Rank the books in the Dune series from best to worst

The first Dune is a classic. I read the 2nd and 3rd, not the rest of the series.

Dune is a great story. It doesn't matter whether you like science fiction or not.

1 - Dune - No explanation needed.

2 - God Emperor of Dune - Slow and spacey but I liked the existential thinking.

3 - Children of Dune - Good storytelling, interesting exploration of "each revolution carrying the seeds of it's own destruction".

4 - Dune Messiah - I think Herbert tried to recapture the plot elements of the first book and it ended up feeling like a pale imitation.

5 - Heretics of Dune - Cool action with Teg and all, but the story was too discombobulated even for Dune.

6 - Chapterhouse Dune - I sort of stopped caring at this point.

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100 - Anything with Brian Herbert's name on it.

I would say the quality of the books in the Dune series follows the order in which Herbert wrote them. Dune is by far the best book in the series. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are decent, but there's a huge drop in quality from God Emperor of Dune through Chapterhouse: Dune. I tried reading one of the Brian Herbert penned novels, but it was just awful.

I respect an author getting so deeply into a fictional world, but unfortunately Herbert can't hold my interest in those later novels. I feel the same way about the majority of Tolkien's Silmarillion.

I think Herbert's best book is actually Destination: Void. It reminds me a lot of some of PKD's later stuff.

I don't know anybody who finished the last book.

I've only read the first one, which was fantastic. I wanted to go on with the series but I have several SF-fanatic friends who told me not to bother, that each book is less interesting than the last. Some have made it to the 5th or 6th book, some bailed out after 3 or 4.

There are too many great SF books out there to bother with lousy ones. Frank Herbert was one of those writers who only manages to create a single great work, then spun his wheels the rest of his life. The first book led to such a big franchise that there will always been sequels, and it seems they will always be lousy.

I liked God Emperor Dune the most and I have read every book.

I liked God Emperor Dune the most and I have read every book.

I loved Dune, and was told by several people to stop there because I would only be disappointed if I kept reading.

Read through God Emperor of Dune. After that they get excessively weird and kind of uncomfortably focused on sex.

The first 4 are all excellent, though. First one's best, but the others are worth reading.

I've read the series in it's entirety every year for about the last 15 years. When I first read it, I made several friends read the series so I'd have folks to talk about them with. They all loved the series nearly as much as I did and it's still my favorite thing to read. Here's my opinion:

1. Dune - great for originality and hope but those who stop there are cheating themselves. The whole saga is about the pitfalls of wanting and being a messiah and for all the first book's freshness, it's a story we've seen 1000 times...'The Chosen One.' god.

2. God Emperor - the crux of the whole series. More contemplative than the others, more about human nature and history.

3. Heretics of Dune - very mature writing and great action. Delves into sex and romantic relationships way more than the other books (it was the 70s) but great ass-kicking battles between the Bene Gesserit and their warped enemies the Honored Matres. Introduces fan-favorite, Miles Teg, 'The Bashar'.

4. Chapterhouse: Dune - a counter-piece to Heretics but good in its own right. Best twist of the series and ends on a genuine cliffhanger.

5. Dune Messiah - a decent sequel to Dune that casts Paul in the worst light. Almost the 'Empire Strikes Back' of the series as it ends on a series of downers but it's just that good. Still, very memorable scenes.

6. Children of Dune - not great. Few real twists and Leto is boring. Ghanima totally unexplored. Still, light-years ahead of Brian Herbert's horrific Dune abortions.