Yuffie's Book Reviews

Dune - by Frank Herbert

Dune is considered the forefront of modern sci-fi. It's argued to be the reason why sci-fi/fantasy books these days are soooo long (and the pros and cons of that is another argument in itself). I've been dying to read this book for ages and finally got to it and, boy, was it HUGE. Not just the lenght, but the scope, the characterization, the world, just everything about it was so big. While it wasn't 100% to my taste because of how politics-heavy it was, I can definitely appreciate it for the beast of a novel it is. There's no doubt why this is considered a classic of the genre.

This book is not for the casual sci-fi/fantasy reader or someone just coming into the genre. It's technical, complex and nuanced, and has a beastly appendix--multiple appendices actaully. But for many readers, therein lies the charm!

So with that, let's begin my analysis.

You've got your typical Chosen One, Hero's Journey type of deal, but it's flipped on its head. Instaed of following the Chosen One, Paul, most of the scenes are told from his mother's perspective. And she's one of the most layered and complex female characters I've ever read about. How rare is it to see the parents of the protagonist have any kind of presence in the book (usually they're killed off or missing or something)? But here, it felt like the mom was the main character, not her Chosen One son. But since she was the mother of the Chosen One, which gave her her own title and legend in the story, it's arguable that SHE was the protagonist all along. Well, until the end, when Paul does his badassery Chosen One stuff.

So in this universe, humans have taken to the stars. The universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, and under him are a bunch of rulling Houses. Each House owns their own planet or something. One planet, Arrakis (also referred to as Dune, which is the title of the book, which I don't understand because in the book they called it Arrakis 99% of the time so what was the point of calling it Dune...?), has this super valuable spice, which gives longevity and prescient powers. The desert planet of Arrakis is given to Duke Leto, Paul's father, but this other House, Harkonnen, is jealous and wants take control of the planet. Lot of political plottings and eventually the Duke is assassinated, sending Paul and his mother, Jessica, on the run. They must join with the Arrakis natives, the Fremen, and get back the planet and restore Paul's family as ruler of Arrakis.

Jessica is part of this Bene Gesserit school that trains its students (all women) to gain almost superhuman intuitive and persuasive powers. It's a secret breeding program with the ultimate goal of producing the Kwisatz Haderach, a male Bene Gesserit that will be able to see into the future. (*hinthint* That's Paul! And no, that's not a spoiler because he's told that in the first chapter).

SO in that very long explanation, you can guess that the plot is pretty amazing. It's simplistic and straightforward when you break it down to its roots: it's a Hero's Journey story. But there's so much other padding in terms of worldbuilding and the complicated politics, that it's much much more complicated and nuanced.

I'll admit that the pacing was slowwwww. Especially the first 200 pages. It was all set-up actually. Only the first chapter had a snappy plot, and then it turned into set-up. But once the Duke finally gets assassinated, the ball gets rolling and things speed up a little. That being said, it's a very tedious and monotonous read at times because there are so many conversations (many of which I think could've been cut much shorter), but others will disagree and thrive on analyzing the tiny nuances of each word in this book.

But it's seriously incredible how much Herbert managed to pack into a single novel (albeit an 180k+ word novel). Religion, politics, environmentalism, culture, and just so much more!

We get to see the birth of a religion and mythos as Paul grows into his role as the illustrious Kwisatz Haderach and renames himself Maud'Dib. The Fremen had the Kwisatz Haderach legend planted in them from old Bene Gesserit missionaries, so they know about Paul and are flipping shit that he's finally here. There's a lot of external and internal build-up and glorification of the Kwisatz Haderach/Maud'Dib persona, which makes it all the more badass when Paul accepts he is that person.

There was this huge sense of awe and prophetic surrealness in many scenes, especially nearing the end when Paul could start seeing the future. It was really cool.

So one thing people assume is that books need that final blow-out battle, and this book was setting up for it--the battle to take back the planet. But what Herbert did instead, which was really smart, was understand that the best battle is one that never happens.

Rather than fight, Paul let the Emperor come up to him, and then Paul makes a really ingenious but simple deal with him. In that, he backs the Emperor in a corner, setting up the terms the Emperor cannot refuse.

You'd think something like this would be anticlimactic, but I found it truly epic and really elevated my respect and awe for Paul. He seemed even more badass calmly negotiating, than he would've kicking butt, which coming from me is huge since I love buttkicking and big blowout climax battles.

So no matter where you hit this book, there's nothing I can truly criticize. It truly is a masterpiece of literature, although it's not an easy read and won't be everyone's cup of tea. There were a few slow parts for me, especially the first half of the book, but there was so much other information packed in there that I could forgive that. Herbert takes us through the entire spectrum of human emotion and far beyond, putting us in the minds of superhuman characters, characters who can glimpse into the future in the most beautiful and terrifying ways.

5/5 stars