So, after umpteen years I have FINALLY made it almost ( one to go ) through the original Dune saga.

I had read the first two several times but could never get past the third book which I read only once about a decade ago.  Well, I started all over again and I have finally got nearly all the way through Heretics of Dune.

Being a fan of really hard Sci-Fi ( Clark, Stephenson, Hamilton, Niven, etc. ) I have NEVER found Dune to be very good science fiction.  Heck, I have hardly found it to be very good fiction, personally.  I've never been able to get past exactly: WHAT was it about Paul's version of a "religious fervor" that he spawned that caused billions to be killed in the subsequent "jihad" (or whatever)?  Whatever happens in Dune...you always seem to come in right in the middle of something and there doesn't appear to be any way to decipher exactly what the bloody hell is actually going on half the time....or at least what the bloody hell lead to all of this "intrigue".

Nonetheless, what I love about Dune is the mooooood it creates.  I like how Herbert leaves so much to your imagination.  Some of the art spawned by Dune is incredible.  I have decided, I'll just fill in the blanks myself ( I hear his son's books are HORRIBLE ) and play along with it.

Just curious what you guys think of the original Dune series.

I will be Frank (ha ha!) and say that I realllly enjoy the original Dune saga....but not for the normal reasons.

My first read did not go well.  Tried it again years later and “got it.”  Enjoyed it immensely. I even bought the son’s books.  They weren’t horrible, but not really very good.  I could see Frank’s influence in the general plot, but it lacked dad’s spark of genius.

Not.  I tried several times. It's not good.

Dune....great book, well written!  The rest...not so much.

The first book made a big impression on my when I was a kid.

Read all of them a couple times.

Good books imo

Strangely... it’s...interestingly good.
More so the second time around.

They are all good... and worth the read.

I've read it twice, about 15 years apart. It's mediocre.

I love the first book.  I've made it as far as the third and have stopped there on three different occasions.

Your statement about it spawning amazing art is no bullshit.

And I'm looking forward to see what Villaneuve (or however the fuck his name is spelled) can do with it as a movie.

I enjoyed the first book.  I never made it through book 2.

Stupid double tap.

I wore out my original set of the trilogy when I was in junior high.  I replaced them, and then replaced them.. Still on my bookshelf now, along with the follow on books.  First three were mind boggling.  The rest of them just sorted of diverged into weird, and there is something missing in the prequels.  I also have both the Lynch Dune and the SciFi miniseries, and I am absolutley planing on seeing the Villenueve movie.

So yeah, I guess I like them!