Recently I finished Asimov’s Foundation universe and now I want to try something from other authors. Two series I’m most interested in are Dune and Hyperion but I’m not sure which one to read first. Any recommendations?
Edit: I decided to go with Hyperion first and after that I will read Dune. Thank you all for commenting.
Hyperion is one of my favorite books. It’s uneven, but very good. I’ve read the whole series and after the first one they are fine, but nothing to write home about. You can easily stop after the first book if you want something else.
Dune’s complete series is worthwhile, but I don’t really care for Herbert’s writing style. The universe is very rich and the series explores some of the great ideas in science fiction, but it’s like an RPG sourcebook masquerading as a novel to my tastes.
The sequels are not perfect by any means, but 1-4 had me at full attention throughout and then slowed down after that for me. 2 is so short though I really lump it into Book 1 in my head.
I read Dune and havent read Hyperion yet. Hyperion has to be better because watching paint drying is more appealing to me than rereading Dune. It doesn’t make sense and the characters are flat and horrible.
Hard disagree but appreciate the differing opinion! Hyperion was one of the few books I’ve stopped reading. But I love the entire Dune series. God Emperor is my favorite.
I don’t want to take away anything harmless that people enjoy. You enjoy it and thats enough. Me personally it was by far the worst sci-fi novel I have ever read, and that includes that Heinlein novel the Name of the Beast. Which he deliberately designed to be awful as a teaching tool.
The only thing I enjoy about Dune is the jokes me and buddies have made about it over the years. A friend of mine is in IT and we would torment him with IT in the Dune universe basically being the guy who has to “service” the Mentant and clean the tank of the Navigator.
I’m hyped to see Dune pt 2 when it comes out, and it’s more enjoyable to read the book beforehand to me. You know the deeper lore and appreciate the movie director’s take on the book.
Both of these are premium examples of book series that start out amazing and then start cicling the drain in book two. Add in “Ender’s Game” for the trifecta.
Dune but if you get a few chapters in and feel the writing style is too dense that will not change. It is my favorite series but not everyone likes the style.
Hyperion is a bit uneven, but I wouldn’t call it dense. It’s deliberately exploring different literary genres, some more successfully than others, but I’d never call it difficult reading. Dune can be a real slog at time and there are parts when I’m not even clear who’s saying what.
Well, I was referring to the book Hyperion rather than the whole series. I actually wouldn’t necessarily recommend any of the sequels to Hyperion. They are fine, but forgettable and as hard as they try, they just don’t recapture the big ideas of the first.
So for me it’s Hyperion > Dune, but probably Dune Chronicles > Hyperion Cantos overall, especially in terms of ideas because I never warmed to Herbert’s style.
I love both series from first to last book. Hyperion is a fun blend of genres and ideas, whereas Dune is epic fantasy in space. They are VERY different, but equally amazing.
Any and all (including his short stories) Vinge’s works are well worth a read. He’s up there with David Brin IMHO. Do yourself a favour and read his Uplift series.
They both so good but have different vibes. If you want aliens and tech and the Zerg- Hyperion. If you want worms and sand and magic and ancient dynasties go dune. You can go wrong with either!
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