Dune by Frank Herbert

The planet Arrakis is a hellish world, of hot, shifting sands. The only reason that people live there is because it is the home of a substance called "Spice". It is this substance that underpins much of the society of the universe of the book. It is required for all important parts of the social aspects of the universe - from mystical visions to space travel. Despite the immense cost of the substance, many different factions are prepared to pay any price, for it's properties.

The story of "Dune" is about the control of the planet Arrakis, but it is so much more than that. It deals with quite a lot of different social and scientific areas, such as religion, politics, nature, and the potential of the human race through selective breeding. However, if you are not into such intellectually challenging topics, it also has an extremely good plot about revenge, control, and political rule. Together, they both create an unforgettable book.

It is often considered to be one of the best science fiction epics of all-time, if not the best, and it is not difficult to see why.

Impressive, to say the least. Written before the Hollywood onslaught of sci-fi movies that tainted most younger audiences to the belief that sci-fi is nothing more than laser guns and giant ships blasting each other. Dune is the real deal for science fiction.

I read the book not really knowing much about Herbert's vision. The book is fantastic. There is so much going on in the book that a second read is worthy.

Once you get past the first 50 pages, in which you learn the style of writing of Herbert, you enter a vast story of drama and action interlaced with an explosive twist that kept me bound to the pages of the book.

It's truly a mighty epic.

Frank Herbert's Dune really hit it for me. Maybe it just came at the right moment, or merely by my own need for a book who really took the reader seriously, told the depth and wholeness of humankind's knowledge until now. I doubt it.

This book is great because of it's fantastic and original story plot. It is nicely written so that one senses it, not experiencing it. One sense thoughts written on paper and in a format of a somewhat classic story.

Plot: The book is set in a universe balanced upon five rivaling parts; The Bene Gessserit -a sisterhood of "witches" which through a breeding program searches for their "Super-Human" Kvisat Haderach. The Landsraad and it's Great Houses who owns planets are. The Spacing Guild -controller over Space and Interstellar travel in the Empire. The CHOAM -a capitalistic merchanting organization which purpose is to gain profit for it's stockholders; the Emperor and certain Great Houses.

In the middle of all this the Bene Gesserit does create a Kvisat Haderach, in House Atreides, just not being aware of it themselves. He's caught up in a war against the rivaling House Harkonnen, in a chaos in of moving to a new planet and in growing into awareness of structures and power struggle around him. He tricks them all...