62. Dune

By Frank Herbert (544 pgs)

Rating: 5

Paul Atreides, son of Jessica and the Duke Leto, has a mysterious and profound destiny. When his family is displaced from his native world of Caladan to the hell planet Arrakis, Paul is 15. Already he has been taught in the arts of sword fighting, mentats, ruling, and the Bene Gesserit sisterhood. It’s this last which is odd.

This is perhaps my fourth or fifth reading of Dune. Obviously, I like it but I admit that the first time I read it, I was none too impressed. Dune is one of those books that almost requires rereading. It is dense, full of philosophy, and packed with foreshadowing and devious plot-development. While it is perhaps not the best book in the English cannon, it is one of the few books I enjoy rereading.

PS don’t bother with they movies…they are all very visually stunning crap in comparison.

Recommended to everyone who reads science fiction.