This week a few images from the upcoming Dune movie have popped up on the internet, stoking the growing hype-fire for one of the most anticipated films of the year. Dune has had a few film adaptations in the past, none of which have been particularly good, but fans remain hopeful that this one might actually do the series justice. Like any film adaptation of a popular book, there’s no way to please everybody and hardcore fans will almost always find flaws to focus on regardless of the overall quality of the film. This is especially true of Dune, being one of the most iconic science-fiction series’ of all time.
If you’ve never heard of Dune, it is the first book in an epic 6-book long series written by sci-fi master Frank Herbert. The Dune series is basically Lord of The Rings for science fiction, in it’s scope and impact on it’s genre. The first book follows Paul Atreides, a young man transplanted to the desert planet Arrakis when his father, Duke Leto Atreides, is given control of the planets supply of the most valuable resource in the universe: the spice melange. Paul must learn how to survive on Arrakis amidst a local rebellion and political warfare with the villainous House Harkonnen.
Dune is a classic and is an absolute must-read for fans of science fiction. It’s jam-packed with all the made-up-words and imaginary technology that brings a good sci-fi story to life. While it can be read as a stand-alone book, the real meat of the series doesn’t happen til later books where the story really begins to expand and take shape. Be warned that that series does kind of spiral into the realm of abstract confusion later on, which might be hard to digest for a lot of people, but the first book keeps things pretty neat and simple for the most part. If you are interested in seeing the upcoming film, I recommend giving the book a quick read beforehand. That way, if the movie flops, at least you’ll have read a really great book. However, if you don’t read it first and the movie bombs, I highly doubt you’ll be interested in giving the book a chance while you still have the sour taste of bad movie in your mouth.