I did this not only for myself but for Timothee Chalamet, thank you.
Synopsis: The story of Paul Atreides, an heir to a noble family who has just relocated planets in order to rule. This desert planet, with its coveted "spice" melange drug is the prize for many, causing violence and turmoil between ruling families. The Atreides family is betrayed and destroyed leaving Paul to take on a role he wasn't prepared for. Becoming Muad'Dib and changing the ways of the planet and its oppressed inhabitants.
Plot: Wow this was dense. Not even talking about the 700 pages, simply the writing and story are so intricate making this really tedious reading. From page one, Herbert drops you right into a scene and into the story with no explanations. You are forced to learn the goings on as the story continues, meaning you are unclear about a lot of things for most of the novel. The diction and jargon of the world are so complex that even halfway through I was confused and consistently felt as though I wasn't understanding everything. This is less of an action story than I originally thought it was going to be. Herbert seems to have wrote this as more of a way to have a discussion on things he was passionate about. There are many different layers to this story (ecology, religion, politics, philosophy, history and human evolution) and with every reading you could dig deeper into them, getting something completely new from the story each time.
Characters: Paul and the surrounding characters are super nuanced. Most of them are very morally gray characters and so unlike anything I've ever read. There is a lot of thought process going on and seeing why the characters did what they did. The characters are used less of as plot points but as more of a device to carry along the discussions of the novel. Although it is not my favorite, this is probably one of the best written books I've ever read. You can tell how much research and background information Herbert has on these characters and this world. We've only scratched the surface with book one. The information is so clearly well thought out that you can't help but appreciate the work that went into this.
This is not an easy read. I was confused 99% of the time and had to re-read things over and over to understand the bare minimum. As this being my first sci-fi, I feel as though I have thrown myself into the deep end.
I have so much respect for this novel, but I don't think it's for me and I will not be continuing the series. However, I can see why so many people love this and I do recommend it, if this is something you're interested in and feel as though you are up to the challenge.
2.5/5 stars.
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