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camelliagwerm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Did I finish Dune (1965) or did Dune (1965) finish me?
(This book has definitely not aged well and some of it truly is Whack but the 2.5 stars are for the girlboss Lady Jessica and the worms. The worms are awesome.)
(Also I'm now Dune-pilled.)
(This book has definitely not aged well and some of it truly is Whack but the 2.5 stars are for the girlboss Lady Jessica and the worms. The worms are awesome.)
(Also I'm now Dune-pilled.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Pedophilia, and Slavery
Minor: Incest
Probably one of the worst villains I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing in any form of media. Vladimir Harkonnen is the nastiest depiction I've encountered and is pretty much why I've flagged this book for half of the aforementioned content warnings. Depicting your villain as aluminifera's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I find some of the characters very annoying for many different reasons, but the worst for sure is Chani. She simply has no personality outside of being Paul's love interest , which is kind of outrageous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, and Medical content
It's about the colonization of a planet, and the main character is The Chosen One. Expect violence, war, and of course plenty of misogyny - this book is from the 1960s and was written by a man. Some things are simply offensive.harrisoncassel's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
One of my favorite books…ever! It is full of intrigue, secrecy, adventure, plotting, and the ethical complications that come with complex social systems. It is action-packed and deeply nuanced.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Moderate: Pedophilia and Death of parent
Minor: Incest
thevampiremars's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic.”
I didn’t really know what to expect going in. I knew it was a science fiction classic featuring a young man called Paul on a desert planet that may or may not be called Dune, and I knew that there were big worms and something to do with spice – a rough outline, nothing more.
I think Dune can best be described as sci-fi for history buffs. It’s full of political intrigue, factions and dynasties, empire building, and so on, but also of note are the incessant spoilers courtesy of Princess Irulan. We are told who these characters are and what they will go on to do, to the extent that it sometimes feels like watching a reenactment of what happened or a dramatisation of a well-known legend rather than events unfolding in real time. At first I was thrown off by it but I adjusted and learnt to accept the writing for what it is instead of getting hung up on what I thought it would be.
Dune is, above all else, a story about expectations and adaptation. Having to adjust my own perspective in response to this curveball of a novel meant there was a neat parallel between my own reading experience and the experiences of the characters on the page having to adjust to life on Arrakis – a good avenue for sympathy and connection.
Paul, our protagonist, is entirely shaped by the expectations placed upon him. He takes on various names and titles over the course of the story (Duke Paul Atreides, the Kwisatz Haderach, the Lisan al Gaib, Muad’Dib, Usul) and these personas seem to supersede any true sense of self he may have once had. His identity fractures and frays at the climax; not only does he flit back and forth between multiple selves, he also refers to them in the third person and assigns them different motives and personalities (“You have the word of a Duke [...] but Muad’Dib is another matter.”) I don’t know if I’d insist that Paul is plural, but his selfhood is certainly compromised and complicated by all these assumed identities.
Of course, while I’m on the topic of identity, I have to talk about gender – this book is riddled with it. I wouldn’t be the first to point out that women exist in this narrative only as they relate to men, and that they’re portrayed as intuitive, emotional, nurturing, and, above all, passive. I also wouldn’t be the first to note the queerness inherent to the Kwisatz Haderach, a boy with access to powers normally possessed only by women, who can see “both masculine and feminine pasts” – “the male who can truly become one of us.” Paul has a drug-induced epiphany late in the novel wherein he claims women are givers and men are takers, and that he himself is “the fulcrum” who cannot give without taking nor take without giving. That moment serves as a good demonstration of Dune’s strange synthesis of essentialism and transgressiveness. And I must say, the fulcrum quote really resonated with me as a genderqueer person.
I’ve talked about Paul, now it’s time to talk about Baron Harkonnen. He starts off as a vague force of evil that influences the actions of others, only becoming a fully fledged character after the betrayal of Duke Leto. Herbert could not have made it any clearer that this guy is a villain we’re supposed to loathe. Not only is he a power-hungry capitalist, he’s also an incestuous pedophile and (even worse!) he’s very fat. Yeah, the fatphobia is... not great. And that’s not the only thorny issue here. Dune is inseparable from its Orientalist manner, genocide is treated as set dressing, and eugenics (though criticised) does seem to be granted some legitimacy within the narrative. I don’t want to dwell on these problematic elements but at the same time I can’t disregard them.
Does Dune deserve four and a half stars? Probably not. Am I going to give it four and a half stars anyway? You bet. It’s not beyond criticism (far from it) but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. I’m curious to see where the story goes from here and I’ve already ordered Dune Messiah, but I won’t be reading it just yet because I have quite a backlog of unread books to work through first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Self harm, Excrement, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
literarydumpling's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Child death, Fatphobia, Genocide, and Grief
Minor: Incest and Rape
meredith's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Genocide, Slavery, Colonisation, and War
Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault
serafinam's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Dune follows Paul Atreides, heir to his father's title, as his family moves to the planet Arrakis and is plunged into chaos.
My biggest complaints about the novel come from how minority characters are depicted and treated. Women in Dune are subservient to men, very manipulative, and are often depicted as slightly less intelligent than their male counterparts. While some of this can be explained by Paul's youth and the wickedness of some characters, none of the female characters are treated as equal and it does make the book harder to enjoy as a woman. The Fremen are more often that not depicted as mystical fanatics with outdated, or even primitive ways of living. Without their existence the entire plot would fall apart, and yet they are not treated with the respect they deserve, both as fictional people and as those based on an actual minority group. My final, and perhaps greatest issue, is with the Baron Harkonnen. It cannot be denied that he is a wicked, evil man--facts easily gleaned from his attempts to exterminate the House Atreides and his treatment of other characters. the inclusion of his penchant for young boys is wholy unnecessary to show just how evil he is. This is especially compounded by the fact that he is the only character we see to have same sex attraction.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book, though it does lean more towards love. I found the politics of the novel to be fascinating and the character motivations keep me guessing at who to trust at every turn. While the style of writing, lore introduced, and involved of the spice lends itself more similarly to high fantasy, it thrives as a solid science fiction novel. The time jumps and perspective changes could be a bit confusing at times, and I often found myself a little perplexed as to the importance of some characters, but I would still recommend this to anyone who loves works like Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, or Brian Sanderson.
