Before The Matrix, before Star Wars, before Ender's Game and Neuromancer, there was
Dune, one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written.
Melange, or 'spice', is the most valuable - and rarest - element in the universe. And it can only be found on a single planet: the inhospitable desert world Arrakis.
Whoever controls Arrakis controls the spice. And whoever controls the spice controls the universe.
When stewardship of Arrakis is transferred to his house, Paul Atreides must travel to the planet's dangerous surface to ensure the future of his family and his people. But as malevolent forces explode into conflict around him, Paul is thrust into a great destiny beyond his understanding.
And in this game of power, only those who can conquer their fear will survive. Unique among SF novels . . . I know nothing comparable to it except The Lord of the Rings. - Arthur C. Clarke
An epic of political betrayal, ecological brinkmanship, and messianic deliverance... a universe of Machiavellian realpolitik, science fiction through the prism of the Cold War. There is little that is cute or cuddly: no furry-footed Hobbits, no teddy-bear-like Ewoks... This is terrain that is familiar to readers of George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire." Herbert's scheming, backstabbing villain, the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, would be perfectly at home among the Lannisters of Westeros. - The New Yorker
One of the landmarks of modern science fiction . . . an amazing feat of creation. - Analog
Powerful, convincing, and most ingenious.
An astonishing science fiction phenomenon. - Washington Post
One of the monuments of modern science fiction. - Chicago Tribune
The time lives. It breathes, it speaks, and Herbert has smelt it in his nostrils.
Dune