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365 Starry Nights: An Introduction to Astronomy for Every Night of the YearTHE AMATEUR STARGAZER'S ULTIMATE HOME COMPANION 365 Starry Nights is a unique and fascinating introduction to astronomy designed to give you a complete, clear picture of the sky every night of the year. Divided into 365 concise, illustrated essays, it focuses on the aesthetic as well as the scientific aspects of stargazing. It offers the most up to date information available, with hundreds of charts, drawings, and maps that take you beyond the visible
THE AMATEUR STARGAZER'S ULTIMATE HOME COMPANION365 Starry Nights is a unique and fascinating introduction to astronomy designed to give you a complete, clear picture of the sky every night of the year. Divided into 365 concise, illustrated essays, it focuses on the aesthetic as well as the scientific aspects of stargazing. It offers the most up-to-date information available, with hundreds of charts, drawings, and maps-that take you beyond the visible canopy of stars and constellations into the unseen realm of nebulae and galaxies.
This simple yet substantial text is full of critical information and helpful hints on how to observe the stars; describe their position; calculate their age, brightness, and distance; and much more. Whether you observe the sky with a telescope or the naked eye, 365 Starry Nights makes the infinite intimate and brings the heavens within your grasp. Keep this invaluable, informative guide close at hand, and you'll find that the sky is the limit 365 nights a year.
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Touchstone Books
Published: 01/30/1990
ISBN: 9780671766061
Pages: 240
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 10.90h x 8.40w x 0.80d
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4.8 ★★★★★
Based on 18 reviews
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★★★★★ 4
‘Dune’ Paved the Way for Surfer Proverbs and ‘Star Wars’ Alike
Format: Kindle
A Bene Gesserit proverb: “When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way.”
I have to be honest, as a contemporary consumer of sci-fi film, small screen works and books, Frank Herbert’s 1965 Dune starts out slow. To be clear, I’m talking about the first half of some 800 pages. The reason why I stuck it out, though, is because I know the saga gets better as it continues (with Children of Dune being arguably the favorite). Known as one of the original sci-fi novels, I approached it like I would any classic piece of literature. And you know what? I’d put Dune in my personal cannon of classic lit because of it’s heavy influence on sci-fi … everything. That’s right, not even Star Wars would exist without Dune.
Herbert, a (sometimes struggling) freelance writer with a passion for ecology and a streak of utopian futurism, wrote Dune when he was almost 40 years old. At the time, sci-fi readers generally liked their stories short but this paperback was almost 900 pages. Not surprising, Dune wasn’t an overnight success but it’s popularity grew in the 1970s and 1980s.
Dune is set in a dry, distant future, where warring noble houses are kept in line by an interstellar empire. The noble duke Leto (heir apparent Paul Atreides’ father), head of the House Atreides, is forced to move his household from their perfectly good home planet to the desert planet of Arrakis (also known as Dune). The climate on Dune is practically inhabitable to the layman. Water is so scarce that whenever its inhabitants go outside, they must wear stillsuits, which capture body moisture and recycle it for drinking (it’s beyond nasty).
In a nutshell, the whole thing is a classic you killed my father and I’m going to get revenge coming of age story. Everything else revolves around the hot commodity on Arrakis, which is basically a very powerful and desired drug: Spice (melange). This cinnamon-scented substance is made from excretions of killer 1,000-foot sand worms (yes, I had a lot of Tremors flashbacks reading this book), gas, then exposure to the sun — but to mine it is very dangerous because said worms don’t like noise. At all.
The drug is crazy addictive but it’s also everywhere in small doses, so everyone that lives on or visits the planet has to stay, or else suffer fatal dopesickness. For empathic people, it helps explore the limits of personal identity and the mind’s relationship to the body. Daily use extends the lifespan by hundreds of years. Paul’s intellectual state (already Jedi-like due to his Bene Gesserit training) is heightened by the spice, causing some pretty spot-on nuggets of wisdom. Fear is a mind-killer.
“Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear’s path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain,” Paul reminds his mother at one point. While commentary on fear is serious and quite important to ponder, I’m reminded of the advice from the late Patrick Swayze’s character in Point Break: “Fear causes hesitation. And hesitation causes your greatest fear to come true.”
