Dune by Frank Herbert
Dune by Frank Herbert
Narrated by: Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin, Byron Jennings, David R. Gordon, Jason Culp, Kent Broadhurst, Oliver Wyman, Patricia Kilgarriff, Scott Sowers
Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
This Hugo & Nebula Award winner tells a sweeping tale of the desert planet Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire.
Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, “spice of spices”. Melange is necessary for interstellar travel & grants psi powers & longevity. Whoever controls it wields great influence. Troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don’t want to give up their privilege. Thru sabotage & treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet’s harsh environment to die. There he joins the Fremen, a desert dwelling tribe, the basis of the army with which he reclaims what’s rightfully his. Paul is more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a long-term genetic experiment to breed a superhuman. He might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people & events. Repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.
I have so much to say about this book. First off, being a big science fiction fan I am told by other fans that I should read Dune because it's such "a classic sci-fi story."
I decided to listen to it now and then perhaps see the movie with Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling.
I have got to say I did not enjoy listening to this. It was a chore and towards the end, with 3 hours left, I sped it up to 1.4x.
First off, they really messed up the narration. Some chapters have a multicast and others have one narrator doing all the voices. Very jarring. For something considered such a sci-fi classic I don't know why Audible didn't keep the multicast narration consistent. The multicast chapters are so much better, and easier to follow. When the single narrator was speaking I would become bored and my mind would wander.
So I was going to write about how the plot would take these sudden turns and I would have no idea how they got from point A to B to C. That there was way too much world building and not enough plot or building characters. But then I find this review by ZombeApocalips on Audible:
Heads up! This is an abridged version!
Voice acting was confusing (character voices changing at different parts of the story), with Baron Harkonen sounding by turns between Darth Vader and the Marcus Aurelius from Gladiator. Also not the book I was expecting, as it is an abridged set of books. Didn't seem to be indicated anywhere.
And then someone named Patrick wrote this review:
Utterly Horrific
Why? Why was the book butchered and the audio cast so discombobulated? I love Dune, and was excited to hear it come to life in an audiobook with a diverse cast, but this rendering is absolutely atrocious. The music is not in line with the narrative. The cast comes in goes, chapter to chapter, sometimes paragraph by paragraph. If you can, find another adaptation audiobook of Dune, not this disconjointed mess that is not a true rendering of Frank Herbert's book. What an utter mess.
What false advertising on Audible's part to tell me this is an unbridged version. No wonder I was so freaking confused!
I then wondered if I should go back and actually read the book since I can't seem to find an unabridged audiobook version where I can stomache the narrator's voice. But then I realized I don't want to waste my time because I didn't really like it all that much. There are too many internal monologues. There were no real plot twists. There was way too much telling and not enough showing. The action was boring. I didn't connect to the characters. I felt no emotions for them at all. There were a few minor characters I liked, but overall I cared for no one. And I also found that I didn't like Paul. He was such a bad Gary Stu. Maybe some of it is because it was abridged, but he was just suddenly good at everything with no real good reason for being that good. There was no coming of age training or character growth for him. Also the relationships between Paul and other characters felt so flat. Some were not developed AT ALL and so when that character died [Spoiler (click to open)](his son, Leto), I was left feeling nothing when I should have been crying like a baby.
And I don't think I can blame it on being duped into listening to an abridged version. I think it is just a bad book. I think back in the 1960s when it was written it was probably awesome and groundbreaking, but sci-fi has come such a long way since then. I think I am spoiled by greater, modern science-fiction stories.
I can definitely see the influences Dune had in other sci-fi stories. The poisoned tooth for example. [Spoiler (click to open)]I immediately thought of Lyria in Dark Age by Pierce Brown.
I do wonder if I had went to see the movie first and then listened, would I have liked it better? I don't know if I will see the movie or not so I don't think I can make that assessment yet. I don't know if I should have read it instead of listened. But I feel like if I had I would still be reading it and forcing my way through without enjoyment. Even at 21 hours I got through this in a week. The book is over 600 pages.
So I think in conclusion, I am not going to waste my time reading or listening to another edition. I may see the movie at some point to compare. I am definitely not reading any of the sequels. And if someone says, "Oh you like sci-fi?! You should read/have you read Dune?" I can respond, "Been there. Done that. Did not like it."
1 out of 5 Spices.
