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

Publisher's summary

Long-listed, Audible.com Best of the Year, 2007

Long-listed, Audible.com 100 Audible Essentials, 2007

Audie Award winner, 2008

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Léa Seydoux, Stellan Skarsgård, and Charlotte Rampling

Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family—and would bring to fruition humankind's most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert's death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary fiction will live forever.

©1965 Frank Herbert (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

Audie Award Winner, Science Fiction, 2008
Nebula Award winner, Best Novel, 1965
Hugo Award winner, Best Novel, 1966

"Unique...I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings." (Arthur C. Clarke)

"One of the monuments of modern science fiction." (Chicago Tribune)

"Powerful, convincing, and most ingenious." (Robert A. Heinlein)

brought an old classic to life

I first read this book in 1980 in the back seat as my family did a two week camping road trip, and I loved this story. I must have read Dune over 20 times, it was that good to me. When I heard about the audio book I was a bit hesistant that they might ruin one of my favorite stories (like they did with the movie!!).
But the narration and characterization of the actors, were wonderful, giving the story a richness and fullness, a 3D immersive experience.
It made a great story that much better.

Good book!

Overall this was a great listen. However, I was somewhat annoyed how sometimes the voice of different characters were spoken by different actors, and sometimes they weren't. At one point even within one chapter they switched back and forth which mad it somewhat confusing. I did enjoy some of the sound effects though. Great listen!

Is the audio really that bad?

I liked the book and would recommend it if you like more politics and ideals driven books but the main thing I wanted to address was the audio. Alot of people seem to have issues with it and I will admit that the voices may be a little over dramatic but in general its pretty straight forward. One person narrates the quotes at the beginning of each chapter and then the main narrator, Simon Vance covers most of the rest except for things specifically in quotations which are divided by character and voiced by different narrators. Since this does not include internal thoughts that the characters aren't represented as actually saying and Vance does imbue some character related "voicing" to the thoughts as would normally be done in a single reader rendition it does somewhat seem to lead to some of the main characters having 2 sometimes distict "voices" but it does make sense and it really isn't that difficult to follow. I doubt I would have noticed it if I hadn't read the reviews of everyone complaining about it. I guess basically my point is not to let the complaints scare you away from a good book.

Stunning Rendition

Dune is one of my favourite books and easily one of the best science fiction books ever written. At the time that Dune was written, most science fiction futures were written from recognizably American or Western European points of view with few, if any, nods to Earth's other cultures. Herbert, on the other hand, wrote about a future that recognized at least some of Earth's varied cultures (the Fremen are clearly descended from Islamic Arabs). Dune was a landmark book that remains relevant today; it is, perhaps, more important today than it was when it was written. (For another science fiction look at Islam, read George Alec Effinger. Only a short story, "Schrodinger's Kitten", is available on Audible.) Dune is often maligned, usually by people who have not read the book, but have only seen David Lynch's movie (flawed in almost every respect) or the Sci-Fi Channel's television adaptations (much better than the movie, but still flawed).

This audio production does the sweeping scope of Dune justice in nearly every way. The use of multiple voice actors and limited effects paints the action deftly and skillfully. If there were anything to complain about, it's that the different voice actors weren't used consistently to represent their characters. The primary narrator does a great job of representing all of the characters, but some consistency in the use of the voice talent would have been preferred. As is common with other audiobooks, "unabridged" here means that the main body of the text is complete and unabridged; appendices (and there are several in Dune, all of which are worth reading), are not included.

Those quibbles aside, this is a stunning rendition of an amazing book.

Best 1 credit you will spend!!!

Talk about value 20+ hours and I loved every bit of it.
Multiple voice actors & music bring this book to life. If you read this in your youth (like me) then it is time to revist. If you have never dived into this SCI-FI "must read" then this is the way!!! So much to enjoy!!

Different Format, Same Great Story

Would you listen to Dune again? Why?

Absolutely! Not only is it one of my favorite Sci-Fi series, listening added another dimension to my appreciation of the intricacies of the character relationships.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Duncan Idaho, but that's because the character develops in the later Dune Saga Series.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

(Ignoring the bad grammar in the question)...I don't have to add the voices in my head or substitute those from the movies and mini-series. I get to concentrate more on the intricacies of the plot.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Films were made of this book, mostly inadequate (but I watch them anyway) because it is really too complex to file...unless you're Peter Jackson with an unlimited CG budget and the guts to use it.
Tagline: Dune. As it should have been.

Great performance, love the ambiance.

I wanted to read before the movie came out. But I was honestly hooked after the first book. highly recommend.

A great new idea for aduible

the story is great , the changing of voices was a little weird because they would only sometimes happen. So some narration was confusing at times . The music and atmosphere was amazing!!

Maybe Only Audiobook I Immediately Hit Repeat...

Would you listen to Dune again? Why?

1,000% certain I'll listen to this far more than one more time. Definitely better than the movie, but more than that this isn't an audiobook. It's a complete saga, full cast of characters, movie like experience. The only comparison that comes immediately too mind is this is like watching the three good batman movies (Batman Begins to Dark Night Rises) only it's audio. For me, one of the best so far and I have invest in a LOT of audible audiobooks.

What other book might you compare Dune to and why?

Definitely up there in the top 10 in my library of thousands and thousands of audiobooks, but what sets it apart is that it's literally an audio movie. There are other audiobooks in my library that I love but they don't have the production value and then others that are more audio sagas like this that I have and enjoy, but not as much as this so I don't want to compared it to others. It stands alone so far.

Which scene was your favorite?

Hmmm... If I have to choose a part maybe when Paul experiences seeing not the future for the first time. I like to imagine into "what would it be like if I could..." and I've found that my ability to unlock that door into that new perspective/viewpoint is always the quality of the metaphor(s) the author offers to me as the "key" - the only key to stepping into the authors shoes.

The metaphors they use to unlock the door to see into the future as Paul does were so vivid and accessible that is almost natural to get a sense for what it would like to have that experience. That stuff excites me. It's like not only did I get to follow along on the sag, but forever, until I die I can say with some certainty right, I've got this new "sense" or filter to view the world thru.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Yes. I think audible needs to create a new category, maybe it's even a new word, for audio experiences like this. They're not audiobooks, they are much much much more.

From the outside you can't tell; looks like any other title, but it ain't.

If I could have more experiences like Dune and I had a simple way to find them without listening to 50 samples to find one that is good and represents accurately what you're in for - best believe I'm buying.

Any additional comments?

Here, get a head start (I think this is how it starts...) then buy it.

"A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that it is the year 10191. The known universe is ruled by the Padisha Emperor Shaddam IV, my father. In this time, the most precious substance in the Universe is the spice melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel. The Spacing Guild and its navigators, who the spice has mutated over four-thousand years, use the orange spice gas, which gives them the ability to fold space. That is, travel to any part of the Universe without moving. Oh yes, I forget to tell you. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire Universe. A desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy, that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis. Also known as Dune..."

As far as audiobooks go it's about the most value I've gotten here.

Important: If you're new and you're thinking about getting this as your first audiobook - DO NOT. It will set your expectations far past the fair mark for whatever would come next for you...

Great story. Bad voice work.

I am a long time fan of the Dune universe, and I enjoyed revisiting Dune. Unfortunately, the inconsistent voice work can become a distraction to the story. Voice actors don't stay with a character throughout the book, and they often change in the middle of a scene. A production that is not worthy of Dune.