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I enjoy Dune and I didn't even know there were 22 books. Most people enjoy the first one, have mixed opinions on the next two and few people keep reading beyond that.
My dad has read all but the latest trilogy (the last of which is due to release in November.) If he can do it, I'm determined to do it too. Pray for me. Lol
I would normally strongly suggest reading them in the order they were published...but I'm going to assume your father knows you better than we do, so why not take his advice?
Most die-hard fans of Dune started with the original 6 books written by Frank Herbert. Most of them will tell you the prequels/sequels/side stories written by Frank's son Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson are garbage. It's true that the writing styles are wildly different - jarringly so. Not just the language but the plotting and pacing and focus on the themes are all very notably different, with Frank having a much more complex and sometimes history-book style while the BH/KJA books are action-adventure style. Many fans of the original Dune refuse to take the BH/KJA books seriously or admit they are canon.
But some people get over the differences and are okay with BH/KJA adding to the Duniverse in their own style. I think either way you choose to read the books, you'll have to deal with the switchover. If the Butlerian Jihad sounds more interesting to you - start with the prequels. If you want to see how the whole Dune world was introduced to readers, start with the originals and fill in the history later.
I agree, at least don't start with the prequels
"Enormity" means evil, monstrous ... but like the word "irony" it was so misused that the dictionary add the meaning of "enormous"
I started with the first original book out of ignorance... didn't know there were 22 of them xD longest saga I've read is the wheel of time with 14 books...
I bought that series too. It stares at me from the shelf. Haven't worked up the courage for that yet.
Honestly, the original Dune is my favorite science fiction book of all time, but you could read that one alone, stop, and have a complete journey. But if you want to read the, all, go for it! Good luck!
I think read them the way your dad suggests. I'm reading them as published and I don't think I'll make it through book 5, and I've read a lot of shit.
22 books?! I think I'd only count the ones written by Frank Herbert. Even of those, I think I've only read the first three - Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune.
In order published, like the others have said
There are only 6 true Dune books. The rest are written by his son Brian and Kevin Anderson. They may occupy the same universe but it's not Dune in my opinion.
I just finished re-reading the series myself and thoroughly enjoyed it again even if Chapter House gets quite weird at times.
I strongly disagree with your dad. Most of those 22 (geez) books are the prequels which, as others have noted, are wildly different from the original Herbert books (which themselves get, uh, a bit weird in the latter half.
Start with dune and go from there (either original Herbert in publication order, or the prequels if you want).
To expand on what others have written, the prequels by his son and others are very different. They're written in more of a pulp/popular/accessible/airport bookstore format, and a lot of the ambiguity is stripped out. It's more a straight up space opera than the complicated far-future political drama of the originals.
Arguably the ambiguity and complexity is what makes the original Dune so compelling. A lot is left unsaid, which the mystery and reading between the lines is part of what makes it so compelling.
A lot of old school dune fans don't seem to like the prequels, I rather enjoyed the ones I read but they are on a totally different level than Dune and will never rise to the same level of prominence in the library of timeless sci-fi. To be fair I had trouble getting into dune as a teenager and stopped/restarted a couple times before I finished it. Read it many times since then...
I wonder why don’t they have guns again?
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