Dune

It's not for teens at all. The first book is fantastic. Some of the later ones get pretty fricking weird.

quote:

---

Some of the later ones get pretty fricking weird.

---

I like series and planned on read the first 5. Do they stay good through 5? Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't there like 20 books in this world? I thought I read that somewhere.

I read the first one in spring of 2023,and like you, I had no previous exposure to the Dune universe. Book one was great, but I haven't read any of the sequels yet.

Start with the original Frank Herbert novels. Unfortunately, Frank died before finishing the series. But it is all worth reading, and is my favorite Sci Fi series.

His son, Brian, wrote Dune prequels and attempted to finish the original series. You'll find mixed reviews on Brians books, but most people who read Frank's books first hate Brian's mess.

The books definitely weren't written for teens. It deals a lot with sociology, psychology, philosophy, and the nature of finite resources. The underlying theme of the books is mainly "Beware your heroes."

Don't go into it expecting a lot of action. Most of the action takes place "off screen" and is often just mentioned in passing.

The original series is six books:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse Dune

They take place over millennia.

The prequels written by Brian Hebert are the "House" books (House Atreides, House Harkonnen, House Corrino) which take place before Dune and cover Leto Atreides when he was a young Duke.

The pre-prequels, or the Machine Crusade books are set thousands of years before Dune. They deal with the war against the Thinking Machines to free humanity from slavery. They tie directly into the two books Brian wrote that supposedly finished the original series.

Brian has also written other books set in between the original Dune books.

The House books weren't bad, and kind of flesh out the universe. But there are some serious inconsistencies between them and the original series.

The Machine Crusade books were not that good, and had even more serious inconsistencies.

The two books he wrote to finish the original series were so bad that it made me irrationally angry.

quote:

---

Oh no he Game of Throne's the series?!?

---

He basically took everything his father set up in the original books and shite all over it. He claims that he found a safety deposit box with his dad's notes for the end of the series in it, but I find it hard to believe that Frank wanted to dismantle everything the Dune books were leading towards.

He's been asked to show these notes, and has thus far refused.

quote:

---

This was my original plan. I had no idea about the author change or the order of things but I saw that at least these 6 were connected and in chronological order.

---

Read them in the order I posted. The series takes place over millennia. As some have said, the later books get kind of out there, but it all ties back to the themes of the original novel.

quote:

---

quote:

---

The original series is six books:

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse Dune

---

This was my original plan. I had no idea about the author change or the order of things but I saw that at least these 6 were connected and in chronological order.

---

I read the original 6. I thoroughly enjoyed them all. I have a hard time deciding which of them I liked best. I think Dune itself may be my least favorite of the 6 but I still loved that one. You'll probably like them.

quote:

---

I had a hard time getting past the third one for this reason. Hard to call this a sequel when it jumps forward a million years and all the original characters are gone.

---

Wait, did you skip Children of Dune and go straight to God Emperor?

quote:

---

I'll just say it Dune Messiah was boring as shite and a lame climax. Would have worked better as a short story.

---

I was in this boat. But thankfully, Messiah is shorter. Then everything picked up again in Children with an very nice payoff..

God Emperor is fantastic, and changes the perspective so profoundly. It is an animal all to itself. Very worthwhile.

quote:

---

God Emperor of Dune is one of the greatest books ever written and the best of the series.

---

God Emperor is my favorite of the series. Funny thing, my first read through, I hated this book. It wasn't until subsequent reads that I realized how profound the book is. And how it is the nexus of the Dune universe. The first three books lead to the God Emperors reign. The books after are all the result of the Golden Path.

quote:

---

Some readers don't like the 2nd book because some of the heroes from Dune turn out to be villains, and readers can get too emotionally invested in the characters.

---

Spoilers much? You could have just said that some readers don't like the second book...

I am 2 chapters into Dune and while its a lot to digest, I have been completely sucked in. Thus far I know that there is a human names Paul that maybe has some forseight super powers and is being brought from Caladan to Arrakis to take over for his family's moratl enemy, the Harkonen. The Harkonnen seem to be a mafia type family that has some frickery planned for the boy. I also know there are robots that look and act like humans but seem to adhere to direct orders.