Dune - Frank Herbert

Melange, is a spice grown only on the desert terrain of Arrakis, a hot, barren planet, known to it's inhabitants as Dune. It is a harsh, unforgiving place to live, with vicious, giant sandworms living under the sand, that guard the precious spice, and no water at all. Melange has special properties, allowing pilots to see into the future, helping them with their space travel. Without the spice, they would not be able to travel. The spice also prolongs the life of those that use it, and is highly addictive. Duke Leto is given the planet Arrakis to look after and control, he is a gentle and kind ... more

Dune is a book that I think is brilliant. I watched the film of Dune, though I missed the first few minutes (probably a good thing), and thought it was really interesting, so I decided to read the book. I had thought parts of the film's plot were confusing until I read this! There are a lot of nuances and subtleties that are never explored in the film and, as well as being an exciting story, delves into realms of politics and and religion. ~~~ The Setting ~~~ The thought Herbert has put into the universe of Dune should be obvious as soon as you notice the glossary at the back of the book ... more

This was one of the very very first books i remeber reading and reading again, and still being surprised evrytime i read it, with the richness of the universe it created. Set in a mostly technologically regressed universe, where the feudal system is in great effect. The universe is Ruled by the Paradisha Emperor,and ther are houses that make up his court. Of the houses that make up the Emperors court are two important houses, House Atreides and House Harkonnen. The Atreides are portrayed as the Good house, where everyone is treated alike, and all men are equal. While the House Harkonnen are ... more

I discovered this book in the summer of 1978. I was 15 and waiting to start my final year at Secondary School. It had been a boring day, as many are during the hols., so I went to bed early to read. My father had an extensive Science Fiction library, which I had been working my way through, and this was the day I picked up Dune. I have no memory of the time I started reading, but I do know that at 7 am the following morning I had finished it. Never before, or since, have I been so gripped by a novel. The vast, sweeping story lines of this book are compulsive. Several sub plots are woven ... more

Frank Herbert was born in 1920 and created one of the most famous novels in the history of science fiction, Dune. He grew up in Washington state in the USA and Frank loved reading as a child reading the stories of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and the science fiction of Edgar Rice Burroughs. From a young age he knew he wanted to be an author. However, Frank was very independent and he wrote what he wanted to write and this meant he inevitably had a hard time making a living, bouncing from job to job and from town to town. In the end, after six years of research and writing, he finished Dune ... more