Dune is a 1965 epic science fiction novel by Frank Herbert. The book follows Paul Atreides, a clever and brilliant young man who has a destiny that is beyond his understanding. When his father, Duke Leto, accepts Arrakis, the most dangerous planet in the universe, from the rival Harkonnen family, Paul starts to transform into something unimaginable as he leads his people into a momentous war. This summary must’ve taken me an hour to type, because it is very hard to explain Dune to a person without telling the entire story. The scope of this book is gargantuan, and the environment that Herbert creates is very detailed. This book is one of the most influential sci-fi books ever, and it shows in popular movies such as Star Wars. Character-wise, however, Dune is nothing like Star Wars. Dune is a very dry book (pun intended), and most of the action comes from the power-struggles that characters have when interacting with each other. In fact, there are probably two or three fight sequences in the entire book. And most of the characters in this book don’t really show any personality, which could put some people off. That being said, Dune is one of my favorite books of all time because of the different ideas at play. Herbert creates a very complex world, yet the political and cultural issues in it are still relatable to us. Each character is unique, and it’s interesting to observe how they each look at their surroundings. Dune also has many life lessons that can be used in today’s world. Dune is a slog, but that’s the beauty of it. Read the book, and you’ll understand why many people around the world consider this book as one of science fiction’s greatest works!