Book Review: Dune by Frank Herbert

I guess I had always classed Dune as a "boys' book" in my mind. I don't even know why. I wonder if I had heard something about the setting (desert planet and giant, voracious worms) and figured it wasn't for me. I was surprised a few years ago to hear my niece tell me she was reading it in her high school English class--and enjoying it. But I still wasn't ready then to start reading it myself. It wasn't till this time of quarantine--stuck at home with plenty of books (but all of which are books I've read at least once) (and a library closed for who knows how long) but looking for something new to read--that I read a review by a friend who works at a wonderful bookstore that I decided to give it a go. (By the way, that bookstore is Brilliant Books in Traverse City, MI, and it is a gem. For customer service, it gets a very high ten out of ten. Please, if you need to buy a book, contact them. They even ship for free.) Anyway, as I was saying. I ordered the book and waited eagerly for it to arrive. 

It did not disappoint, and I'm glad I followed my friend's recommendation. (Thanks, Jodie!) Here is my review:

After reading it, I can see why Dune has been compared to Lord of the Rings. It has a similar sense of scale in terms of universe creation. Herbert plunges the reader right into a universe where factions have arisen, plotted, and grappled for millennia. Multiple worlds, each rich in culture, myth, and ecosystem, feel fully real.

And in that brew, Paul Atreides, a young boy with emerging powers even he can't fully explain, feels bound to a purpose that terrifies him--a purpose that Herbert hints at but doesn't fully reveal for nearly half of the book. Paul's father, Duke Leto, has been promoted (?) by the emperor to reign over the desert planet of Arrakis, commonly known as Dune. Arrakis is a place where water is so precious, the natives--Fremen--wear stillsuits that capture and recycle ALL of their body's moisture (which is disgusting to imagine, so I tried not to). 

On this planet, spice is mined. Spice: a mind-altering drug, a means for interplanetary travel, and for prolonging life. It is the most precious commodity in their empire, I think, and the one who controls its mining and export controls a vast fortune. The problem: the desert world, already almost inhabitable because there is so little water, is also home to huge sand worms that have many-toothed mouths big enough to swallow a spice mining vessel (with hundreds of men on it) in one gulp. And also, the Fremen can be hostile.

Paul and his mother, Jessica, have heard intimations that Duke Leto is doomed to die, but there are wheels within wheels in this book and plots within plots within many, many more plots, and they cannot stop him from going. 

The inevitable betrayal and attack leave Duke Leto dead, Paul and Jessica alone in the desert, and Leto's other trusted retainers dead or captured or scattered. Paul and his mother end up joining the Fremen, where their Bene Gesserit training and abilities seem to fulfill ancient Fremen prophecies of a savior figure. While lots of other action unfolds, Paul grows, learns, and falls in love, but he is haunted by his premonitions of himself as leader of a coming bloodbath, determined not to bring this future to pass. 

I thought this book was remarkably rich in world-creation, as I mentioned earlier, full of mysticism, philosophy, and politics. I am eager to read more of this series and have found myself in the days since I finished it still rather immersed in Herbert's universe, even after setting the book down and picking up the next one.

It was interesting as well that Herbert was able to maintain suspense so well, even with his heavy use of third person omniscient point of view, with direct insight into the thoughts of most of the key characters, even the "bad guys." My only complaint--and it's a minor one--was the character of Paul himself. It irritated me sometimes that he chose to close himself off from everyone. Everything had to be done on his terms, in his time. Yes, he was brilliant and gifted, but why couldn't he ever unburden himself? Why not trust anyone with his doubts and fears? Even though he is definitely unlike--set above--the other characters, why can't he also see the commonalities they share?

Still, as I said, this is a minor complaint. The novel was very well written, and I'm glad I finally got around to reading this "boys' book." I look forward to reading the rest of the series.