Dune (39), by Frank Herbert - sand, worms and fights

Dune is probably one of the most famous science fiction novels ever, but for some reason, I've never thought of reading it - and probably wouldn't have done so if it hadn't featured as one of the books in my challenge this year. However, I would have missed out on an epic tale of treachery, mysticism, love, power and sand! The action centres on a desert planet called Arrakis, and a young 15-year-old called Paul Atreides whose father is a Duke of the Noble House of Atreides. The Duke is made the steward of the planet by the Emperor - a move not enjoyed by House Harkonnen who had previously ruled there. The planet is harsh and not many would chose to live ther if it weren't for it's unique resource - Melange - which enables interstellar travel as well as granting psychic powers and longevity to people who consume it. And so, House Harkonnen plot to get back their position. First Paul's father is killed and then Paul and his mother are cast out into the desert to an assumed death. However, Paul comes across the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who teach him how to survive and he not only becomes one of them but is slowly revealed as much more than a usurped duke. They start to see him as a Messiah when he displays amazing abilities ... abilities that are the result of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a superhuman - an experiment designed by a secretive order of women, one of whom is his mother. His struggle comes to a head (of course) with the big players coming together for a final showdown which will determine the future of the planet and the Empire itself. This really is an epic and is full of intrigues and twists and turns and very large worms! A really good read that transports you to a completely different place, but which, at the root, is full of classic themes. Well worth the effort - and in the audio format I read, which used different voices for the main characters, a real treat!

My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 624 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.

The Secret Garden (51) - a book of delights

Who would have thought that such an unprepossessing book as The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett would prove to be such a delight to read! The action starts in India, just at the point when an unloved and unlikeable child, called Mary, loses both her parents to cholera. She is shipped back to England to stay at the large but gloomy house of her uncle - but he doesn't seem to want her either. Left to her own devices, she explores the vast gardens and is intrigued by a walled garden to which there is no entrance. Determined to get her own way (which is what usually happens) she sets out to find a way in, even though she has been told that it is forbidden  - her uncle closed the garden up following the death of his wife. Into Mary's insular world enters a grizzled and grumpy gardener called Ned, a local boy (Dickon) who seems to be able to charm animals, a friendly robin and then, quite unexpectedly, her cousin Colin - who is just as unlikeable and unloved as she is. When they find a way into the secret garden, both it and the unlikely companions start to work a kind of magic on the cousins, who seem to blossom in parallel to the plants and flowers they tend. This is a great book, with a message for everyone - don't brood on dark thoughts, as they will eat away at you and stop you living a full life. Focus on something a little lighter ... and you may just find that suddenly, you are not worrying and festering amongst the darkness anymore and that anything is possible! I so enjoyed this book and I hope that if you haven't read it - you will - definitely worth a few hours of your time.

My STAR rating: FIVE

Length: 288 print pages.
Price I paid: Free on Kindle.
Formats available: print; audio CD; audio download; ebook.