapters, I was hooked! For the rest of the book, the pacing was pretty heavily driven by prophecy where you know roughly what’s going to happen but not when or how… very suspenseful!
“There is no escape—we pay for the violence of our ancestors.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune
Themes / Layers
From a philosophical standpoint, though, Dune didn’t really hold up to my expectations. My favorite books typically pose interesting questions or ideas that make me really think about our society and way of life. While Dune has a number of underlying themes, for some reason, none of them really stood out to me beyond the story. Perhaps, it’s one of those books you need to read multiple times to appreciate all the subtleties, as alluded to in the Afterword. However, being that it’s over 800 pages, it’s probably not a book I’ll re-read too often.
“A student of psychology, he understood the subconscious, and liked to say that Dune could be read on any of several layers that were nested beneath the adventure story of a messiah on a desert planet. Ecology is the most obvious layer, but alongside that are politics, religion, philosophy, history, human evolution, and even poetry… Dad told me that you could follow any of the novel’s layers as you read it, and then start the book all over again, focusing on an entirely different layer.”
– Brian Herbert, Dune, Afterword
Everyone says the environmental theme is obvious but I just took the desert planet at face value and missed it. To me, politics was definitely the foremost theme. In fact, all the plotting and scheming reminded me of Game of Thrones!
“I never could bring myself to trust a traitor,” the Baron said. “Not even a traitor I created.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune
Leadership
Within the political theme, leadership gets a particular focus:
“A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few individuals, and a people reverts to a mob.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune
“A world is supported by four things: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous, and the valor of the brave. But all of these are nothing without a ruler who knows the art of ruling.”
– Frank Herbert, Dune
Dune: Favorite Quotes
“A popular man arouses the jealousy of the powerful.”
“The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind orders itself and meets resistance.”
“Mood’s a thing for cattle or for making love. You fight when the necessity arises, no matter your mood.”
“My father once told me that respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality. “Something cannot emerge from nothing,” he said. This is profound thinking if you understand how unstable “the truth” can be.”
“If you rely only on your eyes, your other senses weaken.”
“A stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.”
“When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong—faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thought of obstacles and forget that a precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late.”
Dune: Final Thoughts
While it wasn’t the 5-star read I was hoping for, I still really enjoyed reading Dune and am looking forward to starting the next book in the series, Dune Messiah! I also can’t wait for the movie, although I’m a little worried it might have been better served as a show where more of the details could be included. I hope the movie will be awesome, but the book is almost always better, so read it now!
Have you read Dune by Frank Herbert? What did you think? Did you continue in the series or stop after Dune? Are you excited for the upcoming movie?
I’ve never read the book, but I remember the movie that came out in 1984. My dad showed it to me once, and I told myself one day I would go read the book. Loved reading your review!
♥ Mae
I’ve thought about watching the 1984 movie but usually prefer to read the book first. Now that I’ve read it though, it’s close enough that I’ll probably wait for the new movie to come out. It’s a long book but if you enjoyed the movie you should definitely give it a read!
Sounds very interesting! Another great review! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
4/5 for Dune! Man, it’s been a long long while since I read it (~20 years ago), but at the time it was the best fiction book I had ever read! So in my memory I had it 5/5. I’m curious what you think of Dune Messiah when you read it.
My favorite sub layer was the philosophical layer. In particular how the desert drove so much desert specific wisdom/culture. Also the whole messiah theme I thought was fantastic.
I’m with you on the length. So long I never wanted to spend the time to re-read!
I can certainly see where a lot of people get a 5/5 rating! For me, perhaps it was a little overhyped and I went in expecting too much. I also try to reserve my 5-star ratings for books I’d recommend to anyone and feel like Dune needs a more specific audience. I’ve actually already read the next two books, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, but haven’t gotten around to writing their reviews yet. I enjoyed all three, but Children of Dune is actually my favorite.
I usually like philosophical layers in books too but didn’t pick up on this one much. I struggled somewhat to picture myself/humanity in the world of Dune vs. most sci-fi books where the comparison comes easily. Maybe due to the amount of fantasy elements where I’m much pickier about the fantasy I like than sci-fi. The desert culture and so much being driven by moisture conservation was definitely cool though!
The length and complexity are probably my main reasons for not rating 5 stars. Unless someone’s a big sci-fi fan or enjoys long series, I think there are a lot of other great books out there.
How far did you read in the series? I might return to it at some point but am finding I’m pretty satisfied after the first three!
Good points. Agree, I wouldn’t recommend to everyone either. So maybe it’s a 5/5 in SciFi for me and more like a 4/5 overall.
I actually found Dune Messiah to be boring in comparison and therefore never read Children.
Now that you say it’s your favorite of the three…might have to read it one day!
My son bought this book so I decided to read it and I couldn’t get through the first few chapters. I see that you even had to re read the first few chapters. Maybe I will have to try reading it again because I love reading books before the movies come out.
It definitely takes a little bit to get into and doesn’t start making sense until like 50 to 100 pages in once everyone’s been introduced. I really enjoyed the story once I got further in and started piecing it together though so I’d say it’s worth pushing through the beginning!