My biggest complaints about the novel come from how minority characters are depicted and treated. Women in Dune are subservient to men, very manipulative, and are often depicted as slightly less intelligent than their male counterparts. While some of this can be explained by Paul's youth and the wickedness of some characters, none of the female characters are treated as equal and it does make the book harder to enjoy as a woman. The Fremen are more often that not depicted as mystical fanatics with outdated, or even primitive ways of living. Without their existence the entire plot would fall apart, and yet they are not treated with the respect they deserve, both as fictional people and as those based on an actual minority group. My final, and perhaps greatest issue, is with the Baron Harkonnen. It cannot be denied that he is a wicked, evil man--facts easily gleaned from his attempts to exterminate the House Atreides and his treatment of other characters. the inclusion of his penchant for young boys is wholy unnecessary to show just how evil he is. This is especially compounded by the fact that he is the only character we see to have same sex attraction.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book, though it does lean more towards love. I found the politics of the novel to be fascinating and the character motivations keep me guessing at who to trust at every turn. While the style of writing, lore introduced, and involved of the spice lends itself more similarly to high fantasy, it thrives as a solid science fiction novel. The time jumps and perspective changes could be a bit confusing at times, and I often found myself a little perplexed as to the importance of some characters, but I would still recommend this to anyone who loves works like Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time, or Brian Sanderson.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, and War
Minor: Gore, Incest, and Grief
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: slavery, religious oppression, violence, torture, murder, suicide, rape, murder if a child, selective breeding, incest mention
Dune by Frank Herbert is a classic that I've been meaning to read for a long time, but avoided it because this big boy is intimidating. Although this was a long and slow paced read, it was enjoyable.
We follow Paul Atreides who is being tested by a Reverend Mother to see if he is really human and able to withstand pain. Paul is special, when his Bene Gesserit mother was told to birth a girl, she chose a boy instead and raised him in the weirding ways. Paul can also detect truth and see into the future. The Reverend Mother thinks he may be the Kwisatz Haderach they have been breeding for generations. If that sounds like a lot, just know this is only the tip of the iceberg.
This book is very involved. Herbert has created an entire history and culture for the world and includes a glossary and several other appendices at the back that gives I'm depth detail about the religion and politics of this society. Basically, we have a chosen one trope with political intrigue and commentary on the weaponization of religion as a means to colonization and oppression.
Herbert has used a blend of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bhuddism, etc. as the basis for the Bene Gesserit religion. Herbert reveals that the Bene Gesserit don't actually believe in their religion, but use it as a means to push an agenda and infect lesser nations with their prophecies. This backfires.
There is just so much to cover with this book. There were so many details that at times it dragged the story along. This is not a fast paced action type of story. Paul's growth throughout the book was very interesting. I liked seeing him embody the dual aspects of Duke and Muad'dib.
I think if you are patient, this is worth a read and I now look forward to the movie coming out in October.
Dune by Frank Herbert is a classic that I've been meaning to read for a long time, but avoided it because this big boy is intimidating. Although this was a long and slow paced read, it was enjoyable.
We follow Paul Atreides who is being tested by a Reverend Mother to see if he is really human and able to withstand pain. Paul is special, when his Bene Gesserit mother was told to birth a girl, she chose a boy instead and raised him in the weirding ways. Paul can also detect truth and see into the future. The Reverend Mother thinks he may be the Kwisatz Haderach they have been breeding for generations. If that sounds like a lot, just know this is only the tip of the iceberg.
This book is very involved. Herbert has created an entire history and culture for the world and includes a glossary and several other appendices at the back that gives I'm depth detail about the religion and politics of this society. Basically, we have a chosen one trope with political intrigue and commentary on the weaponization of religion as a means to colonization and oppression.
Herbert has used a blend of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bhuddism, etc. as the basis for the Bene Gesserit religion. Herbert reveals that the Bene Gesserit don't actually believe in their religion, but use it as a means to push an agenda and infect lesser nations with their prophecies. This backfires.
There is just so much to cover with this book. There were so many details that at times it dragged the story along. This is not a fast paced action type of story. Paul's growth throughout the book was very interesting. I liked seeing him embody the dual aspects of Duke and Muad'dib.
I think if you are patient, this is worth a read and I now look forward to the movie coming out in October.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Pedophilia, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Incest
tinnuben's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexism
Minor: Genocide and Incest
iwi's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
There is little I enjoyed about this story. Unfortunately the views of the author are so blatant that I can't just detach it from real life. There is so much discrimination, I honestly I had to stop and reread like is that really what was said? And yes, every time. I would love to see what other people see that end up loving these stories. I do like the sandworms. But I couldn't even find the characters enjoyable. Paul is revolting in every way to me. The use of religion makes my skin crawl. I think he is a villain. I don't think we are supposed to like him.
I think part of the intention here was to show how harmful humans and power is. That I can agree with. But I still wish that I liked more about this story.
I think part of the intention here was to show how harmful humans and power is. That I can agree with. But I still wish that I liked more about this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, and Slavery
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Pregnancy