Mike's Book Reviews's Reviews > Dune

Why You Should Read Dune (video): https://youtu.be/oOomSvGXfaM

Asking me to describe why Dune is so important to me is like asking a child to explain nuclear fusion. I do my best in the video linked above, but just know it probably isn't for the reasons you think.

My journey to Dune becoming my absolute favorite book of all time goes all the way back to the mid-1990's upon finding it in my high school library and deciding to give it a try because I remembered my dad and brother watching the movie when I was a kid. At 15 years old, I got to the middle of "book II" and gave it a big fat DNF. I decided it just wasn't for me. At 17, for the 30th anniversary, I decided to try again and while I finished it that time, I thought the ideas were overly pretentious and way too out there. But a year went by and somehow, it was still in my head. I thought about it frequently and I began to ponder...did I actually really like it?

I tried again the final weeks of my senior year of high school and became absolutely obsessed and it has stayed that way for almost the last 25 years.

Dune is social science-fiction in that it's more concerned with the people and society than it is with hard science. Besides telling you that these navigators "fold space" for interstellar travel, Herbert doesn't bog you down with the math. He focuses more on the politics, cultures, religion, and philosophies of a world rich in the most valuable resource in the known universe, but barren in everything else.

If you go into the story expecting a Star Wars style adventure, you're going to leave disappointed. Dune is extremely thought provoking and deals with the struggles of coming of age while the fate of the universe is on your shoulders.

I'll also say that the book is certainly not for everyone. If you love things like ASOIAF and The Wheel of Time, there is no way this book won't be for you as both of those series borrowed heavily from the story Frank crafted. But I think it truly depends on where you are at in your life. Look, I just told you the story of how it took until my third reading for this to really click with me. Those who the story and lessons click with, it REALLY clicks with. But, again, this isn't a crowd pleaser and not everyone is going to love it, especially modern readers. So while I encourage those that are interested to read it, I expect more modern readers to not like it than like it.

Not only is this the greatest science-fiction story of all time, but I believe it should be on mandatory reading lists in schools and everyone interested in the genre owe it to themselves to read the pillar of the genre they have come to love. Dune is every bit to science-fiction what Lord of the Rings is to fantasy.