Great minds, my friend. Great minds. 
Ummmm. Your information is . . . largely incorrect.
Summary
While a ghola Paul and Chani live ‘happily ever after’, this is after Paul acknowledging his flaws as a person and ruler - which was fully documented as far back as God Emperor of Dune. And Duncan Idaho is revealed as the true Human Kwisatz Haderach and humanity’s ultimate expression. He then merges with his machine equivalent to bring a true end to the war between humans and AI
Double spoiler prevention, just in case someone is reading on a phone and clicks the summary to scroll.
Now don’t get me wrong, I found the sequels to be tiresome, and would rate the series as follows:
Dune (novel as stand alone) > God Emperor > Dune Messiah/Children of Dune > Heretics/Chapter House > Legends of Dune (prequel in Butlerian Era) > House books (prequels of Paul’s Father’s generation) > Sequels > Miscellanous crap like Paul of Dune ( stories after Dune but before DM/CoD)
My advice @DocCathode and others who have ‘head’ stuff about the newer books, is go ahead and read a detailed synopsis at someplace like the Dune wiki. It may scratch the itch about just knowing what the hell happens, without slogging through the books, but with a lot less telephone game loss of information. If it sounds like something you want to read after that, then check it out of the library if you have the option.
I’ve read the original series and the first few Brian Herbert books. My recommendation is definitely read Dune, then try the rest of the original series - they’re a bit weirder and not as good as the first one, but have some interesting ideas and if you don’t bounce off of them are fun to read. Skip all of the newer stuff that’s not actually by Frank Herbert - Brian Herbert (or his co-authors) don’t seem to get a lot of basics about how the world is built in Dune, and it’s silly. Frank Herbert’s Dune has a lot of technological stagnation and when it does have innovation, it’s usually disruptive, while the newer Dune casually invents tech to solve all kinds of casual problems… and suffers from the Star Trek problem of inventing a bunch of stuff in the prequels that everyone forgets they already have by the time the regular series rolls around.
That’s a very minor point to hang that “incorrect” on…
Very minor point? I am being polite, but your spoiler text was pretty much wrong on every count. But this forum is not the appropriate place for it, and you are by your own admission judging something on a statement from someone else which is demonstrably incomplete at best.
You’re confusing me with jayjay. He’s a fine human being who deserves better than that!
I’d say read the first 3, if you’re bored by then, stop, otherwise continue.
And if you enjoyed them, do not, under any circumstances, read the Anderson/Brian Herbert abominations. Imagine that there was a restaurant you loved, but you moved away and haven’t been there for many years. You return, to find it’s still open. But when you go in, it’s actually an Applebees. That’s what the Brian Herbert books are like.
Read the first three and then run away. You can only get progressive disappointment later. In fact, book 2 is only good because it sets up 3, that’s the only reason to read it.
I agree with that description - they’re not awful books in the sense that they have bad construction, incoherent plot, or really awful plots. But their flavor is definitely ‘generic SF with lots of neat new tech’ which just isn’t what’s appealing about Dune.
Hah, by picking Applebees, I was trying to convey the awfulness of the Anderson/B. Herbert books as well as their difference from the originals. So if you really like Applebees, please substitute in whatever chain restaurant makes you gag a little when you think of it.
I was gonna say, but the mozzarella sticks! Sometimes I just need some disgusting deep-fried cheese.
But I take your point. All good advice, thanks.
I don’t know, I feel like that’s the correct analogy - Applebees is a generic chain restaurant that has food that’s not bad. It’s not a place I’ve ever said “I want to go there” or “you should go there”, but when I have ended up there it’s generally unremarkable. The Brian Herbert books on their own aren’t bad, just kind of generic SF. They’re only become bad when you try to connect them to the classic ‘you’ve got to eat here, it’s amazing’ food at original Dune, or the weird ‘you’re going to love it or hate it’ experiments at the later parts of the trilogy.
Yes! It’s the perfect send-up of the first book. Absolutely stunning. Looks like it’s available on eBay for about $11.
I read the first six and would recommend stopping after the first three. I never read any of the prequels or the son’s books.
Well, I’ve been to Applebees twice. The first time the best thing I can say is that the food was not inedible. The second time, another person with me was partway through his chicken when he realized the inside was raw. He asked for the manager immediately, who argued about giving him a full refund because he had eaten the vegetables and part of the chicken. So it’s my go-to shorthand for a terrible restaurant.
I read all six when I was in the high school. Dune is an extraordinary book, and I’ve reread it a few times, and probably will do so again for the upcoming film. But the next three are on a lower level. I found God Emperor pretty confusing in parts. And the last two I’ve basically forgotten - the one thing I recall from Chapterhouse is that
Some of the character are Jewish
IIRC in Chaptehouse
It’s the revealed that the Tleilaxu are essentially Muslim. There are one or two minor characters in some of the books who are Jewish and claim affiliation with New Israel
I’m reading the first book for the first time right now… Maybe 20% done. So far it’s good, not great.
When do we get to the giant sandworms?
One takes out a spice harvester about 23% into the book…
Dune has its flaws, but should leave you with that alien feeling. It’s not just a generic unimaginative sci-fi space opera where you’ve seen it all before. (The Dosadi Experiment benefits from weirdness and an unconventional setting too.) It did not need a sequel, though.
Bumping since I’ve recently reread the original book.
My recommendation for the Dune series is simply the original Dune book, plus the the Dune Encyclopedia, and nothing else. The Encyclopedia distills the creative essence of Herbert’s world-building into many bite-sized chunks without being bogged down by narrative. It’s really worth it for those who love the concepts. There are of course spoilers in it for the books after Dune, but since they’re not worth reading, it’s all good.
I’m lucky enough to have a copy (found in a library’s used book sales years ago), although it’s paper has yellowed significantly. Google can sometimes deliver miracles for those who are motivated.