Frank Herbert - Dune

[I, Brian]

Giant kilometer-long 'worms', a desert planet, and the home of a galactic wide drug known simply as 'Spice'? Welcome to the world of "Dune".


This, simply put, is one of the cornerstones of modern science-fiction. Less concerned with speculative science, it simply tells a towering story. In terms of themes there's a lot of room for bad writing - but luckily, excepting for a little melodrama in terms of the character conflict, the actual story itself is high quality.


The first couple of chapters are the hardest, namely because they deal with ancient mysticism and whispers of a messianic figure - territory that can easily ruin the best ideas with simplistic and sloppy development. But quickly we enter the crux of the plot - a political battle of wills as Duke Leto is made to transfer his entire estate onto one of the most pivotal - and dangerous - planets of human civilisation. And it's also a move known to all as walking into a mighty political trap.


What follows then are typical themes used in an original way - the desert setting and the culture of the Fremen, and their focus on prevention of all waste of water - catpures the imagination easily. As do the political maneouvres and chaos that follow the main characters.


This is an outstanding book in its own right, in terms of telling a story of the future. Personally, I prefer to keep it that way. I've not seen much of the sequels, but from what little I have, it seems that he never touched on the successes of this primary work. A great read.