Book Review
Title: Dune (Dune Book 1) by Frank Herbert
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 5 Stars
Dune has been on my radar for a long time but I never picked it up, most likely due to the polarising opinions of the book and the fact that sci-fi or sci-fi, fantasy wasn’t something I really read but I am reading at least the original trilogy this year. We are introduced to Paul Atreides and his family including his father, the Duke Leto and his mother Jessica. They are being visited by the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam from the Bene Gesserit school who taught her mother and his also the Emperor’s truthsayer. She is there to test Paul to see if he is human using a poison called gom jabbar which only kills animals before they move to the desert planet Arrakis, where the “spice” melange is found from their home planet of Caladan. Melange is a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness and is sought by many people through the universe. The Reverend Mother and Jessica seems to see there is some potential for Paul to be the Kwisatz Haderach which is a man who has powers that are only known to women in this universe but it doesn’t make much sense right now. The passages are broken up by section from a book on Muad’Dib by the Princess Irulan that feature the characters we are being introduced to and might hint at what is to come. The Reverend Mother tests Paul and finds him human to the relief of his mother but he is a small part in a much bigger plan.
We are also introduced to the enemy of Duke Leto, the Harkonnens led by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. They have headed over the spice planet to Duke Leto although this is under the guise of getting rid of the Atreides line. They have many spies and assassins within the household including Dr. Yueh, Paul’s tutor as we learn through Piter who is a Mentat, which is something that isn’t human despite looking like a human. The Baron is attempting to educate his nephew, Feyd-Rautha to take over his empire when it is time. Another seeming assassin is Thufir Hawat but right now they only one I would peg as an assassin is Yueh since Hawat, Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho all have a good relationship with Paul and don’t seem to harbour any ill will towards him. As they arrive on their new planet in a city called Arrakeen, we can see that the Duke Leto knows about the plot against him but he doesn’t know about the assassins. He knows that the Sardaukar trained on Salusa Secundus are the elite fighting force that might be used against him but he plans to use to Fremen the same way if he can gain their trust. Shadout Mapes, one of the local is assigned to Jessica but she wants to test her because she is one of the Bene Gesserit by showing her a crysknife and asking her what it is, when Jessica answers correctly Mapes gives her the crysknife and warns her that anyone who sees it either has to be cleansed or killed since no one who knows about the crysknives can leave the planet alive and that it will disintegrate if kept away from skin contact for a few hours.
We get to witness the first assassination attempt on Paul’s life although the training he has been given means he survives and now his mother and father are aware of traitor among them although they don’t know who it is and suspicious is being cast on Jessica. By the time, Paul and Leto meet with Doctor Kynes we can see the potential in Paul as well as he seems to be more aware of everyone around him and how to handle situations. We can also clearly see how Paul is most likely the Muad’Dib from the extracts. It is also interesting to note that the Princess writing the extracts his the Emperor’s daughter and through her we know for sure that Leto is going to die at some point during the book or series. Paul is also being foreshadowed as the Messiah of the Fremen people and there are some overt and subtle clues to this although Paul is disturbed by the fact he is being seen as a Messiah when he has never really done anything of note. The political intrigue is something that Herbert does really well, while there isn’t much in the way of action and the pace is quite slow, there is never a boring moment as we are introduced to the various facets of a political war. During this we get to understand the motives of each side and how they operate as we try to guess what the outcomes are going be which meant in only a few hours I flew through the first quarter of Dune.
Things really start to pick up after the first quarter, Paul is becoming more like his father in learning what it truly means to have control over others as Duke and this is seen best when they take a trip to one of the spice farm. They spot a sandworm on the way in and due to one of the carryalls going missing Leto and their ships have to rescue the men themselves. During this Paul spends most of his time watching the others and realises a lot of things but doesn’t voice any of them, not even to his father in private which might have helped Leto avoid his fate. After returning the dinner they attend reveals a lot of the political alliances and motivations that they are dealing with but it seems Jessica is too far out of the loop mainly because there is some suspicion on her being the traitor. This is when things begin to go downhill for Leto as Duncan accidently tells Jessica of their suspicions when he is drunk causing her to confront Hawat and reveal the extent of her powers using the Voice. She also reveals the reader that she is pregnant with a daughter her, meaning that Leto’s line won’t die as long as she or Paul is still alive. The reveal of Yueh being the traitor was great as Leto didn’t suspect him at all and Yueh isn’t going to kill him. He is taking Leto to the Baron but with a poison gas concealed within a tooth so that even if Leto dies he will kill the Baron as well which is what Yueh really wants. Jessica and Paul were also taken but after offering Piter the Leto’s duchy and all the power that comes with it, he decides he doesn’t want Jessica anymore and decides to drop her and Paul into the desert at Yueh’s suggestion unaware that Yueh has planned to get them dumped at the place where they can get help and I have no idea what is going to happen now.
