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My personal take (having read the entire series including the tacked-on ending by the son) is: The first Dune is the result of research and thinking. Great car

My personal take (having read the entire series including the tacked-on ending by the son) is: The first Dune is the result of research and thinking. Great care went into it. Every subsequent book is more and more of "oh, here's a sequel". I can't remember anything after God Emperor which in itself was a slog bordering of abysmally bad. So: - Dune. Yes. It's slow, long, but ultimately very good - Dune Messiah. Maybe - Children of Dune. Can already be skipped - Skip the rest of the series, they are not worth it. At all YMMV :)

simonh 4y ago
I really like Dune Messiah. Most of it was written before the original book was published, and supposedly it was going to be part of it but had to be cut or the book would be too long. It's certainly part of Herbert's original creative vision for the story. However I know a lot of people read it and find the apparent inversion of the story arc uncomfortable to the point of dislike, but for me it's an essential piece of the puzzle to understand what Paul is actually going through in the first book, and the extreme lengths he's prepared to go through and sacrifices he's prepared to make to shift the trajectory of events. The problem is that just like the other characters the in novel, Paul's family, adherents and friends, a lot of readers just want an uncomplicated hero story for him.
jon-wood 4y ago
For me the sequels never hit the same highs as Dune, but they’re still better than most sci-fi novels that have been written, and I love how they gradually lean ever further into just being really weird. God Emperor is probably the pinnacle of that. I don’t remember much of Heretics or Chapterhouse, I should probably go back and re-read them at some point.
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  You might find it interesting re-reading God Emperor and its sequels in the context of today's LLM/ChatGTP etc context. Also automated surveilance. Herbert's focus on human vs not-human, machine-thinking vs human-thinking, and his focus on "becoming invisible" (to prescience and to machines) as a path to freedom... is very relevant.
cmrdporcupine 4y ago
God Emperor is a slog, but it's IMHO brilliant in its own way. And along with the two books after it, it creates a whole new philosophical universe than the first three, which were a story about Paul. It's best to kind of treat it almost as two different series with God Emperor the bridge. God Emperor and beyond are far more cerebral and philosophical, expressing some more far more abstract ideas Herbert had about man vs machine, liberty/freedom vs tyranny, etc. etc. Unfortunately the second series was not completed. Herbert clearly had a direction he was going after Chapterhouse, but he wasn't able to follow through.

simonh 4y ago

I really like Dune Messiah. Most of it was written before the original book was published, and supposedly it was going to be part of it but had to be cut or the book would be too long. It's certainly part of Herbert's original creative vision for the story. However I know a lot of people read it and find the apparent inversion of the story arc uncomfortable to the point of dislike, but for me it's an essential piece of the puzzle to understand what Paul is actually going through in the first book, and the extreme lengths he's prepared to go through and sacrifices he's prepared to make to shift the trajectory of events. The problem is that just like the other characters the in novel, Paul's family, adherents and friends, a lot of readers just want an uncomplicated hero story for him.

jon-wood 4y ago

For me the sequels never hit the same highs as Dune, but they’re still better than most sci-fi novels that have been written, and I love how they gradually lean ever further into just being really weird. God Emperor is probably the pinnacle of that. I don’t remember much of Heretics or Chapterhouse, I should probably go back and re-read them at some point.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago
You might find it interesting re-reading God Emperor and its sequels in the context of today's LLM/ChatGTP etc context. Also automated surveilance. Herbert's focus on human vs not-human, machine-thinking vs human-thinking, and his focus on "becoming invisible" (to prescience and to machines) as a path to freedom... is very relevant.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago

God Emperor is a slog, but it's IMHO brilliant in its own way. And along with the two books after it, it creates a whole new philosophical universe than the first three, which were a story about Paul. It's best to kind of treat it almost as two different series with God Emperor the bridge. God Emperor and beyond are far more cerebral and philosophical, expressing some more far more abstract ideas Herbert had about man vs machine, liberty/freedom vs tyranny, etc. etc. Unfortunately the second series was not completed. Herbert clearly had a direction he was going after Chapterhouse, but he wasn't able to follow through.