Book Review - Dune

Dune - Review

Plot: 9/10

Character sketch: 9/10

World creation: 10/10

Presentation: 10/10

Compelling: 10/10

Overall: 9.6/10

Opinion: Such a lovely work of fiction! I’m lost for words!

I believe the true mark of an artist lies in the aftereffects that they let you reel in, after you consume their work! That’s exactly what Mr Frank Herbert does in every one of his sentences in this book of his! Such depth and richness.

Blesses mother of art! After all, not many authors have the ability to make you read about their life story after you finish their book!

The book starts out a little slow and heavy with all the new terms that he had coined (such a skill for coining brilliant Sci-fi words) but picks up pace once you get accustomed to the new planet that you find yourself in. There are no cliff hangers, cheap tricks or childish build-ups and yet the grandness that he manages to build and the way he manages to hook you to the story is absolutely mind-numbing. Yes, at times the writing gets verbose and too much to comprehend, but the beauty (gross understatement) lies in his understanding of human psyche and way of things.

I, being a hardcore fantasy fanatic, have never found the allure in the Sci-fin books and yet, here I am, cursing myself for having put off reading this gem for so long into my life! But who am I kidding, could I even have comprehended the thousands of flavours that he has so casually litters across the pages of this fascinating book?

Storyline (Spoilers): The honourable house of Atreides are being sent to the desert planet Arrakis amidst political instability. Paul Atreides, who’s the son of Leto Atreides has to move to the new planet along with his family, knowing well the dangers that await them in the planet. Duke Leto is murdered by his enemies Harkonnens and Paul and his mother are left in the desert to die. In the new waterless world, he had to face treachery, obstacles, prophecies, expectations and monstrous sandworms to reclaim his dukedom and lead the natives of the planet to salvation. (Don’t let the simple plotline deceive you! Like the author loves to say time and again in the book, schemes within schemes, plans within plans and feints within feints!)

With the reboot of the movie set to be released this Dec, I would highly recommend you to read the book before your feast on the movie.