Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
by Frank Herbert
List Price:
Our Price: $8.37
You Save: $8.63 (51%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.55 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Frank HerbertEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-08-02
ISBN: 0441013597
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Ace Trade
Book Reviews of Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
Book Review: An Enduring Science Fiction Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
The year is 1981 and my father is reading Dune aloud to my mother in their bedroom. The door is open, and even though I'm supposed to be in bed, I keep creeping out of my room to hear the story. Since I have just learned how to read, my ambitious father has tried to get me to read the Hobbit--and failed--due to my childish dislike of tea parties. (Don't worry, I will eventually read the Hobbit on my own and love it. I will also eventually love tea parties. The world continues in its course.) Little does Dad know that he is unleashing science fiction with all its transformative ideas on his four year old daughter. I eventually get tired of waiting for my parents to read Dune at night and start sneaking it out during the day. Granted, my first reviews of Dune (exposited to my patient mother) run along extremely limited lines like: "And then Paul runs into the desert and lives in the caves and wears a stilsuit and rides giant worms!" But with each successive reading the world of Arrakis opened up further and further, with new implications to consider. This was science fiction as I imprinted on it.
Dune is an epic and densely plotted science fiction novel. Herbert was obviously exploring ideas about ecology, evolution, biology, inheritance, colonialism, war, drugs, and most especially, religion, as he tracks the journey of Paul Atreides from promising ducal heir to guerilla fighter to religious figure. We are introduced to Paul and his mother, on the departure from Paul's birthworld, Caladan, a water-rich planet much like Earth. The departure is inevitable, as Paul's father, Duke Leto has been maneuvered into a switch of planetary fiefs for political reasons. Paul, adolescent, on the cusp of early manhood, will be tested by the Bene Gesserit, a religious order founded in eugenics theory, dedicated to providing mankind with their ultimate saviour. They believe Paul has a chance to be that saviour, the Kwisatz Haderach, but are not completely sure. They can not afford to have a potential Messiah haring off to the arse-end of the universe without examining his potential. Paul passes their test, and is declared human, although the Bene Gesserit reserve their judgement on his full potential. They warn him of the political trap set for his family, but more or less, consign he and his mother to the vagaries of fate.
Arrakis, aka Dune, while a desert planet, is not entirely barren. For one thing, it is the sole location in the known universe where spice (the wonder drug of the 11,000s) can be produced via complicated biological processes involving giant sandworms. Space-faring navigators require this drug to perform their role, the wealthy of the galaxy live and die by the production of spice, and the major religions and science/technological orders use spice as well to enhance prescience or mental faculties. The previous rulers of Arrakis, the Harkonnens, are also life-long enemies of Paul's family, the Atreides. The Harkonnen, as one might imagine, are pretty pissed (outwardly) about being forced to give up their motherlode of wealth and power, and have already set in motion plans to seize what they once held and overthrow the Atreides once and for all. (Nifty writer trick that Herbert pulls off here: He doesn't try to conceal the big horrible plan or the main bad guys or the betrayer. He tells you. In the second chapter! And it works, because while we know, the Atreides do not fully know how to evade the trap that is being set for them.)
When the jaws of the Harkonnen trap finally close around the Atreides family, Paul and his mother are forced to take to the harsh desert of Arrakis to escape. It is out in the desert that Paul meets up with the indigenous people of Arrakis, the Fremen. He and Jessica agree to teach the Fremen their Bene Genesserit ways in exchange for the Fremen knowledge about the desert. The Fremen also believe that Paul might be the prophesied Kwisatz Haderach, something which Paul and Jessica duly exploit as Paul grows to adulthood. As he grows in power, he works to overthrow the Harkonnen.
This is pretty much my go-to book for science fiction virtuosity. It sits next to Enders Game and Foundation on my shelves as the classics from my childhood. Frank Herbert does an excellent job of seemingly effortless world building. He doesn't try to clumsily exposit the mythical references upon which the bedrock of Dune's religious ambience is built. (Unlike the clumsily written prequels offered up by his son and Kevin J. Anderson, who decide inexplicably to shuffle half the mythos out and replace with things like "feng shui" in the Bene Gesserit birthing rooms. Give the prequels a pass, as the two I read made only the most cursory attempt to align with Herbert's original vision.) He doesn't bang you over the head with science, although one character Kynes is prone to philosophical musings about biology. There's a wonderful balance of court intrigue, military politics, ecological concerns, questions of morality, explorations of religion, and Machiavellian ruler-princes deciding how to best run the universe. For the action-starved, tense scenes with killer storms and giant sandworms larger than buildings will keep you turning the pages. Arrakis is rendered with gritty, textured harshness, and the struggle of humans to transform their world and their universe is set in strong relief against this.
Summary of Dune, 40th Anniversary Edition (Dune Chronicles, Book 1)
Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.
A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what it undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
This Hugo and Nebula Award winner tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence.
The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privilege, though, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.
Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels ever written, and deservedly so. The setting is elaborate and ornate, the plot labyrinthine, the adventures exciting. Five sequels follow. --Brooks Peck
Adventure Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Adventure Books
Prophecy (Death Lands #90)by James Axler
Gold Eagle; Published: 2010-01-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.99
Vector Prime (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 1)by R.A. Salvatore
LucasBooks; Published: 1999-10-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.65
Price in other shops:
The Restaurant at the End of the Universeby Douglas Adams
Del Rey; Published: 2005-04-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops:
The False Mirror (The Damned, Book 2)by Alan Dean Foster
Del Rey; Published: 1993-04-24; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $25.90
The Ringworld Engineersby Larry Niven
Del Rey; Published: 1985-11-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
Splinter of the Mind's Eye (Star Wars)by Alan Dean Foster
LucasBooks; Published: 1986-03-12; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.16
Price in other shops:
Line War (Ian Cormac, Book 5)by Neal Asher
Pan Macmillan; Published: 2009-12-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.70
Price in other shops:
The Reality Dysfunction (The Night's Dawn)by Peter F. Hamilton
Orbit; Published: 2008-10-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.25
Price in other shops:
Hunter's Runby George R. R. Martin, Gardner Dozois, Daniel Abraham
Harper Voyager; Published: 2009-01-27; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.09
Price in other shops:
The Forever Warby Joe Haldeman
Eos; Published: 2003-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1)by Orson Scott Card
Tor Science Fiction; Published: 1994-07-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.62
Price in other shops:
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?by Philip K. Dick
Del Rey; Published: 1996-05-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops:
Stranger in a Strange Landby Robert A. Heinlein
Ace Trade; Published: 1991-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.19
Price in other shops:
Chapterhouse Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 6)by Frank Herbert
Ace; Published: 1987-07-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
A Canticle for Leibowitzby Walter M. Miller Jr.
Harper Voyager; Published: 2006-05-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Foundation (Foundation Novels)by Isaac Asimov
Spectra; Published: 2008-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4)by Frank Herbert
Ace Books; Published: 1987-06-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Heretics of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 5)by Frank Herbert
Ace; Published: 1987-08-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3)by Frank Herbert
Ace; Published: 1987-05-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles, Book 2)by Frank Herbert
Ace; Published: 1987-07-15; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops: