<description>Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic &lt;em&gt;Dune&lt;/em&gt; was once the domain of sci-fi diehards. But in recent years, the book has crossed over into the mainstream. In today’s &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Books We’ve Loved&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;, &lt;strong&gt;Andrew Limbong&lt;/strong&gt; and &lt;strong&gt;B.A. Parker&lt;/strong&gt; are joined by &lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Throughline&lt;/em&gt;’s&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Ramtin Arablouei&lt;/strong&gt;, who makes a personal case for the story’s appeal – despite its density. Then, special guest, author &lt;a href="https://www.piercebrown.com/"target="_blank" &gt;&lt;strong&gt;Pierce Brown&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, shares whether he thinks &lt;em&gt;Dune&lt;/em&gt; has reached &lt;em&gt;Star Wars&lt;/em&gt; levels of cultural saturation.&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br&gt;Ramtin’s Recommendation: ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ by &lt;strong&gt;Arthur C. Clarke&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by &lt;strong&gt;Ursula K. Le Guin&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Saga’ by &lt;strong&gt;Brian K. Vaughn&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;Learn more about sponsor message choices: &lt;a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices"&gt;podcastchoices.com/adchoices&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy"&gt;NPR Privacy Policy&lt;/a&gt;</description>

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Revisiting Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’

DEC 6, 202536 MIN
NPR's Book of the Day

Revisiting Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’

DEC 6, 202536 MIN

Description

Frank Herbert’s 1965 epic Dune was once the domain of sci-fi diehards. But in recent years, the book has crossed over into the mainstream. In today’s Books We’ve Loved, Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker are joined by Throughline’s Ramtin Arablouei, who makes a personal case for the story’s appeal – despite its density. Then, special guest, author Pierce Brown, shares whether he thinks Dune has reached Star Wars levels of cultural saturation.


Ramtin’s Recommendation: ‘Rendezvous with Rama’ by Arthur C. Clarke

Parker’s Recommendation: ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ by Ursula K. Le Guin

Andrew’s Recommendation: ‘Saga’ by Brian K. Vaughn


To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy