I know, how silly – I’ve never read Dune! I did see the movie version, with whassis name, the singer… Oh yeah, Sting. I didn’t care for it much, as I knew I was missing a LOT.
Super excited to be starting it, and I sure hope it doesn’t drag like that movie did. Blargh.
heretherebespiders 
Never saw the movie – but liked the books.
I’m not far in, yet, but enjoying it!
I didn’t find any of the first three books to drag, but after that it was hard for me to believe Herbert had anything new to say, much less his literary heirs. They’re weird books, and his dialogue can be stilted at times, but their ambitious scope is enough to keep you turning pages. Because of the Lawrence of Arabia-type mise-en-scene, I’ve often wondered how they go over to new generations of readers in our post-9/11 world.
I’ve already noticed a lot of Arabic-sounding words – I’m assuming because of the desert planet setting (even though it doesn’t start on Dune). Also genetic modification, not possible when he wrote it, but almost there now. Interesting,for sure. I’ll get used to the odd names but my ebook keeps doing this for a hyphen -? Every time. Annoying.
Hmm. Half done, have seen the words sharia, Sunni, and jihad. But I found this dammed interesting : When law and duty are one, united by religion, you never become fully conscious, fully aware of yourself. You are always a little less than an individual.
I freaking loved that book, but couldn’t get into the following ones for some reason. The movie was fun for me because of the settings and props. They had an elegant old-world feel to them instead of being like how I imagine space-craft to be, metallic and unadorned. Hope you enjoy it. How far along are you?
Literally I started right after I posted this last night – not far at all, yet. My clearest image from the film is the Baron, grey, fat and floating and yes, a bit steam punk before anyone used that word 🙂
Exactly – steam punk!