Never Be Bored
6 October 2018
Really Big Worms
Dune by Frank Herbert, science fiction novel. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, and Drive by Dave Kellett.
Intrigue! Revolution! Ecology and religion and really big worms! Dune has it all. This is one of the classic science fiction novels—an excellent choice both for those who don't read a lot of sci fi and want to start with a Hugo and Nebula winner (I will pretty much read anything with a Hugo nomination, and I haven't been let down yet) as well as for those who are already sci fi lovers.
Dune drops you straight into the middle of the story, and it's up to you to figure out this strange future world as it goes along. Case in point: the book begins as the Duke of House Atreides, his concubine the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica, their son Paul, and their advisors and servants are headed to Arrakis, a harsh desert planet which is the only source of the invaluable spice melange. Right away the reader is left with a thousand questions and no choice but to keep reading in hopes of getting some answers—the kind of world building which is absolutely my jam (although you might want to give it a couple of chapters to really get going). This is a novel with some major scope, and just from a literary standpoint, a worthwhile read. Dune was published in 1965, and since then has become the best selling science fiction novel of all time and has had a huge cultural impact (there's even a crater on the moon named for the book).
Frank Herbert also wrote five sequels to Dune, there's a 1984 film, a miniseries, and even more books written by others inspired by Dune.
If you loved the whole Chosen One vibe of Paul, but wanted something set in a slightly more familiar setting, try Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. It's got that young protagonist trying to deal with his duties/destiny, but most of it is set on, or in orbit around, Earth. It also won the Hugo and Nebula awards and also has many sequels.
If you loved the intense figure-it-out-as-you-go-along world building, but wanted something a little more modern, try Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer, the first in her Terra Ignota series. If Dune is the Baby Boomer's or Gen X's science fiction, Too Like the Lightning belongs to the millennials and Gen Z. An excellent mix of political intrigue, discussions of gender dynamics, philosophy, and murder.
If you loved the idea of the secretive transportation Guild and a government spanning solar systems, but were looking for something funny and a bit less intense, try Drive, an ongoing webcomic by Dave Kellett. I like the art style all in blue and white, the characters are lovable, and Dave Kellett is a master of comedic timing in comic panels.