Except I don't think it's difficult, I actually agree with your second to last paragraph. Dune's prose is simple to the point of being uninteresting; the inner

Except I don't think it's difficult, I actually agree with your second to last paragraph. Dune's prose is simple to the point of being uninteresting; the inner monologues are an overused trick; there are very few mysteries that aren't explained almost as soon as introduced, so there's little tension. And you know from the get-go that Paul's hero journey will succeed. The Digital Antiquarian makes an interesting point that Herbert's actual message -- that messianic heroes are bad for mankind -- gets lost by the fact Paul succeeds in Dune with little negative repercussions; it's only in the following books (much less read than Dune!) that the terrible consequences unfold. (Like you, I really like Dune. I'm agreeing with your points.)