1 yr. ago • 97%

Dune or Hyperion

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.

62 comments

Hyperion, then Dune. Hyperion is really awesome but its gonna pale in comparison to Dune, IMO

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- I agree with this. They are two entirely different kinds of books, but anything pales in comparison to the Dune series.
  
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  Dune is different. There is nothing else like it. Maybe the closest I've found to it is the Book of the New Sun series but I have to take those even slower than I did Dune because they are DENSE
  
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Dune is my pick. I've read both and I've gone back to dune time and time again but only read Hyperion the once. Just my personal preference. Both were amazing but for me dune had better reread value.

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Permanently Deleted

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- To add to this, Dune is a really slow start. It takes a minute to get to the good parts, but it's worth the wait.
  
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- But if dune is too dense then Hyperion is even worse, no?
  
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  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.
  
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Dune over Hyperion all day. But you should really read A Deepness in the Sky. Everyone should.

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- Vinge's other one, "A Fire Upon the Deep", is also a fun thought experiment.
  
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  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.
  
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Hyperion

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Read the first book of each series and see how you feel about them. No need to commit to the whole series until you're sure you like one. Both are great in their own way. But it is worth noting that Dune gets really different after the first book and books 3 and 4 of Hyperion are like a whole different story. You might consider reading the first book of Dune, then Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion. Then see about the rest.

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- Hell. Books 4 & 5 of Dune are pretty much an entirely different story. I couldn't bring myself to finish 5 or even start 6. The first three books were legendary though.
  
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Dune. Just so you can participate in the buzz generated by the films, and have a greater appreciation of their adaptation attempt.

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- They did a great job on the first one imo. I saw the trailer for 2 while watching Oppenheimer and looks legit.
  
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For my money, Dune is by far the better book. But I'd personally stop reading after about the 4th one in the series max (might even stop at 3). They don't hold up well after that I don't think.

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- You have a problem with high-kicking sex priestesses and homophobia??
  
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Dune all day any day

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- The 3 main books are chefs kiss but there is an extended universe.
  
  Also look into the revelationspace books.
  
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  Book 4, God Emperor, is the best.
  
  I hated it the first time. Struggled the second and third. Loved it every reread since
  
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Hyperion is more meaningful. Dune is more of an epic.

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That is a very hard question.

Hyperion first, because it's nice and will give you momentum.

Dune is beautiful, but dense, and especially later it starts sapping energy, in fact quit after God-Emperor, the last 2 don't have that much to offer.

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- I liked the first and last book best.
  
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  Dune was great, GE was my favorite, but chapterhouse really felt like he went way around the bend.
  
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I always felt Dune was boring and overrated. Hyperion I loved though.

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- Heresy!
  
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  Haha I know it’s an unpopular opinion. But I read all the books as a kid waiting for a payoff that just never seemed to come for me.
  
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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.

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I would say Dune first but give Hyperion a shot. I actually just finished the Hyperion cantos the other day and am still working through the 6th Dune book.

I personally think Hyperion has some cool ideas and concepts but just never really hit greatness for me.

To also mimic what others are saying Dune changes drastically after book 3 and 4 and Hyperion is basically separate stories split between books 1,2 and 3,4.

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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.

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- I like books that are RPG sourcebooks masquerading as novels.
  
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I loved Hyperion, I'm thinking about rereading it. The original Dune has been my favorite since I was 13 years old. I'm going to get flayed alive for saying this, but I honestly enjoyed most of the prequels his son and Kevin J. Anderson wrote.

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Yes

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Hyperion is my favorite of the two, but I don’t think you could go wrong with either. If you are interested in audiobooks there is one for Dune that is very good.

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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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Dune!

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Dune. And it’s not even close.

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Dune, but both are excellent.

Here are some of my subjective rankings:

Foundation is the front runner of "Epic" sci-fi, by far. It's relatively easy to follow. Some of the individual stories are memorable, and a few are less memorable when compared to the others. Foundation is my favourite sci-fi series of all time.

Dune is epic when compared to any series apart from Foundation. The earlier books are more memorable, but the later books are still excellent. I prefer the more nuanced political plots in Dune compared to Foundation.

Hyperion is more about some top-tier stories that spill over in to epicness. Some of these stories are more memorable to me than the individual stories in Foundation and Dune. Political intrigue is developed later and isn't as central to the overall plots.

Whichever you pick you win.

4
both are a must read but Dune is my favorite by far

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Just keep in mind that they're very different books. You might not even like both of them - personally, I really struggled to get through Hyperion, but Dune is an all time favorite.

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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.

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Dune!

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The first Dune book is amazing. The last book has some interesting philosophical ideas but is pretty over the top.

I read the middle books and they're not great tbh.

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Just out of curiosity, when you say Foundation universe do you also mean his Empire and Robots books? Because if not, I'd get on that before I move on to anything non-Asimov.

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- Yes, I mean Empire and Robots books too.
  
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- There are a few other books in that universe, 3 in that story line by Bedford, Brin, then Bear. Another series in the world, Caliban by Roger McBride Allen
  
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Skip both and read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson instead

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- Read the first chapter here and fall in love with our protagonist
  
  https://genius.com/Neal-stephenson-snow-crash-chapter-one-annotated
  
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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.

I expect downvotes.

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- Southern Reach trilogy would be my example. That and Forever War have the worse sci-fi sequels of all time.
  
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- You're right, but Hyperion's sequels are better than either Dune's or Ender's Game's.
  
  Also, see Kevin J. Anderson for a dude who's made an entire career out of pooping in other people's sand boxes.
  
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- I'm sorry, Speaker for the Dead is circling the drain? Complete change in tact sure, but I'd hardly call it bad
  
  Xenocide on the other hand...
  
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Can‘t comment on Dune, but the Hyperion Cantos starts awesome, becomes a bit dull later and then has a surprisingly emotional ending in Fall of Endymion.

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Dune. But only read the first book. It’s a masterpiece, but the others in the series are just plain awful.

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- The God Emperor is another masterpiece.
  
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- I read the whole series and what got me crying was the epilogue at the end of the last book. For me it was worth.
  
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- 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.
  
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Dune. Hyperion was really cringey, I didn't even finish it.

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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.

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- 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.
  
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  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.
  
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