Dune - Review

Dune is a phenomenal book filled with drama, political intrigue, suspense, and shocking moments, but it also makes the reader think heavily on the several key themes presented throughout the book such as power, revenge, religion, ecology, culture and so much more. There’s so much packed into this 600 page book such as the rich world, profound ideas, relatable characters, and a gripping story underneath it all. This is my first foray into Sci-Fi/Sci-Fantasy and reading these futuristic elements such as the cool technology, space travel, and the idea of planetary fiefs was a great experience. It was overwhelming at times and I had a lot of questions throughout the book, but it all wraps up very nicely at the end with a great conclusion. This will be a non-spoiler review and it will be covered in 6 sections: Plot, Characters, Setting/World-Building, Pacing, Writing Style, and Final Thoughts/Rating.

Image: Giedi Prime.


[Plot]:

Dune is a space-opera that takes place thousands of years in the future in a semi-feudal interstellar society where noble houses control planetary fiefs and power is divided among 3 pillars: The Imperium (ruled by the Padishah Emperor), the Great Houses of the Landsraad, and the Spacing Guild. It tells the story of a 15-year-old named Paul Atreides, whose family is forced, under the orders of the Padishah Emperor, to accept a planetary trade and receive the planet Arrakis from House Harkonnen, their mortal enemies. While Arrakis is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is also the only source of melange aka "the spice," a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Meanwhile, there’s a great conspiracy about the true intentions behind this planetary trade. Plotting and treachery unfolds as several factions of power confront the Atreides for the control of Arrakis and its spice.

This story gripped me right away and it was hard to put the book down once I started reading. The political intrigue and the schemes within schemes and counter-schemes was just insane. Frank Herbert did a masterful job of creating an immense sense of suspicion between characters, and overall suspense within the chapters, that it didn’t even matter for me that this book didn’t contain that much action. The clever political intrigue, daring adventures, brilliant misdirects, fascinating world-building, and the general sense of anxiety I felt for these characters in every chapter is what makes this book great.

There are 3 books within the book and it spans about 3 years in total. Book 1: Dune was perfect, in my opinion. The introduction to the world, characters, and concepts had me hooked, the political intrigue and scheming was excellent and this section of the book ended on a high note. Book 2: Muad’Dib turns the direction of the story more into an adventure where the main characters are discovering a lot about the planet Arrakis and the Fremen. This section was great but I enjoyed it a little less than the 1st section since there were some slower chapters in here. Book 3: The Prophet has a 2-year time jump and this entire section was brilliant. The changes within the characters during this time jump was evident, there’s some great cinematic moments during this section, and all the pieces start coming together for the finale. The ending of this section and entire book was amazing. The last 50 pages of this book kicks everything into high gear in terms of the epic scale, the action, the political intrigue and the suspense, and it ties up everything together for a satisfying payoff. It all comes full circle as there’s a lot of great call-backs and references to the beginning of the book.

On a side note, I also really liked the epigraphs from Princess Irulan before every chapter. Frank Herbert cleverly uses it in different ways. Sometimes it’s used to set up the scene of the chapter and provide context, but it’s also used sometimes to provide additional world-building. Sometimes it’s a poem, or a quote that illustrates the central theme or message of the chapter, and sometimes it’s a thick paragraph to give depth to a current character or a mysterious character the reader hasn’t met yet. These epigraphs tell a story within themselves and it’s fun to read them again after the chapter and connect the dots.

Image: Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.


[Characters]:

Paul Atreides is the main protagonist of the story. He is the son of Duke Leto Atreides and Lady Jessica. He is the heir to House Atreides and he’s skilled in combat and in strategic thinking, but his titles and skills grow numerously throughout the course of the story. Duke Leto Atreides is the head of House Atreides and is the current ruler of the planet Caladan. He is a very charismatic leader who invokes loyalty from his men because of his intelligence and natural charm. Lady Jessica is the concubine/lover (not officially his wife because of political reasons) of Duke Leto Atreides. She’s also a member of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and has learned many things from them which most people view as witchcraft. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is the main antagonist of the story. He is the head of House Harkonnen and the ruler of the planet Giedi Prime. Stilgar is the leader of a Fremen tribe on the planet Arrakis. Liet-Kynes is the planetary ecologist of Arrakis.

Those are the main players on the board, but there’s also a terrific set of secondary and tertiary characters which includes Thufir Hawat, Gurney Halleck, Duncan Idaho, Dr. Wellington Yueh, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Glossu Rabban Harkonnen, Piter De Vries, Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, the Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, Chani and a few others.

Paul has such an amazing arc and character development throughout the story. He is an interesting twist on the “Chosen One” trope and he’s not the typical 15-year-old boy, which doesn’t make him that relatable compared to normal Sci-Fi/Fantasy standards, but he carries the heaviest burden of all the characters in this story and he goes through so much trauma and stress in this book that it’s impossible not to root for him.

