Book Review: Dune

 

Science fiction is one of the most imaginative genres in written literature. Where fantasy and fiction often root themselves in the past or present day, science fiction often goes beyond the foundations of time and space to create worlds we could only dream of. One of the earliest revolutions in this particular genre comes from the mind of renowned author Frank Herbert. The main pinnacle work of Herbert is his legendary Dune franchise. Starting out in 1965 with the first entry called Dune, the franchise has spanned all the way to the modern day with Frank’s son Brian Herbert penning the latest entry of prequel stories in the universe in light of his fathers passing. The legacy this series established can all be traced down to the very first entry, which arguably set the foundation for an entire world of science fiction readers and remains to this day one of the highest selling science fiction books of all time.

The narrative of Dune takes place in a fictional universe ruled over by a sovereign regime known as the Old Empire. The Old Empire is governed by the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam the Fourth, who rules over the Great Houses in association with the Spacing Guild. On the water planet of Caladan, House Atreides receives a royal envoy from the emperor who decrees the house must take over Spice production on the desert planet of Arrakis in the wake of the departure of their rivals, House Harkonnen. The story focuses primarily on the perspective of Paul Atreides, the son of Duke Leto and his Bene Gesserit concubine Lady Jessica. Paul is gifted with the natural abilities of foresight and is plagued with dreams of Arrakis and the role he is destined to play in leading not only his own house but the native tribe of Freman who have lived on Arrakis for centuries. Despite following the royal decree, it soon becomes clear that the emperor and House Harkonnen are in league together and they set about a sinister plot to wipe out House Atreides soon after they arrive on Arrakis. This plot will see House Atreides pushed to their limits and see Paul forced take the path that was always destined for him and become the Lisan al Gaib and lead his people.

The finer intricacies behind the narrative of Dune cannot really be summarized in my small paragraph. The scope and depth of the universe Frank Herbert penned is incredibly comprehensive. It’s clear that every single aspect of the world building and the characters that inhabit it is fleshed out with the utmost measure. It’s utterly incredible that Herbert was not only able to build a fictional world with so much detail but that he’s able to utilize the world to tell a story that is equal parts enthralling and thought-provoking. The concepts at play in Dune are constructed in a way that gives a great amount of room for reader interpretation. You can argue that it’s a political drama set in space and that observation would be fair, but to look deeper you can see finer ideas at play here. Religion, tribalism, fight or flight and destiny are all heavily loaded concepts baked into the core of this story and it’s incredible to see Herbert juggle all these ideas in a way that doesn’t feel undercooked but actually insightful. Dune’s entire narrative is perfect in its setup and execution, it delivers every single concept to sheer perfection and gives the reader a real long-lasting impression to take away from it.

Where Dune puts up the most fight though in terms of appealability is it’s pacing. Dune encompasses its world building and nuanced narrative with a large page count. The huge size of this novel is required to deliver the story in the way Herbert required, but I can’t deny my struggle with the way he paced the story. The story is paced incredibly slow for most of the page count and there are chapters which definitely felt the need to drag themselves out unnecessarily. I don’t hold that issue against the book too much, as I get to flesh this world out and tell the story he wanted to tell, taking every moment slow was necessary; it just made my time with the book feel more padded. To add to my criticism with regards to the pacing, there are plot points in this book which come out of nowhere with little to no build up more so near the end of the story. The end of the narrative felt a bit messier in terms of cohesion compared to the start and middle section of the book, mainly because there were a lot of events Herbert chose to have playing out simultaneously and he only choose to have the reader see events from specific character perspectives.

It has to be said though, the tone behind this story has a great sense of balance between levity and seriousness. For the most part the story plays it stern with a lot of moments having a great sense of foreboding and gravity with the complicated concepts at play. Herbert knew however the right moments to add wit and humour to the dialogue between characters to give the story and its character’s a much-appreciated layer of charm for the reader to catch on to. Again, juggling major concepts in the narrative all the while balancing the tone all throughout is a testament to Herbert’s incredible ability as a writer

In retrospect, it’s a shame Frank Herbert didn’t live long enough to see the major property his work has now become. The world of Dune has grown and expanded across multiple fronts of media and with Denis Villeneuve’s major motion pictures, interest in the franchise has never been higher from both new and old fans. It’s a testament to the quality of the original novel that Herbert crafted that it was able to leave such a vivid impression on its reader. The story and the world of Dune is brimming with quality and it goes without saying this truly is one of the greatest contributions to the science fiction genre we have ever had.