Dune is a strange book to recommend to a friend
On Dune by Frank Herbert
I always tell people the first hundred pages are hard. There are made-up words everywhere, and there's a glossary at the back you will keep flipping to. Then somewhere around the dinner scene it clicks and you stop noticing.
What surprised me is how little it wants you to cheer for Paul. Everyone remembers the sandworms, but the book keeps warning you about heroes. I finished it on a long bus ride to Sylhet and just sat there for a while after the last page.