The Great Dune Trilogy: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune (GOLLANCZ S.F.) [Paperback]

An amazing collection.

They are told with such grace, and subtlety, the dialogue is so cleverly writen that the action regularly takes the backstage. Epic scale, sheer brilliance and uncanny foresight will guarantee that these books will remain beautiful, timeless classics. Ahead of the game in almost every area both then and now.

Do not let these gems pass you by. Honestly

DUNE: If you like Sci-Fi/Fantasy but haven't read Dune, well it's almost as criminal as not having read The Lord of the Rings, you owe it to yourself to pick this up and read it immediately!! Dune is, in my humble opinion, probably the greatest Sci-Fi book ever written - it is a heavy mix of political machinations, planet-hopping war and diplomacy, and a deep philosophical look at religion and the role of a messianic figure upon shaping human history. Frank Herbert's prose is extraordinary and really gets you inside character's heads, especially that of the 'protagonist' Paul Atreides; the chapters are also broken up with little quips and quotes that further embellish and enhance the complex universe that he has created. I won't go into plot details, because there are numerous reviews of this story all over the internet. 5/5

DUNE MESSIAH: For some reason this short sequel to Dune, which really just acts a bridge to get the reader to Children of Dune, has attracted some negative comments in the past but I still can not fathom why!? Dune is a very self-contained story and you can stop right there and not continue if you wish, but if you do choose to read Messiah then you get a turn-around of the relatively optimistic(?) ending of the first book and in my opinion a very exciting launch of a greater universe for the Dune novels. Dune Messiah is actually a very tight and well paced book, with great characterisation and an excellent plot that comes together nicely at the end - the short length is actually ideal in my opinion and the book doesn't overstay it's welcome; it also leads very nicely into the next book. 4.5/5

CHILDREN OF DUNE: This third part of the trilogy, which essentially finishes the tale of Paul Atreides, is the weakest of the three in my opinion; that is in no way saying that it is a weak book, far from it!! This book heads much more into the realm of political drama, and for such a large book, it doesn't feel like a lot happens really, but the insights we get into the characters, the concepts and plot-lines are fascinating and the resolution to this story arc is very left-field and brave. It is actually quite sad at the end of the book to be saying goodbye to these wonderful characters that so much time has been invested into, as the next novel God Emperor of Dune (not included in this collection) takes place thousands of years into the future. All-in-all, a satisfying end to the first Great Trilogy of Dune. 4/5

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GREAT DUNE TRILOGY: I'd just like to review the book itself. It is great to have all three stories in one volume, and good value for money in my opinion. However, the book itself is extremely cumbersome and quite difficult to read when out and about; this is not something you can take on the tube!! This lead me eventually to pick up Children of Dune as a separate book, as I just got fed up of having to make room for a gigantic tome in my bag - ideally I would suggest picking up the three books separately, but for some reason Gollancz only publish Children of Dune in the same cover design, which I like a lot, which I think is an extremely odd decision!?

I started to read this book after I'd seen the movie by D. Lynch and I must say I do not regret it :)
If anyone who watched the movie and liked it should read the book as well!!!