Books by Frank Herbert
“Dune is a big sprawling space opera. It is explicitly a political book: it’s about a revolution to overthrow an oppressive emperor, but also about a conflict between two military families, and how they run extractive industries on planets. It’s also about religion. And it’s about trying to build better people through genetic or psychoactive means – all of which make a lot of sense when you think about who wrote it, and when he wrote it. It’s hugely influential for me, as a writer, in terms of conceptualising complexity, and the way you can write a book about the moral injury of trying to work in geopolitics – about what kinds of psychologically horrific things can happen to a person, if they are trying to be a God Emperor, or trying to be a person with their hands on the wheel of fate.” Read more...
The Best Political Sci-Fi Books
Arkady Martine, Novelist
Interviews where books by Frank Herbert were recommended
The Best Political Sci-Fi Books, recommended by Arkady Martine
Science fiction has a rich tradition of examining not only space-age technology but political ideology. Arkady Martine, author of the Hugo-award winning A Memory Called Empire, introduces us to political science fiction books that explore systems of government, power hierarchies, and the geopolitics of other planets.
The Best Science Fiction Worlds, selected by Tom Huddleston
For many readers of science fiction, world building is the most important feature of their favourite books. Tom Huddleston, author of The Worlds of Dune, explains how the best fictional worlds are original and immersive—and, above all, mind-expanding. Here he introduces us to his top five sci fi worlds, and to the extraordinary thinkers who created them.
The Best Sci Fi Books for Beginners, recommended by Nicholas Whyte
Interested in science fiction, but not sure where to begin? Sceptical of spaceships, but never really given them a chance? We asked Nicholas Whyte, administrator of the World Science Fiction Society’s renowned annual Hugo Awards, to recommend five of the best sci fi books that should appeal to readers new to the genre
