As with most sci-fi the author gets loopier in the later books. That being said:
- Dune: masterpiece of philosophy, one of the best books ever put to print
- Dune Messiah: a worthy sequel and must read after the first book; completes Paul’s arc
- Children of Dune: more plot driven than the first, but still thematically rich and entertaining.
- God Emperor of Dune: the most divisive of the books: you love it or you hate it. I am in the love it camp, the book is unhinged and the themes are marvelous. This is where I’d stop a read of the series.
- Chapterhouse and the other (Heretics?): forgettable in my opinion, simply because I’ve forgotten them. Later book fan opinions welcome.
- anything Brian Herbert: not terrible but not awfully good either. Makes for decent light reading I guess, and there’s good lore building in some of the books despite some unforgivable retcons (Agemmemnon, sigh)
negativeyoda@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Messiah is good Children is decent but spotty God Emperor is essentially a fever dream. I was like WTF while reading it but I love how off the rails it went.
The last couple are kind of forgettable.
The immediate prequels (house books) are a fun read and plotted well, but his kid isn’t as good of a writer
The legends books are garbage
The last 2 books that tie up the original series (hunters and sandworms) are not good and are infuriating in that elements from the legends books are reintroduced as deus ex machina bullshit. I saw the twist coming halfway through the last book.
I never read any of the other gap filler books that have been written in that universe. It got tiresome
Everything up until God Emperor is worthwhile with the prequels being a fun appetizer. Read the synopses of the others if you need to know what happens