Dune

Frank Herbert (1920-86) is best known for his immensely popular and successful science-fiction novels, but his books include non-fiction works on ecology and home computers as well as contemporary fiction. His classic novel Dune and its sequels have all been worldwide bestsellers, and Dune itself was made into a major film and TV mini-series. The most recent adaptation, which premiered in October 2021, is up for a host of Academy Awards.

'An astonishing science fiction phenomenon' WASHINGTON POST

'I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings' Arthur C Clarke

'It is possible that Dune is even more relevant now than when it was first published' NEW YORKER

The Duke of Atreides has been manoeuvred by his arch-enemy, Baron Harkonnen, into administering the desert planet of Dune. Although it is almost completely without water, Dune is a planet of fabulous wealth, for it is the only source of a drug prized throughout the Galactic Empire. The Duke and his son, Paul, are expecting treachery, and it duly comes - but from a shockingly unexpected place.

Then Paul succeeds his father, and he becomes a catalyst for the native people of Dune, whose knowledge of the ecology of the planet gives them vast power. They have been waiting for a leader like Paul Atreides, a leader who can harness that force ...

DUNE: one of the most brilliant science fiction novels ever written, as engrossing and heart-rending today as it was when it was first published half a century ago.

Joint winner of the HUGO AWARD for best novel, 1966
Winner of the NEBULA AWARD for best novel, 1965

Read the book which inspired the 2021 Denis Villeneuve epic film adaptation, Dune, starring Oscar Isaac, Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya and Josh Brolin.

The most famous, widely acclaimed and popular of all sf novels
NAMED ONE OF THE BBC's 100 NOVELS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD
'An astonishing science fiction phenomenon' WASHINGTON POST

I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the RingsIt is possible that Dune is even more relevant now than when it was first publishedAn astonishing science fiction phenomenonOne of the monuments of modern science fictionPowerful, convincing, and most ingeniousA novel of extraordinary complexity ... the work of a speculative intellect with few rivals in modern sfA tight mesmerising fabric, interwoven with a potent element of mysticism ... intensely realisedHuge and important . . . it feels grand, it's blood-stirringThe most significant science fiction novel of the twentieth century