By 1984 we had our very own Dune movie, directed by David Lynch (I’ve yet to see it but to be fair Lynch didn’t even like the cut that was released). Critics say an even better Dune movie came out later: Star Wars. Desert planets, evil emperors, a boy with a destiny, warring noble houses and a princess guarding spice — all things borrowed from Dune. There are mental Jedi powers like the Bene Gesserit, and even moisture farming like the Freman. Academics have written entire doctoral thesis on the topic.
What’s next? Well, I’m waiting for the new Dune feature film to come out (prob not until late 2020), directed by Dennis Villeneuve. A feat that’s proven difficult today due to the original book’s heavy influence on so many well-established sci-fi classics like Star Wars. Consequently, it’s been rumored difficult to get the screenplay right. But in July 2019, Herbert’s son Brian (who co-wrote prequels to the Dune saga after his father’s death) said he’s seen and is pleased with draft four of the screenplay … in the meantime, I’m reading Dune Messiah.
And drinking a tall glass of ice water.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2020
★★★★★ 5
The Spice of Spices
Format: Kindle
Royal intrigue, infighting among the various "Houses" of the Galactic Empire and The Spacing Guild that controls all space travel through the use of the "spice" Melange. And the only source of all Melange is on Arrakis, the planet known as Dune. At the heart of the story is young Paul Atreides son of Duke Leto and his "formal" concubine Lady Jessica. The Atreides are the ruling House on planet Caladan, a planet rich in water. But the Emperor has other plans for them; in a plot hatched between the Emperor and House Harkonnen, the Atreides House will be transferred to planet Arrakis and there, set up for failure. In this complex, finely crafted novel author Frank Herbert proves himself to be a master story teller. Filled with intricate plans, betrayals and hidden "plans within plans" this amazing novel will have you on the edge of your seat. Published in 1965 Dune went on to win both the Hugo and Nebula awards for best novel in 1966. Followed by 5 sequels and several follow up novels by Frank's son Brian, this is probably one of the best selling series of all time. In the first novel, Dune, Paul and his mother Lady Jessica, a member of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, find themselves betrayed and alone in the desert. With Harkonnen agents hunting them and wild desert Fremen lurking in the shadows, the odds of survival are against them. I don't want to go to far into the details of the story line, that's been covered pretty well by other reviewers and this novel is something you need to experience for yourself. If you've read it before then you need no introduction. If this is your first read then go into it like I did, cold and not knowing what to expect. Herbert's writing is amazingly detailed and rich with hidden elements, his descriptive passages make you feel like you're on Arrakis. For insights on Dune's natural history, including it's geology, ecology and biology of the sand-worms read Appendix 1. In Appendix's 2 & 3 you get background on the various religions and the history of the Bene Gesserit's. Herbert provides an extensive glossary for unfamiliar terms and a break down of the various Houses of the Empire. All this supplemental material gives you some idea how much planing and forethought went into the writing of this novel. You may notice some similarity between Dune's Fremen society and our own Middle Eastern cultures, I'm sure this is not accidental and Herbert's research was extensive. Paul's greatest fear was that he could end up leading the Fremen on some kind of religious "jihad" that would sweep through the Empire and cost millions of lives. Whether you're reading Dune for the first time or just revisiting an old friend, this is a novel you don't want to miss. Like reading "20 Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" or "Lord of the Rings" you can't go wrong in reading a classic and Dune is not only a classic, it's The Classic science fiction novel. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition.
Last Ranger
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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2014
★★★★★ 5
A Fair and Balanced Review from an Unashamed Fan
Frank Herbert's Dune is simultaneously one of the most sublime and frustrating works of literature ever produced.
I gave this novel a 5/5 rating outright for two reasons: it's my favorite novel, one I never tire of re-reading; and it's a book that should be read at least once by anyone interested in science fiction, fantasy, history, political science, economics, mysticism, or narrative. Regardless of whether or not someone actually enjoys Dune, every reader can glean something from it.
That said, were it not for the latter two points, I would likely give this novel a lower rating, and here's why:
Dune sacrifices storytelling for story.
What in the name of Thor am I talking about? Let me explain.
