God Emperor of Dune

I was -- I guess still am -- on a reading slump, not being able to finish full length novels. I had The Second Great Dune Trilogy by Frank Herbert borrowed from the library for months and eventually had to return it half-finished. It didn't help that it's a massive hardcover 3-in-1 book that's difficult to hold comfortably. The second book in this trilogy, Heretics of Dune, didn't exactly grab me either. But I did at least get through the one before it.

Dune Messiah & Children of Dune

Looking back now what I wrote about the first Dune novel, it appears that I did like it more than I recall. I even read just a while back but I had already forgotten that, maybe because how easy going things seemed for the protagonists. That's why I was surprised how invested I got with the following two sequels.

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.

Dune, Book 1: Dune

I don't know why I tend to be surprised when a classic novel turns out to be good. I guess I expect that the novelty that made it good has been lost over the years: having already been exposed to other works that were inspired by the classic. It won't feel special anymore.