BaedonWebz Newz: Dune

Monday, February 20, 2012

Dune

I went to a friend's birthday party when was young, we watched this film that held my attention and grabbed my imagination. It began with the following spoken lines....

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A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then, that is is the year 10191. The known universe is ruled by the Padishah Emperor Shaddam the Fourth, my father. In this time, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. A product of the Spive, the red Sapho juice, stains the lips of the Mentats but allows them to be human computers, as thinking machines have been outlawed. The spice is vital to space travel. The Spacing Guild and its navigators, who the spice has mutated over 4000 years, use the orange spice gas, which gives them the ability to fold space. That is, travel to any part of the universe without moving. Because the Guild controls all interplanetary travel, they are the highest power in the Universe. The Spice also plays a very secret role in the Bene Gesserit sisterhood, of which I am a part. The sisterhood has been interfering with the marriages, and the children thereof, of the great Houses of the Universe, cleverly intermixing one bloodline with another to form the Kwisatz Haderach, a super being. They plan to control this super being and use his powers for their own selfish purposes. The breeding plan has been carried out in a strict manner for 90 generations. The goal of the super being is in sight. But now, so close to the prize, a Bene Gesserit woman, Jessica, the bound concubine of Duke Leto Atreides, who has been ordered to bear only daughters, has given birth to a son. Oh, yes. I forgot to tell you. The spice exists on only one planet in the entire universe. A desolate, dry planet with vast deserts. Hidden away within the rocks of these deserts are a people known as the Fremen, who have long held a prophecy that a man would come, a messiah, who would lead them to true freedom. The planet is Arrakis, also known as Dune.

What followed was a feast for the eyes, at least I thought so. The story was gripping and told well. It wasn't until a few years later that I would discover that the book was so much more and how Hollywood had gotten a few things wrong.

The story is set in a far distant future where mankind has moved out into the universe and spans an immense interstellar feudal empire where planetary dynasties are controlled by noble houses that owe an allegiance to the imperial House Corrino. The main Character is young Paul Atreides (the heir apparent to Duke Leto Atreides and heir of House Atreides) as he and his family accept control of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the "spice" melange, the most important and valuable substance in the universe.

It is the story's exploration of the complex and multi-layered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, which come to the surface as the forces of the empire confront each other for control of Arrakis and its "spice" that really makes this a book worth reading. I've read it at least a dozen times and still come away with something I didn't notice before.

I have since read the entire series and the books added to the growing saga by Frank Herbert's son, Brian and Keven J. Anderson. Brian and Kevin have taken Frank's work and made it their own while staying true to the original vision. They are all highly recommended reading.

Dune by Frank Herbert [rating=5]