Dune: Deluxe Edition: 1 Hardcover – 1 Oct. 2019

When I was 16 years of age my city had some excellent bookshops that didn't focus on top twenty and other commercial publications as is so often the case today. As a result, I would scour the shelves and buy several books a week (paperback prices in those days were unbelievably low).The paperback version of Dune appeared on the shelves and, knowing nothing at all about the book other than the blurb on the back, I bought it and hurried home to enter a literary world that was totally captivating. And, yes, I had bought my first copy of Dune as soon as it was released and I find it hard to believe that was over 50 years ago!The story, the underlying philosophy, the culture of Dune has lived with me through the years but I only ever read the entire novel once - A levels, university, life, all took over - but I have read the opening pages numerous times down the years and still find them totally engaging, among the best openings of a novel I have ever read.Dune has again become headline news with the release of yet another attempt to tranform it to a big screen version - I have watched them all, including the latest which I will not be watching again nor the sequels! Anyway, down the years the sci-fi genre has become big business and whilst Dune is presently in the public eye again, it has to be remembered that this book appeared before Star Wars! Not only is the first publication date so far back in time, it is as fresh and alive and educative today as it was all those years ago. Indeed, a careful reading will show that even in the 1960s Herbert was touching upon the subjects of land-conservation, ecological preservation, societal breakdown and rebuilding... the philosophy of Dune can easily be read as an advance warning of what could come.However, leaving a deeper reading of the text aside, taken as a work of fiction this remains outstanding. It is a hefty volume, densely printed, but there is no wasted phrase, no unnecessary waffle, every sentence chosen with precision. Since I read this when it was first released and am now re-reading it fully and deliberately slowly over 50 years later, I can attest to the fact Dune has not only stood the test of time, it stands head and shoulders above so many attemps to write quality fiction, not just books with a science fiction base.There is no need to be a sci-fi lover to enjoy this novel with its intrigues, its murders, its futuristic religious and philosophical beliefs, it's nods to past human civilisations that came close to destroying the race, the love stories, the danger, the bravery... Dune encompasses all of this in a vast landscape spreading over several planets and a huge and diverse cast of characters. In fact, I now feel it to be a real shame to classify this book as science fiction, there are other more contemporary genres that suit this work far better but, above all, it remains a work of fiction that commands attention and deserves respect.I fell in love with Dune in the Sixties, and I read most of the sequels. Now, with an older head on these shoulders, I can see just why I found the book so important and why I can see its influence during the course of my life.Not just a worthwhile read, this is a novel that should always be on the top 100 books to read before you die lists.

I honestly don't know why I put off reading this for so long. My reluctance to read this now baffles me, as I was enthralled from beginning to end. The twisting and spiralling narrative had me hooked, the characters seemed to come to life before my very eyes and the complexity of the world-building all but astounded me. I can see why this is seen as one of the science fiction literary classics; it gained that title for a reason. From the very opening of the novel, there are hints and omens of things that are to come, many of which materialise, some of which are left unseen down a different path history could have taken. But for a novel that actually only covers a handful of years in its entirety, it feels like something far more epic... almost the story of a lifetime.When Paul Atreides has to leave his comfortable home planet with his family and trusted retainers, all seem to know that moving to the desert land of Arrakis. From this tension building start, Frank Herbert builds up a fascinating world full of politics, treachery, religion and different cultures. Duke Leto's family face their initial culture shock with much the same confusion as the reader feels, having been thrust so suddenly from a relatively Earthlike planet to the harsh and dry land of the desert. Dry quite literally and for that reason, the greatest wealth one can have is water. Technologies exist for preserving even the smallest amounts of water out of the air, for water is a precious and scare commodity among the dwellers of this strange land.Quickly the tensions rise with a traitor amongst the ranks of the most trusted retainers and servants... and even the family itself. Trust is misplaced, suspicion is rife and in this atmosphere the trap springs closed and Paul and his mother find themselves living a very different life than the one they had anticipated. A harsher life and a far more brutal life, living on the constant boundary of life and death, in hiding and yet building an force that could perhaps threaten those who took so much from the Atreide House. Individuals who were so closely bonded at the beginning of the tale are split across the country, working to different aims and goals, many not even aware that the heir of the Duke lives still, even as Paul works to bring another man's dream to life on this barren planet.Dune is a tale of both the minuscule and the overarching overview, a tale of the individual and the whole. It is a beautifully sculpted work that is told on so many different levels and layers, politics on an inter-planetary level inter-playing with the individual desires and dreams on the day to day basis of small little lives. Individual choices and actions have resounding consequences throughout the novel and each characters role is important, regardless of how large a part they play. Interspersed with this huge scope of politics on a multi-world level, Herbert has included a convulated yet understandable branching of religions and technologies working towards sometimes unintelligible goals of their own, in turn merging with ecology concerns and plans for this desert land.Herbert's writing is nothing short of superb and even his switching of character POV's that irritated me so much in some of his unpublished work is deftly handled. The novel is interspersed with lore of the world or specific quotes, often directly linked to whatever you are about to read next and this sets up the world-building on a far grander scale than just what the individuals in front of you can see. Helpfully, all of the characters are so individual that you are never left in any doubt of whose point of view you are reading from at any given moment, and that alone is a mark of the strength of this novel. His characters come to life; all of them. All of them are flawed and imperfect and all of them felt utterly real, even Paul himself who could easily have become something of a superhero character. There are moments where his mother is so determined to focus the future down the path she has foreseen, that she stands in the way of what others believe is the right way of acting or an important decision. There is very real conflict between many of the characters when two strong individuals are placed in awkward disputes and conflicts. It is real.And Herbert's imagination was immense. You can see that he has laid the groundwork for much of future science fiction in both literature and the screen. There is no need to go massively overboard with a whole ecological fount of strange creatures and lifeforms, instead Herbert has taken his desert world and created a simple yet superb display of life that is both utterly realistic and terrifying. The way he then moulds this into the ecological force of the planet itself is beyond clever and shows a foresight and understanding of ecology that is far beyond his time. In face, much of this novel is beyond his time. It doesn't read like an old novel. It doesn't read like a cliche, even though many of his ideas have been used in future narratives and stories. It reads like a fresh and vibrant piece that could have been a contemporary work.This is a novel that is undoubtedly going onto my all times favourite list for wonderful dialogue, expansive world building and an epic narrative that truly stunned me in its scope and depth. I was truly blown away by this novel and I deserve every kick for not having gotten round to it sooner!