The world-building of Dune is outstanding, and I mean, REALLY outstanding. Tolkien can't hold a candle to Herbert's work in this regard - sure, he came up with a number of artificial languages, but from a narrative perspective that's actually one of the less productive things you can do to flesh out a setting.
In Dune, every story element has relevance and connection to every other story element. The political reality of the galaxy depends on economic power, which is derived from trade, which is made possible by the Spacing Guild, who uses the spice, which exists only on Arrakis, whose administration depends upon the political climate. Paul's character is related to the mystical aspects of the story, but also brings relevance to the ecological and historical aspects. And so on, and so on. There isn't a loose thread here, no equivalent of the Fellowship of the Ring's Barrow-wights; nothing here could be removed from the whole package without substantially diminishing it. Tapping into all of these fundamental spheres of thought and creativity gives Dune the feeling of being a real history, and it gives the reader the feeling they're witnessing a change in the axis of civilization - something more subtly epic than big battles, of which we only get one (and an indirectly described one at that).
That said, because Herbert is so dedicated to giving us as much material to work with as he can, in many instances this novel misses out on what might have been effective dramatic elements. An important plot point early on in the book is the supposed presence of a traitor in the midst of the Atreides, a traitor who will make the Harkonnen plot possible. Ordinarily I wouldn't mention this for spoiler concerns, but the novel basically comes out and tells you who the traitor is from the beginning, a while before it even comes into play in the events of the story. The reason this is problematic is because in a story which is so dependent upon political intrigue, it makes the decisions of the characters more powerful when we share in the mystery of the information around them.
Another narrative problem is Paul himself. Though he is unquestionably the central character of the story as well as its protagonist, Paul starts off as a precocious fifteen-year-old and ends as a major player in galactic politics. In other words, he starts of as unrelatable and becomes less relatable as time goes by. In fact, several of my friends told me they stopped reading after a while because they didn't like Paul. This is an entirely fair criticism. In fact, the only character with whom a reader could form a true emotional connection would be Paul's mother, the Lady Jessica, whose problems are much more grounded in humanity. Now Paul's nature is basically vital to the fabric of the story, so it would diminish the story's complexity for him to become a more human character; but Dune would undoubtedly have been an easier reading experience had the novel chosen to focus on Jessica.
This should give you a taste of what I mean. Dune isn't a novel that really engages a reader on an emotional level; because it reads so much like a history, it engages you on intellectual and thematic levels - but again, not emotionally.
This is still my favorite novel, because measured against the standards of what it's trying to accomplish it succeeds beautifully; but potential readers should know what sort of undertaking they're facing when they pick this up.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2011
★★★★★ 5
God created Arrakis to train the faithful.
Format: Kindle
Being as long as it has been since I've last read Dune, eight or nine years or so, I had a small worry that my extremely high opinion of the book was at least slightly inflated by time's passage and fond memory. The first chapter alone was enough to dissuade me of that. I sit here now, having just finished, with full confirmation that Dune remains on the throne my thirteen-year-old self set it upon; that of my favorite book. Herbert's writing is sharp, his ideas are powerful, and he is willing to dive deep immediately. He asks much of the reader, providing a glossary and gently insisting we keep up. Those types of stories are the most rewarding, I've found.
Forgive me but most of this review, all of it perhaps, will be unfiltered praise. This book means a lot to me; it has for a long time. And revisiting it, in light of all the exciting movie news with Denis Villeneuve, was more than a treat. I will refrain from summarizing the story; it's likely you know what it's about. If not, Goodreads has neatly summarized it better than I will.
The book, and the prose in general, holds up extremely well for having been written over fifty years ago. Admittedly the character thoughts and some dialogue is a little stiff in areas. But not so much so that it hindered my enjoyment in any way. Additionally I'm not used to omniscient narration; you just don't see it that often currently. I don't at least. So the POV hopping without chapter or line breaks took just a little getting used to. Having said that, I am so impressed by Herbert's expertise at moving his story using the art of conversation, and all its minutiae. This is especially true when Fremen are in conversation with non-natives, and the culture clash is on display.
