Dune, Books 2 & 3

The third book of Dune (and only the third) having a hefty appendix, including a map and a glossary, makes the novel being in three covers truly seem questionable. Maybe if you buy them as a boxed set it would be fine, but as a library book, they definitely should be a single volume. The local libraries do have a single volume English version but by the looks of it it also tends to have a few reservations lined up. Waiting for it to become available could've taken a while.

I was impressed by the spectacle Frank Herbert managed to build for the novel's climax. I didn't expect the fast-moving plot end in an epic conclusion. In general, the books 2 and 3 were as entertaining as the first third of the novel. I would say though that after House Harkonnen had executed their attack against House Atreides, Paul and his mother Jessica didn't face great challenges (outside having to traverse the hostile desert planet). They kind of succeeded at everything they attempted without failure. Both of them felt too powerful, having largely reached their peak potential even before the book had started. The antagonists seemed to have lost all their guile at the end as well and were complete pushovers, like some comical cartoon villains.

Then there's the prophecy stuff that leads the story in a predictable manner. However, I did like how the Bene Gesserit (which Jessica is a member of) have engineered the prophecies through Missionaria Protectiva by shaping religions and beliefs on primitive planets such as Arrakis. So it's not really a mystical prophecy guiding the characters rather than a long-term exploitation plan.

Dune as a classic was similar to Neuromancer as a reading experience. It was entertaining but I had encountered its various elements in many other works beforehand so there was no novelty. One fairly unique thing I noted though was how in dialogue characters often state larger than life stuff. It makes the novel easily quotable, I feel. There's always some fitting, cool line to choose.