[mayd]

Do read Dune Messiah, the sequel to Dune. I believe it was written specifically for those who failed to get the negative implication from Dune. Hence, it was not so well received. It is my favourite in the series (well, maybe after Dune itself), firstly because it is very explicit about the tragic consequences of Paul's jihad, which was only hinted at in the first book, and secondly because of the way that it greatly enriches the literary universe of Dune by filling more details of the various political actors, the Guild steersmen, the amoral technologists of the Bene Tleilax, gholas, the mysterious planet Ix, and so on. And the Dune Messiah is surprisingly short!

You should probably read Children of Dune to round off the trilogy, just to learn the fate of Paul Atreides, although he is not the primary character in that book.

The second trilogy is distinct but the stories are told told in the same setting; enjoyable but not essential.

[stavros]

I will, thanks. I was planning to read book 4 as well, since people are saying that's the best one, can I stop there? Or will I have too many unanswered questions?