This book is about the fight between House Atreides and House Harkonnen for the control of planet Arrakis (Dune). A desert planet that is the unique producer of “spice”, an addictive substance that is highly prized in the market.
The story begins when Duke Leto Atreides’ family moves to Arrakis as new rulers, but it seems that the last rulers, the Harkonnens, still have some influence and spies that could endanger the Atreides.
Our main character is Paul Atreides, Duke Leto’s son, who’ll find his destiny in Dune among the “Freemen”, the natives. It seems he’s a prophet.
This book is a classic of sci-fi. It was first published in 1965.
The edition that I have (2016) comes with an interesting introduction written by Neil Gaiman in which he talks about the sci-fi genre. It has also appendices that talk about Dune’s ecology and religion, the Bene Gesserit, a map, a glossary, etc.
I think this is an interesting book. It has a lot of intrigue.
I liked the existence of the Mentat, the Sardaukar (even if they were enemies) and the Bene Gesserit women. If I had lived in that story, I would have liked to train with the Bene Gesserit.
I think that the Freemen were strong and very capable people. They deserved to have control over Arrakis and the spice.
I must confess that this book was difficult to read for me. There were times when I didn’t know what was happening and I got confused with all the book’s special terminology, fortunately I could search those terms in the glosary.
“Dune” didn’t become one of my favorite books, but I recommend it to all the fans of stories like Star Wars.
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