# Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Recommended as one of the strongest books in the first three Dune novels, with praise for its action. The main caveat is that it is hard to read.

## Why people recommend it

- Part of the best Dune trilogy (2 comments): "I liked the first three (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) the best" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49859775)) "Book 1-3 of Dune are masterpieces IMO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47667375))
- Has lots of action (1 comments): "despite being hard to read does have lots of action" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48965606))

## What people warn about

- Hard to read and finish (2 comments): "The book is terrible and I've never managed to make it through a second time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48962088)) "despite being hard to read does have lots of action" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48965606))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593098234?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780593098233) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune-messiah/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).