Lady Jessica is such a fascinating character and I honestly overlooked her role in the beginning of the story, but she really shines as a character by the end of the book. Her undying love and devotion to Duke Leto, regardless of the fact that her Bene Gesserit teachers want her to manipulate him, is probably the biggest reason I love this character so much. She has many abilities and skills learned from the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and she has many empowering scenes throughout the book which makes her so much more than the “lover/concubine” that she’s perceived as in the beginning of this book.

Duke Leto Atreides is probably my favorite character in the book. He’s the classic heroic figure but you also get to see his sometimes rocky relationship with Lady Jessica and him not having the time to spend with Paul, which really grounds him as a character and makes him relatable because of his flaws, instead of just seeming like a perfect superhero to the eyes of the reader. He inspires a lot of loyalty from his followers and there’s certain scenes early on in the book where you understand completely why he is so beloved and all these people dedicate themselves to him. Hell, where do I sign up? I outlined some of his flaws earlier but when you get to his POV chapters, you really see how deeply he loves Jessica and Paul and just wants them to have a better life on Arrakis.

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen not only has a grotesque appearance and does horrible things, but he’s also deviously cunning, which is a nightmarish combination in a villain. His chapters were a blast to read because of his brilliant plans to destroy House Atreides and it really raises the suspense and sense of danger because he’s not just some extremely fat dunce of a villain. His smart plotting terrifies the reader because it gives off the vibe that the Atreides are in for some serious trouble.

Favorite Characters – Paul Atreides, Duke Leto Atreides, Gurney Halleck, Lady Jessica & Stilgar.



Image: Caladan.


[Setting/World-Building]:

The majority of the story takes place on the planet Arrakis. The planet Caladan is briefly featured in the beginning of the story but it’s mostly just mentioned by characters throughout the story. There also a few chapters that take place on the planet Giedi Prime. There’s so many interesting world-building ideas and concepts throughout this book, from the diverse groups (the Bene Gesserit, Mentats, Suk School Doctors, and the Fremen), the mysterious organizations (the CHOAM Company, the Spacing Guild, and the Landsraad), and the innovative technologies/vehicles (Ornithopters, Factory Crawlers, Hunter-Seekers, and Stillsuits), to the captivating backstories (the Butlerian Jihad, the Battle of Corrino, and the Missionaria Protectiva). My only gripe is that I wish this book had more details about the organizations like the CHOAM Company or the Spacing Guild and I also wished that it fleshed out the backstories like the Battle of Corrino a little more.

Image: The Sandworms of Arrakis.


[Pacing]:

This might feel like a slow-paced book because of the lack of action, but for me personally, I couldn’t put the book down whenever I started to read. Frank Herbert is such a good storyteller, that I was just so immersed in this story and this whole world he’s created. There’s 1 or 2 slow-going chapters when a pair of main characters are traveling in the desert, but I never felt bored once throughout the 600 pages of this book.

[Writing Style]:

I had to read this book a bit slower than I usually read other books, but it was easier to read and comprehend than I expected going in. Maybe because a lot of people said that Dune was hard to read or was a “dry read” and it doesn’t read like a conventional modern-day novel, that I was intimidated to start this book, but it was honestly fine. It’s a straight-forward story, but it can sometimes feel like a verbal workout, with the amount of new terms/phrases used throughout the book and other complex scientific or ecological jargon. The amount of new words thrown at the reader can be overwhelming at first but the glossary at the back of the book really helped a lot with that. This was my first time reading the “3rd-Person Omniscient” POV, and its great because of the bouncing back and forth between characters thoughts in the immediate scene, unlike “3rd-Person Limited” where you’re only in 1 characters’ head. The omniscient POV makes it feel more fast-paced because you’re not in one characters’ head for too long and it elevates the tension among the characters. The reader also gets so much insight into each character’s desires, motivations, observations, and immediate thoughts in a scene, which fleshes out the characters even more.

Image: The Shield Wall of Arrakis.


[Final Thoughts & Rating]:

Dune was a very thought-provoking book and I was surprised by how much information, characterizations, story, world-building, ideologies and little details Frank Herbert managed to pack into the 600 pages of this epic space-opera. There’s no wasted pages or words in this book. Even the appendices at the back of the book were brilliant and enhanced this world and story even more. There’s also so many valuable lessons to be learned from this book. It works well as a standalone book since the story is self-contained and does a good job of wrapping up all the loose plot threads and unanswered questions, but it also works has a foundation for his 6-book series, which I’m definitely reading right away.

Rating: 9.5/10

My Book Rankings: https://jaytargaryen.blogspot.com/p/b...


*My Rating System*

5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Really Good to Great
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible 

 

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