# Dune by Frank Herbert Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune/ 39 people recommended Dune by Frank Herbert in Hacker News comments, 11 had mixed feelings and 16 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 26 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Influential science fiction admired for its deep world-building, fresh voice and ideas about power and machines. Critics find it long and dense, and say the later books decline. Summary written by Claude from 49 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 33 of those comments still count. ## Why people recommend it - Deeply developed world and societies (3 comments in the sample): "the joy of the books was developing a deep understanding of the societies and their norms" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49154013)) "the biggest plot hole in Dune, but I deeply appreciate the world and narrative it enabled" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47802348)) "I liked the book a lot, and had a very personal image of what the world looked like" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49058983)) - Ideas about machines and power (3 comments in the sample): "Herbert's point about dependence on machines creating machine-dependent humans, trapped in a deterministic arc of evolution" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50128000)) "Prefer Herbert's simpler, more self-reflective, nuanced warning to not desecrate the divine mystery of mind." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47458171)) "Very interesting reflections in those books on power/human nature" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056432)) - Fresh, influential science fiction (2 comments in the sample): "It's one of the best SF books of all time, with a voice that still seems fresh today." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48930027)) "Dune is a landmark work that still influences modern writers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48930237)) ## What people warn about - Dense and long to finish (4 comments in the sample): "Though Dune is highly acclaimed for its concepts, I couldn’t quite get into it personally." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47806068)) "Whatever virtues you care to ascribe to Dune, “succinct” is not one of them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48445852)) "I didn't like that it was so thick, but it was a small book dimensionally." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49725679)) - Kindle edition misprints (2 comments in the sample): "for a long while in e-book editions on Amazon Kindle the word "pogrom" was rendered as "program" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50130303)) "pogrom" was mis-spelled as "program" and there was an error in formatting in the glossary" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46220175)) - Plot hole around superintelligent AI (1 comment in the sample): "the biggest plot hole in Dune, because a superintelligent AI would have precluded a lot of the dynamics in the stories" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50133735)) - Later books decline (1 comment in the sample): "Dune (just know it goes downhill fast after the first book" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46388167)) ## Other science fiction novels people recommend - [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight/): 78 recommend, 18 mixed, 23 criticize - [Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://hackerapproved.com/p/children-of-time/): 64 recommend, 1 mixed, 4 criticize - [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando/): 63 recommend, 7 mixed, 8 criticize - [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division/): 57 recommend, 34 mixed, 28 criticize ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0441172717) - [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/book/9780441172719) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Dune by Frank Herbert", https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune/ (39 recommend, 11 mixed, 16 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.