Frank Herbert's Dune. The desert planet. Arrakis.
The sole source of spice.
When my partner recommended Dune, I gobbled up the first novel pretty quickly. Then proceeded to an indie used book shop and purchased the rest of the main series all at once. By the time I got to Heretics, things were exceedingly slow and long winded (from what I remember). I'd had enough of the Dune universe, and wasn't interested in the following books written by Herbert's son. This sounds like a bad review, but on the contrary: I had enjoyed myself in this world, but its time had come to an end.
My favorites were Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. I loved the idea of gholas, artificially created humans made from their remains. Essentially golems, as generally the idea was that they're supposed to do whatever they're "programmed" to do, and one ghola in particular Does Not Follow the Rules, and I remember really enjoying that arc.
I've not read the Dune series more than once, and it's been a very long time since I last read them, so my memory on them is hazy. I do remember some questionable choices, especially in Dune Messiah between Alia and Duncan. I remember Alia being much younger in the books than the mini-series, but because of her circumstances she's "far beyond her years". So it's okay, right? (The answer is No. It's still gross.)
I'm not normally one for high political struggles, but the way Herbert has all his characters interact together, or even apart, gave a lot of angst and tension that kept me reading on.
I've since tried rereading the series, but I keep getting stuck in the middle of book one. :p Despite all this, I still hold the series in high regard. It's not the end-all-be-all of the sci-fi/fantasy experience, it is a product of its time, but if given the chance, I'd recommend reading them at least once at some point in your life.
Have you read the Dune series? What did you think? Let me know in the comments. :)