So I just got pic related for christmas and I'm about 40

>>8889930
The book "Dune" is divided into three "books" (i.e. parts), like the book Paradise Lost is divided into twelve.
This is only the first book. The second book is Dune Messiah.
Read the appendices whenever- you'd probably appreciate them more after though.
The Dune series is six books, to be read in sequence:
>Dune
>Dune Messiah
>Children of Dune
>God-Emperor of Dune
>Heretics of Dune
>Chapterhouse: Dune
There is no large canon universe. There's only these six books, by Frank Herbert.
Oh, and
>The Dune Encyclopedia
which is out of print, and not by Frank- it's a kind of professional fan project- but it was approved by him. You may want to check it out; it's interesting.
There -is- a series of cashgrab hackjobs by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Utterly ignore these.

Yeah, authors put "books" inside their books all the time, they're basically just super chapters. Usually they'll put 3 in there cause that mirrors the 3 act structure of most stories.

>>8889939
Ah, okay.
I see I've misunderstood many things, admittedly I'm an amateur in novels and only started really getting into them as a hobby as of recently and haven't read a great variety of books.
What I meant by canon universe was there's an entire ecology to keep track of as opposed to linear stories following a single cast taking place in familiar territories, I suppose I used the term "canon universe" loosely.
I've heard of the "continuation" of Dune done by Brian and I've pretty much got it that I should stay away.
Thanks for the clear up though, I appreciate it.

>>8889973
Dune is a fucking shit novel m8.

I was so excited to read it, especially after I copped that aesthetic cover.

But be prepared to be bored out of your fucking skull. The only people who like it seemed to read it back when it was first released.

>>8889996
Nah, seems clear that OP doesn't read a lot so Dune should seem fine or even really good. After reading a bunch of great books, sure, it seems pretty terrible. But OP's reading it at the right time.

>>8890010
...also, thinking about it 'terrible' is too strong- it still has good features. It's just that when you've got used to top-tier writing the prose of something like Dune is really hard to get through.

I think I have it straight now. In terms of Dune story chronology, it starts with the Legends of Dune trilogy:
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (2002)
Dune: The Machine Crusade (2003)
Dune: The Battle of Corrin (2004)

Then the Great Schools of Dune trilogy:
Sisterhood of Dune (2012)
Mentats of Dune (2014)
Swordmasters of Dune (TBA)

Then the Prelude to Dune trilogy:
Dune: House Atreides (1999)
Dune: House Harkonnen (2000)
Dune: House Corrino (2001)

Then it gets tricky. The Heroes of Dune planned tetralogy takes place in between and during the original early Dune novels (in full caps), so:
DUNE (1965)
Paul of Dune (2008)
DUNE MESSIAH (1969)
The Winds of Dune (formerly Jessica of Dune-2009)
CHILDREN OF DUNE (1976)
The Throne of Dune (formerly Irulan of Dune-TBA)
Leto of Dune (or perhaps The Golden Path of Dune--TBA)
GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE (1981)
HERETICS OF DUNE (1984)
CHAPTERHOUSE: DUNE (1985)
Hunters of Dune (2006)
Sandworms of Dune (2007)

Even fussier are the collections:

The Road to Dune (2005) contains letters, unpublished chapters from Dune and Dune Messiah, a story ("Spice Planet" based on an outline Frank wrote & shelved prior to writing Dune itself), and short stories "A Whisper on Caladan Seas," "Hunting Harkonnens," "Whipping Mek" and "The Faces of a Martyr" (+ "Sea Child" in the paperback) all by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson (all of which take place at various different points in the series chronology)

Tales of Dune (2011, only available as an e-book so far)has three stories: “Wedding Silk,”“Sea Child” and “Treasure in the Sand." Bonus material includes “Dune: Blood and Water” and “Dune: Fremen Justice.”

*titles in caps are Frank Herbert's six original novels; the others are all co-written by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson).

>>8889996
Dune is slow to start, but gets really good about 2/3 in. Don't listen to this clueless millenial.

>>8889956
>super chapters

this post went from /lit/ to reddit on a dime

Read Dune, and then Dune Messiah.

If you're not enjoying yourself, you may as well quit since Messiah is basically the epilogue to Dune.
If you're enjoying it, just read the rest of Herbert's original series.

Some of the stuff his sons wrote is decent, but don't expect great literature here. The House Prequel trilogy is alright.

God Emperor of Dune > Dune > Dune Messiah>Children of Dune
Read the first 4 books and do not touch the rest

not OP, but I just read the original Dune

should I read any of the others? felt like Dune ended at a decent spot

>>8892746
I read up to Godemperor per /lit/s recommendation and I'm glad I did.

>>8892746
Dune and Dune Messiah are sort of connected, so you should probably read Dune Messiah. If you liked that, might as well go all the way.

>>8890680
Dune and Dune: Messiah are basically one book. They're about the story of Paul.

Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune are two books about Leto II, son of Paul. Children is a bridge between the previous books and the latter books because they wrap up the story of Paul.

Heretics and Chapterhouse form parts of an incomplete trilogy. No, Hunters/Sandworms are not the conclusion to Dune. Those books are KJA garbage.

KJA is consistently the worst cross-franchise writer in science fiction. Take his SW books for example, all of them are the most trope laden, big bad superweapon dogshit books in a franchise full of that drivel. Granted about half of his work in SW is targeted at young adults, but seriously it's really bad.

It's sad because I actually like some of his independent work when he's not milking it like he did in SoSS but the guy just can't fucking help himself when it comes to writing hyper-formulaic moneymakers in other peoples' franchises.

>>8889930
Felix? Stop being a faggot

I just jumped right in it. I looked at the Appendix for a little bit for words I was unsure of but realized I can just use co text clues to figure everything out

On page 20 now.

So far so good. What's the barons problem what's he trying to do? I read this part really late so my mind's going

Thought it was a little silly though during the pain box because I could do that shit too but thought it over and realized there was more to it going on