Dune: the finest, most widely acclaimed and enduring Science Fiction novel of this century. Huge in scope, towering in concept, it is a work that will live in the reader's imagination. 'One of the landmarks of modern Science Fiction....an amazing feat of creation analog.
Dune, by Frank Herbert, was written in 1965, and won the Hugo and Nebula award for best sci-fi novel of the year. It is the story of the Atriedes clan, led by the Senior Leto Atriedes, a duke in the galactic empire. The series, and this novel in particular, has some good things going for it. I particularly like the setting. The universe itself is ruled mercilessly by a medieval style empire, with the emperor lording over the major and minor royal houses, which in turn rule the planets. The story opens with the Duke Atriedes moving his family to Arrakis, or Dune as it's commonly known, to take charge of the planet. Dune is the only planet in the empire where the melange spice is collected. The spice's many uses hold the keys to the galactic civilization. Ingesting it not only addicts the user for life, but it extends that life for decades, and allows prescience to develop in some. As with almost any empire/royalty type setting, political intrigue is rife throughout the book. The Duke Harkonnen is the mortal enemy of the Duke Atriedes, excaberated because the Harkonnens have lost the extremely profitable control of Dune to the Atriedes by Royal decree. Other interesting setting twists: There are no advanced computers in this universe, they having all been destroyed in a Jihad against technology. Instead, "Mentats" are humans trained to compute answers to multi-variable problems. Royal houses always have one or more Mentats as close advisors. Another group are called the Bene Gesserit. They are an exclusive female group, carrying on a centuries long human breeding experiment. All of the Bene Gesserit are masters of muscle control, fighting, and have limited mind control. They supply wives to royalty from their ranks, giving their agenda quite a bit of influence in galactic affairs. Lest you think this book is all politics and no fighting, I should mention the Sardakour. They are the Imperial shock troops, unstoppable in battle. Unstoppable, that is, until they encounter the Fremen, natives of Dune. Dune, it turns out, is fully as inhospitable to human life as the prison colony that produces the Imperial Sardakour, making the Fremen perhaps more than a match for Sardakour one on one. Frank Herbert has set up a universe that is amazing in it's detail and depth. In addition, the depth of the characters in the novel belies description in the short time I may have your attention. This novel kicks off a tour-de-force series fully capable of holding it's own against the likes of Asimov's Foundation series, and Tolkiens Lord of the Rings. This, the first novel in the series, I find the strongest of the four. It begins, as I said, with the Duke Atriedes moving his family to Arrakis. It ends with the universe in turmoil, a new emperor, and a bloody Jihad the likes of which the Universe has never seen about to be unleashed.
