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)

Amazing

Simply amazing storyline, wonderful come back by paul, captivating, can’t wait to start the next book

Inconsistent voice actors is a bummer

The story is wonderful. But I would love to know/understand the reasons for the voice actors to change from moment to moment. I think the Baron had 3-4 “voices” portray him, some were the narrator’s voices he used for entirely different characters early in the book.

With all of that said, it was hard for me to not listen every spare moment I had. I was wrapped. Great story and I certainly was able to adapt and understand despite all the shifting actors.

I would love it if a more well executed version were to be released.

Seemingly random switching between readers

While the story was unsurprisingly fantastic, this is the first audiobook that I listened to where I was never able to figure out what was going on with the characters' voices.

The book switches, seemingly at random, between using a traditional single narrator who does distinct voices for each character, and a full cast where each character is done by a different actor.

It was very confusing for a while to have to remember two completely different voices for each character. It also messed with the "mental image" of the characters, because I would involuntarily imagine a character looking very different depending on who was doing the voice.

I've listened to other audiobooks where entire chapters have different readers, depending on the perspective the chapter is written from. That has never bothered me, but unfortunately that's not what Dune was doing. Even by the time I finished the book, I had no idea why certain conversations were full cast and others were not.

I still enjoyed the book quite a bit because the story more than made up for the performance gripes.

Audiobook is great, but not spectacular

First of all I HIGHLY suggest getting this! Any critique below is just that, critique.

Let's get the fact that Frank Herbert is a genius and the Dune universe is a masterpiece. It is a must-read/listen for an sci-fi fan.

Critique:
Man reviewers state that the audiobook is one of the greatest they have ever heard. I,m not sure why, my guess is they loved the story so much and the narration is great. However it is not consistent, which was annoying.

First of all the book is read by several narrators - at times. Chapters begin with quotes from books/lore in the Dune universe and are always read by Orlagh Cassidy, who also narrates many of the female characters, sometimes.

This is my main issue, all of the great narrators will jump in for specific characters but only for a time, the main narrator will take over for entire chalet era or part of them. When he does the voices can change for a character even within his own voice, which can be a bit confusing at times.

I just wanted to point this out as the audio sample shows the production at its best but it is not always like this.

An Enduring Classic, Dramatized

This recording is a fantastic hybrid between audiobook and radio drama. The cast of voices (all excellent) and sound fx make it a real treat to enjoy for the first or fifth time.

I have read and re-read Dune at least half a dozen times since discovering it in my teens in the early 1980s. I missed experiencing it as a 60s hippie who could groove on its ecological themes (I was born in 67) but I can appreciate what that must have been like. For me it was an unparalleled space opera and political science fiction masterpiece.

After a number of re-reads, it still hits all the right notes for me. I suppose it's a bit thinner in spots these days than it was to my wide-eyed teen self, but there are also passages that are just as rich and fresh as they were the first time. My only regret for this book is that it isn't longer! When Herbert takes his time with a scene, such as Paul and Jessica's indoctrination into Fremen society, or Feyd's attempts to put one over on his nasty uncle, you can completely sink into the fiction and live there for a while!

If you have never read or (gasp) heard of this book, here's the pitch.

In the far future, noble houses have divided up the galaxy. At the center of many of their intrigues is the planet Arrakis, the sole source of a life-prolonging drug known as the spice. At the beginning of this novel, the emperor has officially commanded a change of control over Arrakis, instilling our protagonists, the Atreides, in place of the villainous Harkonnens. But the Atreides know they are walking into a trap. Their only hope is to quickly utilize the planet's critical resources, the feisty native Fremen and the spice itself, to escape their political execution.

AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY

Incredible glimpse into humanity

The thing I loved most about this book was the omniscient narrator. I usually shy away from 3rd person omniscient because I feel like it's harder to get in the mind of the main character when you see from so many perspectives, but Herbert uses this to delve into each character's plans within plans within plans, and it creates a thought-provoking suspense that kept me locked into every word. Every player is secretly trying to end up on top at all costs. It's not a story of good vs evil; it's a story of good vs self-interest.

Terrific Story - Annoying Voice Dialogue

Dune is one of the epic stories you have to read (or listen to) to in your lifetime. And while the narrator was great, I found it VERY annoying that the voice actors were not consistent - it would have been 5 Stars if the actors could have kept up with their lines instead of being in this chapter, missing a few chapers and then again in that chapetr as a different character! Still, I do recommend.

Intriguing and enjoyable.

The oddness of this book has been cultivated to the extreme to make a truly fantastic story. In addition, I found that the build of this book was immense and the fact that the build never quite broke has made me enjoy this on another level. Overall I think that this is the type of book that you should press through the slow (but still interesting) beginning to the real gold.

Fascinating

A fascinating study in a imagined culture. well thought out and filled with layers of details and descriptions.

good book, odd voice acting.

love the book, but narration is confusing. sometimes it is one narrator, sometimes a full group of voice actors for the characters. changes back and forth.