I’ve just started reading Frank Herbert’s Dune in French, so far I’m really thrilled, and that is in part facilitated by the fact that all the made up words that were created by the author to describe invented things have been lingQued by someone. So now, while coming across a strange word I don’t have to google it (which might ruin the immersion), plus if you google these words you might come across some spoilers on Dune wiki or any other forum. Once again, I express my gratitude towards someone who’ve previously read Dune on lingQ, hope you enjoyed it!
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Yes, this is always a fun little “easter egg” when the translations make it clear someone has already read this story in this language before!
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You just gave me a possible idea for my next French book, thanks. 
However, I’m a bit lost, there are 6 volumes. 
Plus, there are others by Brian Hebert, including a prelude.
That would take a lot of time!
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I read the first two and stopped there. The second book brings a good conclusion to the first’s story arc, but it also introduces elements that I didn’t care for (at least at the time), which let me know to stop there (for now).
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Yeah, that’s a lot! I counted the words according to LingQ after I’ve imported all 6 volumes and it amounted to a million words, with about 2000 unique words in each book. There is a new French edition from 2020 if you’re interested.
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I totally get that feeling! Sometimes I come across new words with no meanings by other readers and think to myself “damn, I must be the first person on lingq to read this book and pave a path to the generation of learners to come”. While reading Sapkowski’s The Witcher I noticed that someone read through first books, but didn’t bother to read there rest.
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Yes, it’s great when one (or many) people have read a book, leaving good translation options to choose from. I really see this in the “Dino Lernt Deutsch” books - so many people have read it, so there are lots of good translations for all the words.
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Wow, that’s a lot of words. I have just looked on Amazon what there is in French. I’ll take that in consideration once I finish the book I’ve been reading at the moment.
Is it engaging? What’s worrying me is to stay hooked for so long with one story only.
I have started the Divergent series in Spanish, but in this case I’m certain that I love this series already, so I’m not worried about getting bored. There are 4 books in this.
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The funniest “easter egg” of this kind to me was when I was reading Brandon Sanderson’s “The Final Empire” in Spanish (El imperio final), and looked up a very common phrase just to double-check.
And someone had saved a sentence from a whole other Brandon Sanderson novel as a definition 
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“Dune” was great. “Dune Messiah” was OK. I read two more and didn’t care for them.
“Dune” is a big enough book on its own. I’ll put it on my French list.
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Just finished reading the second book. WHAT A RIDE. I really enjoyed these 2 books. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so engrossed in reading them.
I’ve seen the same sentiment online from people who share their experience with science-fiction. They usually say that the second book is needed in order to understand in a right way the first one. The other 4 are as interesting as they are convoluted.
For the first time since I’ve started reading français I enjoyed poetry/verse/songs. For some reason it just clicked with me. Would definetely recommend reading new 2020 robert laffont edition of dune, if you’re going to read it in french.
If someone wants an audio-book of Dune, here’s a free reading of the first book:
playlist on youtube
If you’re going to import 2020 edition on lingq, know that the last part of each book is dedicated to dune-dictionary (about 6000 words)
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@baguettenjoyer Thanks for sharing. I suppose now you have the 3rd book?
I suppose you have already searched about all books for Dune. I don’t remember anything anymore. How many editions are there?
If I’m gonna read it in French (still thinking about it), I would prefer to read the movie version. But those books, are so much different than the original ones? Or are pretty much the same?
Could you clarify the entire chronology? Also for the next users that might be interested in reading some of these books. Thanks.
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There is a french article that explains changes - « Un petit nettoyage de “Dune” était nécessaire »
I didn’t see the movie, my only touchstones with Dune before starting this reading journey were Dune II and Dune Spice Wars. So I’m not reallt sure about the changes to the plot that were made in the Villeneuve’s films.
The 2020 edition of the book makes translation from enflish to french better, basically it’s just a reviewed old translation, no changes to the original. In the news article they go into depth on all the made-up terms, or uncorrect translation of female to femelle, etc etc
Old editions of Dune
New edition
Here is a video , that explains how movie deviated from the books, but there are spoilers , so prob watch it after reading the books and then watching the film 
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I have read the article, thanks.
Basically the 2020 edition is a lot better for the French translation. It is a meticulous improvement of the previous Michel Demuth French translation. Too bad there is only 1 book, and the other 5 are still to be done. There is no mention if they are working or not in all next volumes.
As far as the chronological order, I’ve found this page with all English language novels.
After reading a couple of other commentaries, I guess the best way is to read all 6 Frank Herbert books, and it is enough. There are prequels and sequels but those are add-ons not from the original author.
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I didn’t know there was a new 2020 translation of “Dune.” I’ll definitely check it out if I decide to read “Dune” in French. Thanks.
Your point that “Dune Messiah” clarifies “Dune” makes sense to me. The first book felt too triumphal for a desert warlord to arise and conquer all. “Messiah” makes it clear Herbert wasn’t arguing for religious military fascism, but was observing historical cycles interacting ecological realities.
My favorite Herbert is “The Dosadi Experiment.” I’ll probably read that in French before “Dune.” “Dosadi” is a more compact, comprehensible story with a real love story at its heart. I think it would make a great TV mini-series.
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