This remains, for the time being, my favourite series. The story is intricate and well developed and perfectly balanced so that you do not lose sight of the other points of view in the book while focusing on a specific character's story. I found this book to be the well of clear water that I needed so badly in a rather dry existence. I remember having read the trilogy as well as the other books in under 2 weeks time, therefore this represents a personal epiphany and these books shall forever be the dearest and most valued memories of all that I have read.
I highly recommend it for any SF fan (next to Asimov's Foundation).

How do you even begin to review a work of this magnitude? I had initially put off reading 'Dune' and its sequels for its length. However, I was halfway through the first book when I realised I couldn't put it down. If I had to state my favourite aspect of the series, it would be Herbert's allusions to multiple sources. 'Dune' is heavily Shakespearean at times and draws a lot from philosophical and religious texts. It is also almost psychoanalytic.

Many people have compared 'Dune' to 'Star Wars' and 'Game of Thrones', and it is easy to see why, although I found my appreciation for the former decreasing with every page I read and that George Lucas stole. It is incredibly relevant politically, not only when it was released but also today. Herbert also frequently drew on contemporary history to make his points.

That being said, 'Dune' is more about the themes it wants to explore than the plot, frequently spoiled by Princess Irulan and her epigraphs. Don't go into 'Dune' expecting the next 'Game of Thrones'. It is its own entity.

'Dune' contains multiple characters, however, who could fill a novel in their own right. My favourite character was Alia Atreides. Without going into spoilers, I found the depiction of inner conflict and, eventually, madness in her so compelling. I want to go only a little into the sequels here, but I enjoyed them as much as the first one, although I do find Herbert leading more towards sci-fi elements later in the series.

The only aspects of this book (and the series) that I didn't like are that it is very dated in parts, especially with its views on gender and sexuality. The first instalment is over half a century old, but I can see how it would turn some people away. There were also persistent printing errors and typos in the edition I read. Hopefully, this will be fixed for future releases. Some things could have been foreshadowed more, especially in the first book. The Voice, for example, appears nearly halfway. I understand it was only needed at that point in the universe. However, Dune is also a story; essential plot points should be established early. This also is regarding the character's prescience in later instalments.

All that being said, I still loved every page of 'Dune'. Overall, I recommend it to anyone looking for a complex political commentary. If anything I have said in this review interests you, please give it a try. I will be reading 'The God-Emporor of Dune' very soon.

Breaking down each book:

Dune - 4*

I was aware of Dune from the movie, which is one of my favourites (it’s well worth a watch, because the design team was clearly on something strong). I knew it was based on a book and I’d been meaning to read it for a while.

I actually have the first three books in an omnibus edition.

One thing that struck me is how closely the movie sticks to the plot of the novel, lifting lines and entire scenes directly from the book — not something that happens very often.

Where it differs, I’d actually say the movie does a better job. Controversial, I know.

I say that because, while the book provides a bit more depth to certain elements, it seems shy of the action. Herbert loves inventing new terms, sects and religious elements, but any action passes in a few paragraphs or happens entirely off-screen.

Other than that, it’s brilliantly inventive, with scenes that I couldn’t pull myself away from sprinkled throughout.

I did find it hard to read without comparing it to the movie. The next next two should give me a different view.

They’re apparently re-making the movie for release in 2019, but having read it, I think it would have made a good TV series with as much murder and double-dealing as Game of Thrones.

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Dune Messiah 3*

This is a short entry compared to the others in the trilogy. It also involves a lot more navel-gazing than the first.

Gone are the battles, the fighting and the grand visions.

They’re replaced with plots, intrigue and battles of conscience. Having created an empire, set a galaxy-wide jihad in motion and been deified by his people, the new emperor must deal with his own inner demons.

There are no easy choices, but it seems to be less about the plots from without and more about the roads he must walk and the decisions he has to live with.

As such, it’s a deep read, but lacks something in the dynamism.

Pleasant enough but doesn’t have the grandeur of the first.

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Children of Dune 3*

I picked up the miniseries that stars James McAvoy on DVD a while back and was suitably lost in the story, and the low production value. I was hoping this would help make sense of it.

This was the final part of the three-book collection I had.

As the name suggests, it follows the children of Paul Maud’dib as they grow into adolescence on Dune, raised away from the cities as Fremen in a sietch (cave complex).

There’s some very good parts, some interesting action, some gripping moments as the pair, who look like children but have the memories of all of their ancestors, dish out philosophy and wisdom. Not all of it made sense though.

And then there’s the ending. It’s a mess. Aside from being unbelievably abrupt, it just doesn’t fit with the rest of the story.

