"Complete Dune Series Set ( 6 Books ) Dune; Dune Messiah; Children of Dune; God Emperor of Dune; Heretics of Dune; Chapterhouse Dune Mass Market Paperback – January 1, 2007"Purchased to replace an older, missing set, that i had purchased in the 80's. Book series is great overall, but gets a little weird with book four. I would say that the strongest book in the series is the original "Dune".Books arrived promptly, but these are not normal shaped mass market paperbacks. These are longer, narrow mass market paperbacks In the attached image, is a side by side paperback comparison. The book in the middle is one from this purchased set, the book on the right is a normal sized mass market paperback, while the one on the left is the regular sized paperback.I hadn't realized that when i made this purchase, that it was for those newer, longer and narrow, mass market paperbacks. Disappointed that Amazon clarify this on the product page, so purchase gets a 4 star instead.
The set is beautiful - the print is clear and doesn't smudge, the size is bigger than usual paperback, so it's even easier to read. The paper is ok for the price and the covers are nicely printed. The only drawback is the box itself, which is super flimsy and easy to tear, it actually came already torn, so keep that in mind.The books as content are a great read, but I am not doing a literary review here. In any case, this is a good edition.
If you're confused by the reviews and are concerned about getting a matching set, this review is for you. I'll start by specifying that my review is for the regular set of unboxed books, NOT the boxed set, of the NEWEST edition of these books by Ace publishing (with the covers as seen in the image gallery).Despite having separate product listings, both the unboxed AND boxed set have the exact same reviews. This is why some reviews say they got a mismatched set, while newer reviews say they got a matching set. That, coupled with the fact that people may have ordered from different sellers, leads to some chaos in the review pool and uncertainty on the part of prospective buyers.I purchased the unboxed set twice, one from Prime ($62) and one from an independent seller ($52 including S/H). Before that I purchased the first three books separately, and received the first Dune book in a larger size and the others in a narrower size. After that first purchase, I went looking for a matching set of the LARGER size books, since I prefered the feel of it. I learned that apparently the larger size first book is what a lot of people had when they tried to purchase the sequels, which then often came in the narrow size. Here's what's going on with that:If you have the larger-size Dune book(s) you have the TRADE PAPERBACK version. If you have the smaller size Dune book(s), you actually have the *NEW* MASS MARKET PAPERBACK edition. For convenience, I will use NMM = New Mass Market and OMM = Old Mass Market for the rest of the review.It seems for the unboxed set, when you select "Paperback" you tend to receive the NMM set despite there being a separate "Mass Market" option. This was my experience—I did indeed receive matching sets both times but they were not the Trade Paperbacks I was seeking.To add to this confusion, even individual listings of the NMM books also pitch the NMM as "Paperback" while the "Mass Market" option seems to mean OMM editions.IF YOU WANT A SET OF THE LARGE TRADE PAPERBACK SIZE... The boxed set on Amazon states it is in the Trade Paperback format, hence its higher price point. At $86 as of writing this, it's still a steal compared to its normal price of $108 (each individual Trade Paperback book is, at full price, $18 each). Skip a few paragraphs down, though, if you want to save even more money on a complete Trade Paperback set.IF YOU WANT A SET OF THE NEW MASS MARKET SIZE... The unboxed set seems to be just that. My two purchases of this product both were the matching NMM size; as for the negative reviews from people that received entirely mismatching sets, I can't explain that except that I believe they may have purchased from different sellers and probably before a certain date when the complete NMM set became available (?). If you want to be sure what you're getting, contact independent sellers beforehand or order it via Prime so you can receive and return it quickly if it turns out to be mismatched.IF YOU ONLY WANT SOME OF THE BOOKS IN THE LARGE TRADE PAPERBACK SIZE... I ended up only wanting the first four books after my two failed purchases of the complete set. I didn't really want to pay for the boxed set, even though it was in the Trade Paperback size I wanted. You would think so, but it is NOT EASY to find the individual Trade Paperback version of each book on Amazon. Even if you specify "Trade Paperback" in searches, it still tries to give you the NMM edition (the one technically mislabeled as "Paperback"), at least