Unpopular Opinion: Dune

 I can't help escape the irony that I just picked up again on a story I've been thinking about for years a month or so after reading Dune. The irony is instead of feeling inspired and in awe of what many have said is the greatness of Dune, I just hope mine is more interesting. Felt like Dune was a lot like the famous film Lawrence of Arabia... too much sand not enough plot/character interaction.

And for the record, how inconvenient was the time jump in Dune? Like they couldn't have sped up a few days in the beginning of the book where they plan to go to the Arakis FOREVER, but they jump over crucial years of Paul becoming a crucial member of the tribe, etc. And then just picking up where everyone just already knows his status but you. not cool. I guess maybe at that point Herbert was just trying to get the story moving along at last. 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate Dune for what it did for the genre in terms of world building, etc., but as far as it being a well written story, I just don't think it checked that box. I read a review on goodreads that sums up my feelings on the book pretty well, and rather than paraphrase or butcher the write-up I'll include the link here: Honest Review: Dune. 

But hey, at least I've read it and now know to what yardstick science fiction measured. Here's hoping I can surpass it. Otherwise, I deserve a review much like the one referenced above.

This is basically my response to a lot of the plot points in the book.
While the concept might have been a good one,
the execution left something to be desired.