Is Dune (First Six Novels Published) Worth My Time?

Dune
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapterhouse Dune

by Frank Herbert

The Dune Series is huge.  Started in 1965 by Frank Herbert, and continued still today by his son.  That being said, I will review the series in sets.  The first set involves all the Dune books written by Frank. (Also the list above.)

Dune, and the books after it, are not light reads. They are complex, involving, and mentally taxing to understand.  They run many parallels to our current society.  They study religion, government, the ability to see into the future, and how all of these forces play upon one another.  There is a huge host of characters, and groups, all trying to obtain different things, both peacefully, and not so peacefully.

The books take awhile to really start moving.  They are slow to get started, and slowly gain momentum.  There comes a time in each book where you won't want to put it down.  Most of them climax at almost the end of the book, with only a chapter or two to wrap things up.  Just about all of them end in a cliffhanger, things do get resolved,  but you always want to know more than Frank tells you.

If you want to read the series, but you are not sure if you will like it.  I recommend starting with Dune.  It is a good complete story in itself.  The books after continue the story, and are not NEEDED to enjoy the first book.  Then, if you enjoy the series, continue it.  Because it only gets better after that book.

As always in such a large series, there is the question, "Where do I start, and in what order do I read them?"  I read them the order they were published (That's the order they are in at the top of this post.)  Start with Dune.

Dune Chapterhouse is not the end of the series.  In fact, it is less than halfway through.  But unfortunately, it is the last one for Frank to write, he dies before he can get more Dune books out.  And this book ends in the biggest cliffhanger yet.

Now I know what your thinking, "Can the books after Frank dies be any good?" Well, for that, you will have to wait for my review on them, or do some more research. 

Do not let the complexity of the series, its length, or its incompleteness scare you away.  It is highly entertaining as well as deep.  The journey is an epic tale across time and space, to a distant future of the human race.  Well worth your time.

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