in my experience.I ended up on the Penguin Random House website, found the individual Dune books there, chose "Paperback" on their site, then hit their Amazon button to find it here. This is how I found the first four books in Trade Paperback size, in the end (and you can find the rest of the books this way). Penguin House does correctly differentiate between true "Paperback" and "Mass Market", unlike Amazon. You will know you have the right product if it says: "Paperback – July 7, 2020" in the title, with the key being the publishing date. The product image looks wider, unlike other listings which sell the narrower new Mass Market edition, and the dimensions are also listed in the product details.IF YOU WANT THE TRADE PAPERBACK COMPLETE 6-BOOK SET BUT WANT TO SAVE SOME MONEY... First, read the paragraph directly above this one. As of writing this, the first three books are the SAME price as the NMM books @ about $10 each; the fourth book fluctuates between $12-$17 (almost full price). I got the fourth book at $12.59 when the price dropped a little bit. Heretics is also @ $10 and Chapterhouse is still @ $17—but I bet, like God Emperor, its price fluctuates. At those prices you could save $16-20 buying them individually versus the boxed set. I didn't want the full set, but if I change my mind then I'd still be saving a good chunk of money. Note that you could also buy some of these books USED and save a little more, but I would contact the seller beforehand to make sure they'r...
awesome series would recommend to anyone. probably for above 14 years because it has some material that may be hard to understand or is not suitable for kids its also pretty deep, poetic, philisophical, and political so its not an easy it also get rly dark 5 and 6th book so prepare urself.
I decided to read this series after watching the movie and I loved every second, truly a masterpiece in storytelling and world building. Highly recommend for everyone.
Good reading
Excelente calidad
The book cover was slightly scratched, making the box look "used". But overall, books are looking good, nice quality, wonderful design.
Just as advertised
After having read these six volumes, I think the storyline is extraordinary! There’s so many parts of this story that can be related directly to the Bible and also an attempt to combine multiple religious belief systems into one dominant belief system. The interesting thing about the religious aspects of this book is that this book discards religious systems. To me, means that it’s a declaration that religions are false and religion is only useful for exploitation purposes. There is a lot of truth in that. A major objectional part of this writing though, is dealing directly with the mental state of women. There are three characteristics about women as this book presents them. The first one is the perpetual utilization of sex as the primary power for manipulation purposes. The second one is the the utilization of breeding children as tools that include the complete elimination of love! And the breeding of children take you to the third part which you will easily see and that is the mental state of women that displays a woman’s body is her primary source of power. Sex and children is how you control, manipulate and develop the future! I highly recommend this book primarily because it gives you a perspective largely about the mindset of women, which I think most people will be able to associate this to their own direct experience with sexual manipulation. It really is a compilation of some excellent and creative writing!! I do associate this to primarily about religions systems Verses Political systems! Read all six volumes and I’m sure you’ll gain a great bit of knowledge in general about others who think how to rule of the world!
Gift for birthday for brother, he is retired and lives to read! He really like this set.
Finally after many years I have completed reading the six book set. I had read the first two many years ago during recovery from surgery. A different reading experience. Somethings are advanced but in a restricted way. The every day life of those with versus those without continues. Significant improvements in science and technology within the restrictions of the Butlerian Jihad. Everyday issues of politics and religion continue unchanged under different perspectives. Life goes on.
My daughter who is a big fan wanted these in English, so on a business trip to San Diego I bought these and travelled way back to Romania, with them in the luggage. Heavy but worthwhile
This box set is amazing. The story, world-building, and characters are on another level. Each book pulls you deeper into the universe, and it’s hard to put down. If you like sci-fi, politics, philosophy, and big ideas, this is a must-read. Totally worth it.
Well packaged. Arrived undamaged and on time. Books as described.
It's a nice set of books.
