The real question is whether or not you feel the work is worth expending your time in immersing yourself into the world, culture, and general ethos of Arrakis. Same goes with TV series such as the Star Trek universe, Battlestar Galactica, &c &c. These worlds have their own mythologies, languages, customs, &c. Yes, Dune isn't the easiest work to read, but I'd like to point out that even fantasy literature (really another form of science fiction if we remember that the Latin root of 'science' is scientia, 'knowledge'), such as Tolkien, to name but one example, often creates worlds of its own. And I have the right to complain when the cost of doing so magically doubles simply because a particular volume has a wide fan-base. I want my bookshelves to be filled with beautiful volumes. It's all well and good to espouse the benefits of capitalism and shout platitudes of "vote with your wallet" but that doesn't do a great deal of good in practical terms. Soon, the standard price for single fiction FS volume will not be £30 or £40, but instead £50 or £60 - and so the price will creep. However if we sit back silently as we are, in our passiveness, we are implicitly condoning the price which has been set by FS. Of those who are able to happily do so, I am envious of what I can assume to be a varied, well-stocked home library of fine volumes.
It is true we are all accountable for our own purchasing habits, if that means expending £75 on a single volume, then so be it.
If you're all content to sit back and say "good on them for profiting off a well-produced volume" (which no one would argue it is *not*) then I would suggest you're holding FS a little too infallible.
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