The narrative, up to that point, is more convoluted and nuanced than anything in Game of Thrones, annoyingly so at times, but the ending feels like the author was trying to get it under a certain word count and realised he was running out.

Maybe a second read would help, but not likely I’ll give it that chance.

This is definitely one of those sets-of-books that they should remake the films for! Frank Herbert injects so much detail into a complex emotional story line you can't help but be sucked in by it all. The ending is sort of sad, but then I haven't read the additional #4 or above yet! I'm a purist...

A bit underwhelming, very bombastic/trying to be epic very hard, and reminds of a teenage boy's delusions of grandeur at multiple points. On the other hand, revelatory for its time, legendary inspiration, some very original concepts and perhaps a smart metaphor of the tensions in our world. More interestig to analyse than to read I would say. Not LOTR league.

Just hacked one star off because i didn't like Children of Dune so much. Maybe another time.

My thoughts on Dune as a series are quite conflicting. I find this first book to be almost as perfect of a story as you could imagine. Incredible depth and world building that draws you in completely.

The following books are quite different for me though, I found both 'Dune Messiah' and 'Children of Dune' to be interesting books and they certainly held my attention but they have to be some of the most complicated stories I've ever read. Constantly losing track of who is allied with who and what word means what I found myself not picking the book up for days and days at a time.

The first book is SOOOOO good that it compelled me to continue reading the series despite how confusing and complicated the other books became.

Absolutely amazing trilogy from start to finish. Humane characters against a mystical pseudo-religious background, bound together in incredibly strong writing.

Dune had been on my radar for decades. I first came across it in the public library of my hometown when I was a teenager - I found it rather impenetrable at the time; I also knew that David Lynch had turned it into a movie, which I've never watched, but surely added to its aura of weirdness (it's David Lynch, after all). To be honest, I'm glad it took me all this time to get round to reading it, though I have to admit I was prompted to do so by Denis Villeneuve's recent cinema adaptation. There was a brooding, intriguing atmosphere to the first movie that made me think that what I was seeing on screen was merely a pale reflection of a much deeper universe (as is generally the case), and yes, I was right - even though the films are undeniably good.
Where should I begin? Well, to start with, the sci-fi label is obviously reductionist here. Yes, it's in space and set in the far future, but the science and technology part of it are mostly notorious for their relative absence. In fact, that's a big part of the point: Herbert is clearly interested in exploring Human essence in a deliberately low-tech world, one that feels more like the past - feudal, aristocratic, heroic with knife-fights and all - than the cybernetic or warp-drive-powered visions common in sci-fi. In fact, these humans live, fight and die like updated Homeric archetypes, plot like Machiavellian renaissance princes and rouse religious fanaticism like medieval preachers. All these elements make it much more of an epic than strictly speaking sci-fi, and there's an obvious nod to that in the fact that House Atreides actually descends from House Atreus of king Agamemnon.
Herbert's writing is atmospheric and foreboding in a way I've rarely seen, capturing a certain kind of mood that is indeed specific to Dune. The use of Arabic words and Islamic references resonates with the desert environment to create an ominous sense of religious tension that often makes you feel that you're reading scripture, the lovely epigraphs introducing the chapters often containing mesmerising thoughts that make you feel like you're stumbling on some long-lost manuscript. It also adds a delightful exoticism to it, I'd say, in a genuine and respectful manner - in fact, it's a love letter to the desert and desert-peoples.
It's surely one of the hardest-to-box works of literature around as well. Dune is religion and politics, sex and death, conservation and survival, history and prophecy. It's a strange, labyrinthine, often baffling mix of contradictory elements craftily blended into a complex, multi-layered narrative pitting memorable characters against each other, yes, but essentially against themselves and their inescapable destiny. Even that is beautifully epic about the whole thing, the tragic fatalism of Muad'Dib's story, set against the grandeur of Arrakis's sandworm-trodden desert and its delicate ecological balances. It's not an easy read, but it's immensely rewarding and has the power to linger indelibly in the imagination.
Now, from what I hear, let the real weirdness begin, as I am soon moving to God Emperor.

Favourite book, story is extremely interesting. The world Herbert has created is amazing and perfectly pictures issues that will echo for all of time.

4*s

Book 1 blew me away and was incredible

Book 2 was like a confusing philosophy book badged as sci-Fi

Book 3 was a mix of 1&2 imho

I finish the trilogy feeling like I’ve had a good time but it was far tougher than any other series I’ve read including WoT and finally now I can watch the films!

No shit this trilogy took me about 4 months to read. I lost hope part way through the third book and thought I'd never finish. Overall a good read, quietly impressed. But didn't enjoy it enough to read the second trilogy. I'll read the chapter summaries or something.