If you hold it in your hand, what you hold is more than a mere science fiction novel. It breaks through those boundaries as a worm broaching the desert surface. This is a space-fantasy, and a heady mixture. The story is wrapped up as much in mysticism and religion as it is in technology; more so even. It is as concerned with ecological prediction and deep, flowing political undercurrents as it is with a well-written fight scene. It is the perfect mixture of odd-future strangeness, vast cosmic scope, and spiritual involvement that stitches the story up at the seams. Prophecy, and psychedelic consciousness-expansion through the addictive spice melange, are as much the heart of this story as laser guns and space ships. So much so that one wonders just how many mushrooms Frank Herbert was eating as he penned this thing in the 1960's. And I'm only kind of kidding.
Herbert, with this first story alone, never mind the sequels, displays an absolute mastery of world-building. He has just the right flavors of real-world inspiration and influence to make it all feel familiar; especially in the touches of Eastern influence, down to the broken remnants of Sanskrit appearing in the Fremen language. It all just feels so feasible. Like you're at once reading a manual of our distant future and texts of our ancient past. Meeting in the now. That ethereal, dream-like moment of present time. The now. It's clear I've been infected by the mood of the story. And beyond anything else, the story is itself is just so interesting. I found it hard to put down even for a moment. Even the epigraphs are worth a session of deep thought, and clearly lead the way for popular usage in things like Sanderson's Cosmere stories.
Dune influenced so much that followed it it's just undeniable. I can't help but draw parallels with the Wheel of Time, which I'm in the middle of. I drew comparisons with the Aiel/Fremen immediately when I started reading WoT, and that comparison is reinforced. As are other little things that hint at direct homage (Shaitan being the name for Satan in Dune, for example). I remember, all those years ago in Frogtown Books, the quote on the back that caught my eye. 'I know nothing comparable to it except the Lord of the Rings.' What higher praise? Here is a book that transformed the landscape of science fiction; just as it transformed, for me, what fiction can be.
Something like Dune is extremely hard to review for me, so forgive my love affair in the form of language. I just can't say enough good things. Dune shaped my reading life growing up, and now I remember why. I can do nothing more but urge you to read it.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2019
★★★★★ 5
A must read epic that leaves you hanging a bit
Format: Kindle
Right off the bat, this is one of the most enjoyable and thought provoking books I’ve ever read. I’ve always struggled with books this long, but this book was such a page turner that I looked forward to getting back to it night after night for about 10 days. Two very different types of work, but the only time I’ve ever felt like this about a book of this magnitude in volume was with the lengthier Harry Potter books. Despite all the made up terms that Mr. Herbert created to delineate this massive interplanetary world, which can be a bit confusing in the beginning, you’re sucked into the vortex that is Dune from 1st chapter. Some of the most enjoyable aspects of this book for me were constant flow of inner perspectives from one character to another in beautiful prose, timeless characterization of human society, religion, politics, technology, etc., and the sheer scale of this universe which goes much beyond the planet of Arrakis where the majority of this 1st book takes place. From the beginning, the reader gets very much invested into the main character of Paul Atreides. Early scenes make you excited about the potential of his power and influence, you ride along with early trials and tribulations that include massive loss of loved ones, and you see the ascension of his power and stature from the lowliest of place. But things aren’t all rosy, along the way, you see the boy becoming a man while giving up his innocence. The sense of righteousness and compassion for people that he’s held so dearly seem to fade in the process as he wades his way through the realization of his extraordinary power, though you don’t really see how those inner transgressions manifest themselves down the road. On a related note, the sole downfall of this book for me is the abruptness of the ending. Up until the very end, you’re treated with a barrage of character and story development, but Mr. Herbert throws a changeup at the end with a very economic conclusion to the story. You’re left hanging wondering what in the world the ending means for the plethora of characters you’ve become invested in. You wonder whether Paul will walk in the light, or in the darkness in his new position. I don’t know whether this was done intentionally to introduce a sense of comic irony, or whether a sense of cliffhanger was placed to get people to read the subsequent books. If the latter was the case, I must admit my disappointment. This was such an amazing book for me until the end. The subsequent books should’ve been recognized on their own merit, and not rely on the momentum of this first book. But I could be wrong, I’m just a casual reader, and perhaps this sort of ending is a pure touch of genius to the experts. But as a casual reader, I felt left hanging, grasping for something that’ll never be fulfilled….like life (and perhaps that was the author’s point too).
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Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2020