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The first two books are meant to be read as one. I recommend, at minimum, Dune and Dune Messiah.

I really wasn’t crazy about Dune Messiah. It was just okay. The whole prescient man that can’t accept the future is changeable is so frustrating. The thought it got much better toward the end though. Children of Dune is great so far. His kids are the manifestation of the answer to all my grievances with Paul in DM. I think DM will be one of those books that’s good in retrospect when contextualized within the entire story. On it’s own, it’s pretty meh. It’s short though.

And Foundation is great!

I would also recommend Dune, but unlike some of the other commenters, I would recommend the entire series. At the very least, read Dune and Dune Messiah together. (I found the first 100 pages or so of Dune a bit tough going, but once you get into it, it's fantastic.)

"I wrote Frank Herbert over a period of about two years, and it was published in 1981. In the course of writing it, I read all of Herbert’s novels, stories, and essays, as well as a lot of his newspaper writing (which, by coincidence, included a stint at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the local paper for the region in which I now live.) I interviewed him several times, and, in a small way, we became friends. His ideas came to influence me deeply. I had always loved Dune and Dune Messiah, and especially the idea that predicting the future too closely can lead to a kind of paralysis. But the deeper I went, the more substance I found. Ecology, mysticism, and a kind of hard-headed insistence on the relativity of human perception and the limits of knowledge combine into a richer mix than is found in a lot of science-fiction. There’s some really cool stuff here!"

(Yeah, that's Tim O'Reilly from O'Reilly Publishing...)

It is a must-read for all Dune fans.

Here's the advice I give to people about the entire Dune series:

Read Dune. If you don't like it, stop.

Read Dune Messiah. If you don't like it, stop.

Read Children of Dune. If you liked Messiah you'll probably like this as well.

Read God Emperor of Dune. This one stands alone. Lots of people hate it. Whether you like it or not, don't stop.

Read Heretics of Dune. If you don't like it, stop.

Read Chapterhouse: Dune. Weep that it's over.

In my experience, people who like Dune generally will enjoy at least through Children of Dune. Anyone who enjoys God Emperor of Dune is insane (maybe why it might be my favorite).

Regarding the other Dune books, read them out of curiosity if you like, but they're not really Dune books despite being in that universe. I've read about seven of them out of optimism and hope but didn't enjoy them at all. Even Sandworms of Dune which is ostensibly based on Frank Herbert's notes for Dune 7 wasn't enjoyable to me, although it was least bad.

Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune are worthwhile. But the sex-witches-fleeing-the-machines combined with everybody's a Kwizatz Haderach got a little tiresome. (I now picture Oprah gleefully shouting, "You're a Kwisatz Haderach... and you're a Kwisatz Haderach... everyone gets to be a Kwisatz Haderach!"

I absolutely agree. Children of Dune and Dune Messiah are by far the worst. The series picks up with God Emperor of Dune, and my favorites are the last two: Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune.

The original Dune book was also good, but overrated compared to the last two in the series.

When I was very young and first found the Dune books, I liked Dune, but failed to finish Dune Messiah, let alone the rest. A few years later I re-read Dune, plus Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. I needed some maturing I suppose.

I stopped after that at the time because my parents only had the first 3 books, the book's front matter listed exactly those 3 books, and there was no internet yet to tell me there were 6 books instead of 3.

> Anyone who enjoys God Emperor of Dune is insane (maybe why it might be my favorite).

Some more years later I was browsing the sci-fi section of a bookstore and to my surprise found 3 more Dune books. Read them all, enjoyed them all, even God Emperor of Dune.

I read one or maybe two of the prequels; enough to decide that continuing reading the _other_ Dune books was not a good idea.

Dune was about how people shouldn't let supermen lead. it was complex. it was an ecological novel. they had quotable quotes like "thou shall not make a machine in the likeness of the human mind". people say it's the lord of the rings of science fiction. the characters are rich, the plot thick. i highly recommend Dune.

However, while the first novel was the most digestible and most intriguing plot-wise, it is the sequels that explore the philosophical, political and social subjects of the original much more deeply. In a way the sequels are sometimes more like (huge) essays on various philosophical topics that merely use the original story as a backdrop.

The first novel was never intended by Herbert to be "self-contained", but the second novel never achieved the same popularity as the first — perhaps for obvious reasons, if you've read it. It's not the sequel one expects.

Read the first one. It's not for everyone, it's a little dry, POV is all over the place, and it's very political and thoughtful. It can be a slow read, but it's worth it.

Watch the Lynch movie. (Lament that this could have been Alejandro Jodorowsky's Dune if so inclined.)

Watch the Sci-Fi Channel's Frank Herbert's Dune.

(Probably watch the Villeneuve Dune due out in December this year.)

If you happened to like it, read Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. You'll probably like these books as well. (If you didn't like Dune, it's okay to stop here.)

Watch the Sci-Fi Channel's Children of Dune.

If you happened to like those, try God Emperor of Dune. Be warned it is extremely different from the previous books. It's become my favorite book in the series after multiple re-readings of the entire series (previously was Dune Messiah), but it is certainly not for everyone. It's okay to quit here.

If you made it through God Emperor, read Heretics of Dune.

If you enjoyed it, read Chapterhouse: Dune. (If you didn't enjoy Heretics, don't bother).

Lament that it is over.

If you must, read Sandworms of Dune which is written by the son, but is supposedly based on the father's notes. It is the least bad of the books I've read by the son. Don't read anything else.

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