I’m a reader. I largely read non-fiction such as business, psychology, or self-help books and occasionally read mystery books like Agatha Christie or legal/thriller books like Michael Connelly. I am not a huge fan of scifi or fantasy books. However, I saw Dune Part 2 and loved the movie so much that I watched it a couple more times. I want to read the book to learn more about the characters but I am not sure if I will enjoy the book given its genre.
by ebony_maw123
14 Comments
Honestly I read Dune 2.5 times and didn’t understand a damn thing until I watched the new first movie a few years back.
First off- did you not watch Dune Part 1?
If you enjoyed a scifi movie, why would you not enjoy a scifi book? Dune is incredible, there’s a reason it’s remained popular and influential for so long.
I believe so. It’s a complex read, but it embodies all the best elements of sci-fi – it’s not just “spaceships go brrr,” it’s a nuanced commentary on everything from colonialism and imperial resource exploitation, religious fundamentalism and violence, but also the cooption and exploitation of religious fundamentalism by imperialists to advance their own agendas (see: Lawrence of Arabia, the US and the Mujahedeen in the 80s) and the consequences that can bring.
Also it’s just a really cool book with crazy space prophecies and gladiatorial knife fights. And giant sand worms.
I might stay away from the later books though, unless lesbian space dominatrixes are your thing.
Dune is strange to say the least, I loved it and would always recommend it, but be weary the book is even weirder than the movie, >!such as a talking baby!<, which is what puts a lot of people off from reading it
I highly doubt it. I read a lot of Fantasy (so I’m in the similar spaces as people who read SciFi). Dune is considered very dense and hard to read. My understanding is that it’s not meant for someone just starting out with reading SciFi books.
I could be wrong, but I’ve avoided that book because of its reputation for being hard to read. That being said, I totally recommend to anyone to get it from the library and try it out for yourself. That way you’re not investing money in a book that you might hate.
Since you loved the movie you might enjoy the book, but it was very heavy on the fantasy world building element of sci-fi and it was too much for me. Maybe you like sci-fi more than you thought.
No.
Dune I think is a great intro to sci fi for a non-fiction reader like you. Its very packed with interesting and complex world building and politics.
Give it a go and see what you think — if you get into it and hate it, you can just put it aside.
In the end, it’s a story of prophecy and politics rather than any kind of typical science fiction. It’s tropes are different — it isn’t a space opera, and it operates on a much larger scale. I think that since you liked the movie, it’s different enough that it’s worth a try.
Give it a shot. If it doesn’t click, then it wasn’t for you.
You’re free to try, but I personally don’t think it’s a good place to start if you’ve never read sci-fi. Dune is incredible, but also damn hard to get through even as a seasoned sci-fi reader. I would save Dune for a later date if I were you.
But if you’re interested in reading classic sci-fi that deals with the ethics of war and colonization, might I recommend Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card? It’s great, but also easy to read.
I’ve read it and listened to the audiobook. I love it. I do like scifi though. It is different from most scifi, there are no aliens and very little technology. AI, robots, and computers were banned in the Dune universe thousands of years before when the novel takes place. They had a war against AI in the distant past. The book has great lore and world building.
Give it a go, I think it is a real page turner.
Personally, I wouldn’t. This coming from someone who just read it for the first time, hasn’t seen the movie, and doesn’t read that style of sci Fi frequently.
It was hard to keep track of the new language, strange names, there were glimpses of religion and political themes that were (impressively) entirely made up, but it was a lot. For context, and don’t roast me, but as a non-sci-Fi reader it sort of felt like Star Wars to me in how it’s an entire world and culture being described.
I only realized after I read all 600+ pages that there was a glossary in the back and appendices that explain the religions and histories. Woops.
Dune is dense whether you read Sci-Fi or not. I would recommend the audiobook if you do dive into it as the narrators help a ton with pronunciations. I ended up reading/listening to it 5 minutes before seeing Dune II. I personally enjoyed it, but it’s a LOT to take in.