Dune

Author: Frank Herbert

Genre: Science Fiction

Age: High School and up.  Due to the complexity and length of this novel, it really takes an advanced, dedicated reader.

Topics for discussion: fate, destiny, prophecy, technology, genetics, feuds, power, environmental conservation and manipulation, Islamic beliefs

Summary: There is a lot going on in this book, preventing me from giving just a simple summary.  Herbert has created a fully realized alternative world that you need to have at least a basic understanding of in order to understand the plot.  The most important thing to know is that in Herbert's universe, power is very tenuously balanced between subtle rival factions that fall into four groups.  The Emperor's power is balanced and kept in check by the noble houses.  The Spacing Guild's power is balanced by the Bene Gezerit.  Both sets of groups also serve to balance each other as well.  (See?  Complicated.)  All seek to gain the advantage over the other while still preventing all out chaos and war.  One of the ways the Bene Gezerit maintain order is to manipulate the bloodlines of the noble families, but secretly they are also attempting to produce a superhuman capable of shifting the balance of power in their favor.  This is where Paul, our main character, comes in.  He has all the right bloodlines to be the Quizatz Haderach, but the timing is all wrong and his mother's Bene Gezerit superiors are furious with her for giving birth to him.  Jessica had been ordered to only have daughters; if she had followed orders, her daughter would have been the only heir of House Atredies and could have been married to the House Harkonnen heir to end a feud between the two houses.  Instead, the feud escalates, eventually resulting in the death of Paul's father and the supposed deaths of Jessica and Paul.  They survive, however, and are taken in by the Fremin, a desert dwelling people on the planet Arakis.  (Oh, and on a side note, Arakis is the only source of the spice melange, which is what makes space travel possible.  The Emperor owns the planet, but a noble house governs it, and only the Spacing Guild know how to use the spice.)  The only reason why they are accepted by the Fremin is because the Fremin have a prophecy that the son of a Bene Gezerit will come to free them from their oppressors.  Eventually, Paul proves that he is not only the Fremin's messiah, but also the Bene Gezerit's Quizatz Haderach, and he leads the Fremin in a rebellion against the Emperor, the noble houses, the Spacing Guild, and the Bene Gezerit.  So much for balance of power!

Review: Okay, I know that sounded really complicated, but it completely makes sense while you are reading the book.  I think the complex plot is  part of this book's appeal to me.  Herbert manages to avoid having too many characters to keep track of, and yet develops many different story lines at once.  You can't help but be drawn into the political and physical conflict, and you can't help but side with Paul and the disenfranchised and dispossessed Fremin.  I will warn you that this book starts out very slowly; after all, there is a lot of exposition to get through.  There are also a few points in the novel when Herbert goes off on ecological tangents, which makes sense since this was one of his main passions in life, but they do serve to slow the story down a bit, especially if you are not interested in environmental science.

Multimedia:  I actually saw this movie long before I read the book, and it is one of the few stories that I actually loved both the book and the movie.  Neither of the film versions that are out right now can possibly attempt to cover the entire story, but I love both of them for different reasons.  The 1988 film has fantastic acting and special effects that still look pretty good, which is saying something; it covers enough of the story to still enjoy it and not get too lost, but you will probably find that you need to watch it more than once to really get everything.  The only problem I have with this one is that it does make a few major changes to the story, though not anything that really affects the plot and, as a movie, the change probably helps things along a little.  (Oh, and if anyone finds the directors cut that was shown on television for a while, please let me know how to get it!) (Oh, and another side note only for those who are really into the movie: more recent copies of the video have a mistake that was not in the original--in one of the early Fremin fights in the desert that Paul leads, he is looking through binoculars and when lowers them, his eyes should be blue.  In both the VHS and DVD versions I currently own, this is not the case; only my very old BETA copy has the correct eye color here.) 

More recently, the Scifi channel made a miniseries.  The benefit of this one is that they were able to cover much more of the story this way.  The subplots get much more coverage and there aren't any of those annoying confusing moments that you encounter when first watching the other version.  The draw back is in the budget; while they did a very good job considering, you are not going to see any attempt at the grand scale special effects that you will find in a film made for theater release.  Also, you quite honestly are not going to find the same level of acting here, most noticeably from the actors playing the roles of Paul and Jessica.  I will say that I absolutely love the Baron Harkonnen in this version; while the '88 version of the Baron properly disgusted me, this version just really got it down right.

Christian Perspectives:  This is another tough one.  Herbert was highly influenced by Middle Eastern/Muslim culture and beliefs, but I do not feel that the book necessarily espouses any particular views.  Above all, the book is about politics and power set against an ecological backdrop.  The only thing that I think young readers might need a little guidance on is the difference between Herbert's concept of the messiah as compared to our Messiah.  Herbert's messiah brings the jihad (a holy war that rages across the universe killing millions) while Christ brought peace without war.  (Something that all Christians across the ages would benefit from remembering.  If you are going to wage war, fight for political beliefs, for ethical beliefs, but not religious beliefs; the individual who claims to kill for God is a misguided hypocrite at best.)