Midvale, Utah — Dune is one of the most boring and simultaneously most intense books I’ve ever read.
The barrier for entrance is a bit high. The book starts off throwing around made up words that anyone who hasn’t read the book five times over doesn’t understand immediately, and getting through the first couple of chapters is a legitimate challenge. I don’t think I’ve had to restart a book as many times as this one. It took me 4 attempts to finish the first book, but it was well worth it.
Once you slog through the first few chapters, however, this book manages to pull you through the events with the most graceful and beautiful poise, albeit slowly. Events keep escalating and you can feel the stakes ever climbing, much faster than the plot could ever dream. It’s an addicting book, and the slow pacing only hurts during the first few chapters. The plot takes it’s time, establishes characters and stakes, but it’s perfect in this instance.
And those stakes pay off. The conclusion of this book is incredibly satisfying (and slightly horrifying), and while it has a fair number of sequels, it stands very strong by itself. It also has a low commitment level if you just want to dip your toes into the Dune world. If you just want to read the book version of your favorite film, you are free to read this, and you’ll be very happy.
Characters are quite the roller coaster. Paul is so many conflictions just wrapped up in a nice little box with a pretty bow. The character struggles to feel relatable, but it feels almost purposeful. He is surrounded by a wonderful supporting cast that quickly makes up for any weaknesses prevalent in the character. Our wonderful Villain is Baron Harkonnen, a ruthless man and a delightful character to read. There are so many characters, and a lot of them are given a beautiful amount of depth, resulting in one of the most lovely messes of moral ambiguity you’ll ever have the pleasure to read.
Like all who have read Dune, I concede that the world is a masterpiece. Everything a character does and the technology that exists seems a natural progression to the environment, and furthermore, it’s not used as just a flavorful backdrop, but is heavily involved with the story. Learning about the world feels less like an info dump from a national geographic article and more like actual plot progression, which is a crazy awesome in a fantasy/sci-fi book, where the world can often be over done while contributing little to the actual book.
Dune is a fantastic book, a titan of the sci-fi genre for good reason. Anyone who wants to understand sci-fi as a genre has to read this book and maybe some Issac Asimov or Jules Vern. But definitely Dune.
