There is little I enjoyed about this story. Unfortunately the views of the author are so blatant that I can't just detach it from real life. There is so much discrimination, I honestly I had to stop and reread like is that really what was said? And yes, every time. I would love to see what other people see that end up loving these stories. I do like the sandworms. But I couldn't even find the characters enjoyable. Paul is revolting in every way to me. The use of religion makes my skin crawl. I think he is a villain. I don't think we are supposed to like him. 

I think part of the intention here was to show how harmful humans and power is. That I can agree with. But I still wish that I liked more about this story. 

Dune cannot be separated from its context—the time and place it was written and by whom it was written—nor can it be separated from its monumental influence on the genre. The ecological themes it explores remain fascinating, and perhaps more relevant than ever; it's eco-conscious in a very astute, trailblazing way and reflects not only on significant environmental issues, but also on the systems and people who impact these issues and control resources, and consequently life itself. This aspect is thought-provoking and should be considered its lasting legacy. Yet, it's also an extremely dated novel in a lot of ways. It puts forward a very gender essentialist view of the world, and having two or three interesting female characters doesn’t change the fact that it holds regressive ideals. And although it has an interesting critique of imperialism—that spans the series, so I’ve heard—it’s extremely easy to misinterpret (asking people how they view Paul is a pretty great way of telling how they read the series; the answers vary <i>a lot</i>), and it often veers into orientalism. There’s also the main villain of this first book, who is the only fat character and only homosexual character, both of these being used to denote his depravity and evilness (not one “good” character who sees the Baron fails to mention how “fat” and “gross” he is, and he’s also a pedophile, Herbert making it clear that being a pedophile and a homosexual go hand in hand.) The writing itself is dull, often stilted, and not particularly engaging, although the world-building and political machinations (and Lady Jessica) keep the book going. I read this mainly (only) because my mother is a huge fan and has been trying to get me to read it since I was a kid. I went in with an open mind and an open heart, and although it’s far from my literary interests, I love to hear the way she talks about it and understand her perspective a little better through it.