Willravel

So the idea of the thread is to read the Foundation series and then discuss it, followed by other speculative classics? Or is this just compiling a list of favorites/classics? I'm just trying to get a handle on what the goal is here.

Having read way too many Dune novels, I'd like to offer the opinion that reading the first three—Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune—is the best Dune experience. Subsequent novels do expand a great deal on the universe and certainly finish up the main Leto story, but as far as quality of writing, world-building, creativity, and overall storytelling, Dune should probably be read as a trilogy. It's a lot like the Ender series in that it starts masterful and then begins going down hill after a few books.