With “Dune’s” success, Frank Herbert created five sequels for the novel. After his death, his son, Brian Herbert, wrote more of the story by filling the empty spaces left behind in “Dune.” The series became a franchise so massive that it was called the Duniverse.
A Story of Domination
“Dune” is a great story with an excellent plot. Due to intricate detailing and fluid transitions between dialogues and scenes, it grasps its reader’s attention. Frank Herbert beautifully crafted Paul Atreides’s story and showed how a brutal world led to him ascending the throne.
Though Paul was the main focus, Herbert made the reader see a bigger perspective that extended beyond Paul; this made him create an intricate detailing of the characteristics of planets and their organisms.
The interaction of characters with each other is also something that Frank gave his attention to. His keen sense of detail made him explain scenes with precise measurements, and though this made the book intensely realistic, it also diluted the purpose of some scenes by making the reader focus more on the detail and less on the plot.
Dark Gloomy Themes
“Dune” explored some deep themes, including the rise and fall of empires, heroism, politics, religion, and ecology. Each topic discussed seems to mirror real-world issues. As a firm believer in ecology, Frank wanted to create an atmosphere of doom around his novel, which would deter humans from following the path of destruction. He wanted to show everyone the devastating consequences of religious mind control, false messiahs, overexploitation of resources, and mindless feuds. However, since his death, humanity has continued on the path Herbert warned against.
The Nuance In Troubled Characters and Their Interactions
“Dune” has many characters, from the Emperor to the Baron and Paul Atreides. There are many people with different motivations scattered throughout the story. The story’s number of characters feels natural because of the massive setting. To ensure the story grasped its reader’s attention, Frank created many characters on each planet to support the antagonist and protagonist. After all, a tale of ascension to the throne is impossible without an army of followers.
One crucial aspect of “Dune” was its characters’ naming, particularly those on Arrakis. They were strikingly similar to multiple cultures and countries, like Arabic and Hebrew cultures. Most words used by Frank were a derivative of languages from these cultures. He also mixed different religions to form his characters’ belief systems.
The dialogues in “Dune” feel natural even though the literary elements used are unique. Frank Herbert’s craftiness of words made conversations in the story captivating. Imbibing ideologies on politics and religion, one of the main themes, a reader would notice the passion in every word spoken by the characters; this remarkable feat achieved by Frank makes them realistic and alive.
Frank Herbert’s Unique Writing Style
Though the literature of “Dune” is fundamentally different from traditional books, Frank Herbert used the third-person omniscient perspective of writing; this made him create the story in a way that immerses the reader and makes them feel like an all-knowing being watching everything unfold.
“Dune” also used simple sentences to deliver its content. Frank’s love for nonce words shines through the pages of the story, as the novel has many nonce words. Some include lasgun, a combination of the words laser and gun, and fremkit, which combines Fremen and kit.
Another crucial aspect of Frank’s writing in “Dune” was metric figures’ use in descriptions. He used precise measurements to describe units like weight, distance, speed, and length. Some people complained this decision removed elements of imagination from the book because it was impossible for them to imagine scenes.
A Tight Structure and Pacing
Frank’s epic sci-fi tale of universal domination had a great structure and pacing. The novel had three sections: “Dune,” “Muad’Dib,” and “The Prophet,” with each section talking about a specific aspect of Paul’s life before he led the attack on the Emperor.
Frank leads the reader into the story by starting with the intense action of Paul facing death. He then craftily unfolds his world and introduces alien religious and political concepts like the Orange Catholic Bible, the Landsraad, and CHOAM.
After House Atreides arrives on Arrakis, Frank introduces conflict into the story by having the Harkonnen and Sardaukar soldiers attack Arrakeen; this begins Paul’s journey into the desert. Without fluff, Herbert quickly introduces Paul to some of the primary Fremen characters that will help him on his journey to become the Messiah.
Ultimately, Paul drinks the Water of Life, becomes the Kwisatz Haderach, and leads the Fremen to victory against the empire; this structuring and pacing shows how tightly Herbert wrote his story, as there were no loose ends or unresolved plot holes that needed extra writing.
An Unforgiving Setting
“Dune” would be nothing without its unique setting. As Herbert’s story focused on Paul’s adventures in the desert, the setting impacted the story the most. Arrakis was a harsh and unforgiving desert that produced Melange Spice, an elixir that granted heightened mental abilities to its user. Its presence on only Arrakis made the planet the most valuable world.
Paul’s rise to power was only possible because he harnessed the power of Arrakis’s desert and used it against enemies unfamiliar with its brutal nature.
Other unforgiving worlds listed throughout “Dune” include Giede Prime, a hyper-industrialized planet whose overproduction destroyed vegetation, and Salusa Secundus, the brutal world of the Sardaukar. Frank used the setting to show how human nature changes with the environment.
Main Pros and Cons
No story is without flaws, and “Dune” has downsides and upsides.
First, the novel features an incredibly adventurous story with excellent dialogue. Frank Herbert’s tale of politics and religious mind control in a distant future knows little to no peers as it singles itself out with a unique storyline centered around a young boy, Paul Atreides. The novel takes readers on a wild ride through many distinct worlds and shows the tension among great houses fighting for control over limited resources.
Another incredible aspect of the story is its characters. “Dune” features diverse characters from different works of life. It motivates each character and shows how their actions impact the overall story.
One cannot list the upsides of “Dune” without talking about its unique and robust vocabulary. The story features new words that are a blend of languages and cultures. Each word seems to fit into the story, making Frank a genius wordsmith. The story also ended fantastically with Paul becoming Emperor.
As for its downsides, the story suffers from over-explanation. Too much detail, particularly in metric measurements, made “Dune” feel like it did not trust its readers to imagine things themselves; this washes scene authenticity in some areas.
Another problem of the novel is there is just too much to remember. The use of distinct words also makes readers’ minds work harder to remember everything occurring.
One final issue with the story is something about Paul Atreides and Frank. Though it did not affect the plot, Herbert’s disdain for Paul feels unwarranted. The story showed that Paul had no friends his age; this likely affected him emotionally, and even though he was just a teenager, he lost his father and family. For him to have even risen to the top was a miraculous feat. However, Herbert did not realize this because he wanted to paint Paul as a false hero.
Lasting Impact On Reader
“Dune” impacts its readers positively. It shows them humanity’s problems and the issues those problems can create. Every part of the story warns readers of the dangers of falling into religious and mind control and shows that over-exploitation of resources destroys ecological unity.
Dune Review: Power, Politics, Religion, and Spice
Book Title: Dune
Book Description: "Dune" follows Paul Atreides' journey on Arrakis, where after his father's death. Paul embarks on a destiny-shaping adventure.
Book Author: Frank Herbert
Book Edition: First Edition
Book Format: Hardcover
Publisher - Organization: Chilton Books
Date published: August 17, 1965
Illustrator: Virginia H. Vogel
ISBN: 978-0-423-17656-7
Number Of Pages: 672
- Story
- Characters
- Setting
- Writing Style
- Dialogue
- Conclusion
- Lasting Effect on Reader
Dune Review
“Dune” is a novel that tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose father gets killed over control of planet Arrakis, the only source of Melange or Spice, a drug-like substance crucial to humanity’s continuation. After the death of his father, Paul and his mother escape into the desert, where Paul’s destiny begins.
Pros
- Incredibly adventurous story
- Great dialogues
- Excellent characters
- Exquisite vocabulary
- Fantastic ending
Cons
- Too much metric detail
- Confusing distinct words
- Author’s bias towards main character
