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Not sure if we still need a "spoiler alert" for 1969, but if you've read Dune without also reading Dune Messiah, you've unfortunately missed the whole point. Th
by _qulr 6y ago
Not sure if we still need a "spoiler alert" for 1969, but if you've read Dune without also reading Dune Messiah, you've unfortunately missed the whole point. The first book is merely a setup. If I may be allowed to mix my sci-fi metaphors, "It's a trap!"
The first novel was never intended by Herbert to be "self-contained", but the second novel never achieved the same popularity as the first — perhaps for obvious reasons, if you've read it. It's not the sequel one expects.
- jfengel 6y agoI've heard that it's disappointing, which is too bad. The first novel is one of the true greats of the field, the kind where you can feel the existence of a deeper history and crave to know more. Only Tolkien did it better, and he only by being obsessive about it. Unfortunately, it's really hard to actually fulfill the reader's craving without disappointing them. Friends have pushed me to read the rest of the Dune books, but I'm reluctant. Not because the story is unexpected -- that sounds promising, actually -- but because if it's not well-written, it would feel like it taints them gem I already know.
- _qulr 6y agoIt's well-written. All 6 books are well-written. IMO the later novels are every bit as good as the earlier novels. (We shall not discuss the son's unfortunate knockoffs.) I suspect some readers were disappointed with books 2 and 3 because the story didn't go the way they wanted. But that's because the sly devil Frank was teaching us a lesson. :-)
- jfengel 6y agoThanks for the recommendation. I will take a crack at it. It's a little surprising to me that readers would be demanding what they expect from the books. The whole point of Dune is that politics is a multi-layered process of wheels within wheels within wheels. It should come as no surprise that everything would turn out to be a head fake -- that's so much of the enjoyment of it.
- animal531 6y agoThink of it being well-written, but turning far more metaphysical. For myself, I recently re-read Dune (it still holds up amazingly well), but I found myself not really enjoying the sequels.
- _qulr 6y ago> Think of it being well-written, but turning far more metaphysical. Agreed, that's a fair characterization.