Read the first 100 pages in one day great book can’t wait to read the next ones
To start off before anybody reads further, I should clarify that this was for the paperback collection not the mass paperback collection. This is something I somewhat have a problem with but we’ll circle back to that later.To start off with the positives:Package in decent condition, it’s nothing over the top or spectacular but it’s pretty decent imo. Especially considering that this was overseas shipping. It features all the books in the mainline series and doesn’t have that atrocious new cover that came with the movies (it does have a label though saying “now a major picture”). The covers are a lovely matte finish. The book stays down on the table (for the most part) which is really nice if you like reading at a distance or while sitting down. The box art for the collection is also really superb! It looks to be official and the wording and font all match up.Now let’s start with the negatives:For one the quality of the paper is a bit of a let down if you’re looking for premium trade paperback. In reality it resembles more like high quality mass paperback. The pages are a somewhat dimmer white and you can see past the pages. It isn’t bad quality though if you look at this as a mass paperback book. Which for the grand reveal and the only reason it doesn’t have a 5 star is because… it’s not necessarily of trade paperback quality. It’s more like very high end mass paperback which I don’t actually have too much of a problem with. Especially at this price it’s good quality and I think that most would be pleased with the set. But it should have been explained better on the page before you buy it! Other negatives being that the packaging was frayed in some areas which is fine considering that not everything is perfect especially for overseas shipping. I recommend this set only if you’re okay with mass produced paperback.
Still plowing my way through this. Almost done with the next to the last book. It is interesting that each book is like a separate story all set in the same universe although there are often thousands of years between each book. The author had a "grand vision" which is, for me, a little hard to follow at times. If you did not read these books in sequence I doubt you would have any idea of what is going on since they all tie together. What is amazing is that, given the publication dates of some of the first books, the author managed to avoid the "technology trap" that many early sci fi writers fell into - like the "printout chattering on the deck of a star ship". He cleverly provided an explanation and then stayed away from technology for the most part and stuck with ideas instead. His experiences with psychedelics and his life in Oregon clearly show in the structure of the book. What is more interesting is his use of Arabic nomads as a model for the inhabitants of Dune. Having lived at the time he was writing Dune, I can say that Middle East culture and and religion was not in the mainstream so the "Freman" of Dune would have been pretty exotic in the late 60's - not so much so today. All that said - these books hold up surprisingly well at 50+ years. If you've only been exposed to Dune, that is just the tip of the iceberg. If you're tired of all the plug and play Sci Fi that is rolling out today with all the predictable plots, characters and tropes, this can be a refreshing change.
I got a copy of Dune a while back in the new style (currently listed as the Paperback set, which may change - I'll get to that in a minute), but could not find the rest of the series in the same style AND size. For some reason all of the other books in that style were about an inch shorter, and honestly I just wanted a matching set. I had previously viewed this item, and as some of the reviews note, the books were not really a "boxed set" by any means. I want to be clear, the current Paperback selection is a genuine boxed set. I don't understand why Amazon sets this up in a way where a new product just replaces the old one, or why all of the various "sets" of Dune are all listed together. Why would a review for the Hardcover set be exactly the same as the Paperback? People want to know about quality of the material, not just whether the book is good!Anyway, the new boxed set was just released a couple days ago. I bought I liked the art style, along with the size and feel of the copy I had, and I am overall very pleased (though now I have two copies of Dune, so I will be gifting one to a friend). I have two VERY minor qualms with the set. One is it is not exactly the same as the previous copy of Dune, which is disappointing as that is what I have been looking for. It's hard to describe, but the copy of Dune I had has an almost velvety smooth cover, and while the size and art style are the same, the new books have a rougher texture. Again, it's totally minor, but something about that tactile feel when holding it was really great. The second minor qualm is the new copy of Dune has the "soon to be a major motion picture" as part of the cover in a black circle. Not a huge deal. Frankly, I'll probably just put my old copy in the box and gift the new one, but it bugs me when there are permanent additions like that made on a really cool cover (at least the cover isn't a photo of Timothee Chalamet!).Anyway, overall - totally worth the cost for me. Really good set. Love the style. Love the feel of the books in my hand. I'm very excited to read the rest of the series!