Things get really tense in the second half as we witness Leto’s interrogation by the Baron and him realises that Jessica and Paul haven’t been caught as well as him remembering that Yueh left him a poison to use which he does. While he kills Piter along with himself the Baron barely escapes with his life a mistake that will get back to the Emperor as his soldiers’ investigate the scene. Meanwhile, Paul and Jessica using their gifts manages to escape their captors into the desert where Idaho finds them giving them the things they need to survive in the desert before heading off to recover what he can although we know he was captured and killed by the Baron. In the desert something changes in Paul amplifying his gift to an unprecedented level, to the point where it even begins to frighten his mother. After giving Duncan a day to return and he doesn’t they decide they have to move and they do eventually being found by Kynes who take them to a Fremen stronghold. Kynes is referred to as Liet by the Fremen which Paul makes the connections with and decides that he needs Kynes on his side and the power he wields if he has any chance of following through with his plan. The place is attacked and after winning Kynes’ help, he send Jessica and Paul off to a helicopter that they can fly above a nearby storm where they will be safe if they survive. In between this we witness the Baron passing the planet into the control of his older nephew, Rabban while he has plans for his younger nephew to become royalty, however, the reveal that Jessica is the Baron’s daughter and by extension Paul is his grandson might change his plans. I believe that if the Baron learns of Jessica and Paul relation to him and the power they have he will stop at nothing to get his hands on them.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, things get even more interesting especially for Paul and Jessica. Now they have to survive in the desert with little knowledge or experience of living in the desert but they seem to be doing fine, every distracting a sandworm for them to cross an open expanse of desert. In between this we do get brief flashes of the other characters, Duncan is dead, Hawat is being held by the Baron and the Baron wants him to replace Piter as his Mentat which is something he might do given the fact he still believes that Jessica is the traitor because he doesn’t know about Yueh. Halleck has found refuge with the smugglers, specifically Tuek’s son. While the planet has been return to Harkonnen rule, the Fremen, Kynes and Paul seem to have a vision for what the planet can become. Kynes dies in the desert due to injuries inflicted upon him by the Harkonnen meaning that Stilgar, his brother should be in charge of Fremen know although when we meet Stilgar again he is unaware of his brother’s death. Jessica and Paul are found by Stilgar and a group of 40 Fremen who initially want to kill them but realise that these are the people that Liet was talking about in his message and they begin working together. They take Paul because of who they believe him to be and they take Jessica when she proves her powers and agrees to teach them to the Fremen. Among the group is Kynes/Liet’s daughter, Chani who is also the girl that Paul has been dreaming about even before they had to move to the desert planet and he instantly seems smitten with her.
As we cross into the third and final part of the novel, two years have passed with Paul living in the desert as Muad’Dib and things have changed a lot. The Fremen have become a strong fighting force forcing Rabban’s forces back and they almost have full control of the desert planet but Paul is also fighting the keep them off the course that leads to the jihad, a mass slaughter in his name and under his banner. During this time Paul sister, Alia has been born and she was changed by the ceremony Jessica took part in, meaning she acts and talks like someone far older than her two years. Paul also had a son with Chani, Leto II and he also married Chani despite his mother’s protests. Paul/Usul is undergoing his final training to make him a true Fremen which is the act of trapping and riding a sandworm which he completes. While this is happening we get to see what is happening with the Harkonnens, Feyd tries to kill the Baron but this attempt doesn’t work because of Hawat. Hawat is playing both the Baron and Feyd for his own purpose although we don’t know what that is right now. The Baron strikes a bargain with Feyd to cease the attempts on his life and in exchange he could achieve a much higher level of power. However, the Baron is feeling pressure from the Emperor and it seems he must abandon Rabban in order to have a chance at fulfilling his bigger plans. Back in the desert, smugglers have been spotted and Paul lays a trap for them which works perfectly but among these smugglers is Gurney Halleck and Paul reveals himself to his old friend and immediately Gurney returns to his side but he also realises that this isn’t the boy he knew before Leto’s death and there is something very different about Paul. This becomes clear when the find the Emperor’s soldiers hidden among the smugglers and rather than killing them Paul wants them released which I can’t understand unless this action plays into a bigger plan that Paul has.
I don’t want to talk too much about the last section of the novel as so much happens and come together that would really spoil it for other readers. All I can say is if you have reservations about reading Dune because of the age then don’t worry. I had the same reservations getting into it and this book might be one of my favourites of the year. It was amazingly well written the same outstanding characters even characters that we don’t spend a lot of time with are well fleshed out. The power and political systems are divine and play a huge part in the novel and the best thing by far for me was the writing style and how things come together so slowly and then all at once. The ending left me with so many questions and I can’t wait to get into Dune Messiah in April and Children of Dune in May.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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