Published : 1965Pages : 556
Overall Mark : 7/10
Far in the future, two powerful families are locked in a bitter feud. The Duke of Atreides has been outmanoeuvered by his arch-enemy, Baron Harkonnen, and must move from his home to take up the administration of the planet Arrakis, sometimes known as Dune, a vast desert where every drop of water is worth a fortune. But Dune is also a planet of fabulous wealth, for it is the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire.
FRANK HERBERT (1920-1986)
Born in Tacoma, Washington, and educated at the University of Washington, Seattle, he worked first as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers. He began publishingscience fiction with 'Looking For Something?' in 1952, but he achieved fame with the publication of 'Dune World' in 1963-4, followed in 1965 by 'The Prophet Of Dune' and the two were amalgamated in 1965 as the multi-award winning novel Dune.
VERDICT
Although the ideas and the world created by Herbert are strongly structured and imaginative, I wasn't a huge fan of this, much preferring Hellstrom's Hive as a work of science fiction. Granted, there is plenty of imagination, and the world of Dune is a detailed one that most people have at least a familiarity with, but I have read better.