Narrated by: Scott Brick, Orlagh Cassidy, Euan Morton, Simon Vance, Ilyana Kadushin, Byron Jennings, David R. Gordon, Jason Culp, Kent Broadhurst, Oliver Wyman, Patricia Kilgarriff, Scott Sowers
Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
This Hugo & Nebula Award winner tells a sweeping tale of the desert planet Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire.
Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, “spice of spices”. Melange is necessary for interstellar travel & grants psi powers & longevity. Whoever controls it wields great influence. Troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don’t want to give up their privilege. Thru sabotage & treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet’s harsh environment to die. There he joins the Fremen, a desert dwelling tribe, the basis of the army with which he reclaims what’s rightfully his. Paul is more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a long-term genetic experiment to breed a superhuman. He might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people & events. Repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.
I have so much to say about this book. First off, being a big science fiction fan I am told by other fans that I should read Dune because it's such "a classic sci-fi story."
I decided to listen to it now and then perhaps see the movie with Timothée Chalamet, Josh Brolin, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling.
I have got to say I did not enjoy listening to this. It was a chore and towards the end, with 3 hours left, I sped it up to 1.4x.
First off, they really messed up the narration. Some chapters have a multicast and others have one narrator doing all the voices. Very jarring. For something considered such a sci-fi classic I don't know why Audible didn't keep the multicast narration consistent. The multicast chapters are so much better, and easier to follow. When the single narrator was speaking I would become bored and my mind would wander.
So I was going to write about how the plot would take these sudden turns and I would have no idea how they got from point A to B to C. That there was way too much world building and not enough plot or building characters. But then I find this review by ZombeApocalips on Audible:
Heads up! This is an abridged version!
Voice acting was confusing (character voices changing at different parts of the story), with Baron Harkonen sounding by turns between Darth Vader and the Marcus Aurelius from Gladiator. Also not the book I was expecting, as it is an abridged set of books. Didn't seem to be indicated anywhere.
And then someone named Patrick wrote this review:
Utterly Horrific
Why? Why was the book butchered and the audio cast so discombobulated? I love Dune, and was excited to hear it come to life in an audiobook with a diverse cast, but this rendering is absolutely atrocious. The music is not in line with the narrative. The cast comes in goes, chapter to chapter, sometimes paragraph by paragraph. If you can, find another adaptation audiobook of Dune, not this disconjointed mess that is not a true rendering of Frank Herbert's book. What an utter mess.
What false advertising on Audible's part to tell me this is an unbridged version. No wonder I was so freaking confused!
I then wondered if I should go back and actually read the book since I can't seem to find an unabridged audiobook version where I can stomache the narrator's voice. But then I realized I don't want to waste my time because I didn't really like it all that much. There are too many internal monologues. There were no real plot twists. There was way too much telling and not enough showing. The action was boring. I didn't connect to the characters. I felt no emotions for them at all. There were a few minor characters I liked, but overall I cared for no one. And I also found that I didn't like Paul. He was such a bad Gary Stu. Maybe some of it is because it was abridged, but he was just suddenly good at everything with no real good reason for being that good. There was no coming of age training or character growth for him. Also the relationships between Paul and other characters felt so flat. Some were not developed AT ALL and so when that character died [Spoiler (click to open)](his son, Leto), I was left feeling nothing when I should have been crying like a baby.
And I don't think I can blame it on being duped into listening to an abridged version. I think it is just a bad book. I think back in the 1960s when it was written it was probably awesome and groundbreaking, but sci-fi has come such a long way since then. I think I am spoiled by greater, modern science-fiction stories.
I can definitely see the influences Dune had in other sci-fi stories. The poisoned tooth for example. [Spoiler (click to open)]I immediately thought of Lyria in Dark Age by Pierce Brown.
I do wonder if I had went to see the movie first and then listened, would I have liked it better? I don't know if I will see the movie or not so I don't think I can make that assessment yet. I don't know if I should have read it instead of listened. But I feel like if I had I would still be reading it and forcing my way through without enjoyment. Even at 21 hours I got through this in a week. The book is over 600 pages.
So I think in conclusion, I am not going to waste my time reading or listening to another edition. I may see the movie at some point to compare. I am definitely not reading any of the sequels. And if someone says, "Oh you like sci-fi?! You should read/have you read Dune?" I can respond, "Been there. Done that. Did not like it."
1 out of 5 Spices.