Dune by Frank Herbert: An Anti-Messiah Sci-Fi Novel

 Dune by Frank Herbert: An Anti-Messiah Sci-Fi Novel

Note: This is a review of the novel Dune by Frank Herbert, not the 2021 film based on the novel. You can find a review for Denis Villeneuve's adaptation here. 

The best stories ever told are those that not only have a message, but craft that message in such a tactful way that the story comes well before what the work is trying to say overall. Some stories out there try their best to create certain thematic elements or motifs for the audience to think about, but in putting those elements before the actual story, they fail to engage people with what they are trying to say. The best stories are those where you know the author had a story to tell before they thought of thematic elements or deeper meanings, or stories where those deeper meanings were already weaved into the idea at hand. Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune explores a vast multitude of themes while telling an interesting, interweaving story between a multitude of characters--though mostly focusing on its young protagonist.

The story of Dune follows Paul Atreides, a young boy who is whisked away from his family's home planet, the ocean world of Caladan, and placed on the desert planet Arrakis. This is because of his alignment with the House Atreides, as his father, Leto, is the Duke of his family's house. Leto has recently been appointed the fief ruler of Arrakis by the Emperor of the Known Universe, tasking him with overseeing the harvesting of a special type of spice that can only be found on Arrakis. This spice is an extremely rare and valuable substance, as it can boost human vitality and lifespans, part of the reason why it is such a contentious commodity throughout the galaxy. Leto takes Paul to the planet to start a new life under orders of the Emperor. However, Leto is unaware that, in the background of his new life on Arrakis, another family is conspiring against him, hoping to show favor to the Emperor by taking the planet's resources for themselves.

Leto and Paul are accompanied by Paul's mother, Leto's concubine Lady Jessica, whom despite the title acts as both the mother figure for Paul and Leto's better half. Jessica is a Bene Gesserit, an exclusively female group that possess superhuman qualities, often anywhere from physical strength to near-supernatural mental abilities. The Bene Gesserit also have political aims of their own, having ordered Jessica to become part of a breeding program to give birth to a female, continuing the Bene Gesserit lineage. However, out of love for Leto, she instead bore a child naturally, said child being Paul. This becomes an issue, as the Bene Gesserit are angered that a child without powers has been born. However, it soon becomes clear that all is not what it seems, and that Paul may have some level of Bene Gesserit power within him. At the same time, the family becomes aware of the Fremen, desert-roaming nomads that are native to Arrakis. These Fremen speak of a prophecy where an outworlder of great power will lead their people in a jihad that will change the galaxy as they know it.

Dune has a lot going on, as the two paragraphs above illustrate. Even with what I've written so far, it's impossible to summarize the story in such a way that keeps interest while also not spoiling some of the larger elements of the novel. My biggest word of advice if you do decide to read Dune--which you should--is not to read the back of the book. Almost every back cover of Dune that I've seen spoils the first third of the book, which can be a pain for someone who isn't expecting the first ~250 pages of this tome to be about what they already know. It's a major flaw that I've seen with multiple copies of the story, and it's something that I don't want to replicate here because of just how good it feels to go into Dune knowing as little as possible about where the story is going to take you.

Because Dune has a larger, sprawling story told from a multitude of perspectives. While Paul maintains his place as the figurehead of the book, it feels next to impossible to call him the definitive protagonist. If anything, that title goes to his mother, Lady Jessica, as her role in the story is both central and essential throughout. While the book is told in a third-person omniscient perspective that allows readers to jump between characters' thoughts on a whim, Jessica appears to be the true mainstay, even when looking at things from Leto or Paul's perspective. It's a rather interesting way to structure a story, as while it's clear that Paul is supposed to be the most important character therein, to call him "the protagonist" doesn't seem correct. Instead, he is more the central figure around which everything else in the book happens, with the events of the story making readers question whether or not the young man has any autonomy of his own. It's presented in this way, however, to coincide with the themes, which I'll get to after the next paragraph.

First, I want to talk about just how dense of a book Dune is. Sitting at almost 800 pages in most paperback editions, not only is Dune a lengthy sci-fi novel, but every sentence of it gives readers more insight into the characters, the story, the world-building, and the thematic ideas of the novel. This is not the kind of book you can fly through in a day, and I would be saying something similar even if it were only 1/4th of its actual size. There is so much packed into every little sentence that it feels like a whirlwind of information if you're reading it at a faster pace. To really grasp everything that happens in the story, it's necessary to slow down and keep in mind all of the little details that you learn throughout. This style of writing, of always delivering something important, can sometimes be a bit tiresome. After all, downtime with characters, while not often feeling fulfilling to the plot, can be crucial to understanding who they are as actors within their larger worlds. Nonetheless, this structure of storytelling lends itself to the epic tale Herbert set out to tell, something that he achieved stupendously in what I must confess is my favorite science fiction story of all time.

This favoritism also has to do with the thematic depth of the story. One of the most captivating themes in the book is that of freedom. When Paul first arrives of Arrakis, it's clear that it isn't his choice. He and his mother have been dragged here by Leto in order to accomplish the political tasks he has been assigned. At the same time, the family find themselves in the middle of the prophecy of the Fremen, their deeply-held belief that someone will come to assist them in their jihad against the universe falling at the feet of the House Atreides. What's interesting to note here is that, even before the Atreides family left Arrakis, there were signs that perhaps they did possess the skills and powers necessary to lead the Fremen to victory against the universe. These signs, while never perfect, do line up more and more as the book progresses. It's a very large, thematic element of the novel, making readers wonder about the nature of freedom. Are we all free to make our own decisions to shape our destinies? Or are those decisions pre-ordained, created for us long before we would have been able to perceive of them?

This plays into the anti-messiah type of story that Dune sets out to tell. While many of the Fremen's prophetic musings indicate their messiah figure to be a relative good for themselves, it's never explicit as to how their arrival may impact the rest of the universe. And this doesn't just include their offworld enemies or those that would seek to harm them on their own planet. Even the balance of the universe, a system of structure, whether it be the one at present or something that could be formed in the future, could be threatened by this new development. Herbery explores the idea of the messiah figure not as Christ-like--forgiving, compassionate, and wanting to make the world a better place--but as a near-demonic entity--ruthless, destructive, and wanting to use the world to his or her advantage in order to get their way. There is no definitiveness to this throughout, nor is there a definite answer as to how a messiah figure must act--or if, perhaps, there can exist a delicate balance between the selfless and the selfish. But the idea is played with in such a way that, as readers, we are bound to have our own personal interpretations of what Herbert was trying to get across, one way or the other.

To say any more about Dune, its characters, and its themes, however, would be a disservice to the ever-changing, dynamic experience of reading the novel for yourself. It's an incredible detailed, multi-faceted science fiction epic the likes of which had never existed prior to its being written. It takes the genre and bends it inward, on humanity, to study attributes ranging from freedom and messiah as discussed above, to environmentalism and political tyranny. The multiple dynamics of characters both on and off Arrakis create a universe that feels alive in every page. If I had to gripe, I suppose the book has more dialogue than action sequences or crazy plot twists. So if you're coming into Dune to see an action-packed odyssey, you're going to be disappointed. But if you open the page with just as open a mind, you'll find the greatest science fiction epic of the 20th century.

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