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3 ½ stars

Plans within plans within plans - you need to keep your head about you when you read this.

I have come across this book so many times thinking, it was written in 1965 I will pass thank you.

But the author created an amazing imagined world complete with its own politics, environment, and religion. The story is also one of epic proportions - power struggle and politics between royal families while the fate of races, economies and ecologies hang in the balance. Heroes rise and monsters are revealed.

The biggest reason why I am not giving this a higher rating is that I never felt invested in the characters, there was detached feeling to the writing that prevented me from really getting under the skin of the characters.

There is a whopping 80-page Appendix at the end of the book that gives clarity on some of the concepts not explained clearly in the story. As I read this on kindle I didn’t even know of this appendix until I finished reading and then it was a case of too little too late.

And as this is high fantasy there is a lot of made up words and names to get used to. Names like Muad’Dib and Feyd-Rautha and in the midst of all these foreign words this the main character and his mother is called Paul and Jessica� a little odd.

The characteristics and culture of the Fremen felt like it was based on the 14th century Arab culture during the height of the spice trades. I found this fascinating and the sections where the book focused on them almost swayed me to give the book 4 stars.

I am glad I finally read this classic and can see why so many people absolutely love it but I am in two minds if I will continue the series.