June, 2021: "Dune" by Frank Herbert
 | Author: Frank Herbert |
| Genre: Science fiction | |
| Published: 1965 | |
| Pages: 794 | |
| Reading started: June 11th, 2021 | |
| Current progress: Page 794 of 794 (100%) | |
| Reading ended: October 25th, 2021. This book was successfully finished in 136 days. | |
| Effective reading time: 15 hours, 13 minutes (1 minute, 9 seconds per page) | |
| Number of sessions: 53 | |
| Average session reading time: 17 minutes, 13 seconds | |
| Average session review score: 4.7 of 5 | |
| Final review score: 5 of 5 |
Description
Wikipedia: Dune is a 1965 science-fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert, originally published as two separate serials in Analog magazine. It tied with Roger Zelazny’s This Immortal for the Hugo Award in 1966, and it won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel. It is the first installment of the Dune saga; in 2003, it was cited as the world’s best-selling science fiction novel.Dune is set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or "the spice," a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug provides. As melange can only be produced on Arrakis, control of the planet is thus a coveted and dangerous undertaking. The story explores the multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.
Herbert wrote five sequels: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune.