A Book Review by John Stracco

Dune 

Any book that has a 23 page appendix of terms necessary to be able to understand the plot is one that I, or anyone else, would not usually pick up. So then, why did I decided to read Dune? The simple answer is I wanted to watch the movie (which is a cinematic masterpiece); however, the book is often regarded as one of the foundational stories of the sci-fi world.

The book dives into a dense world centered around one thing: spice. This magical dust can only be found on the planet Arrakis and is the only fuel for interstellar travel. Arrakis is also the most dangerous planet in the entire imperium. There are storms with winds over 800 kilometers per hour and sand that can destroy metal. There are sandwords that can reach over 400 meters in length and hunt anything that makes rhythmic beats in the sand. Not to mention the incredibly high temperatures that only allow people to travel at night. Here, water is the most valuable resource imagined and the only group that has successfully cultivated “dessert power” are the native fremen. They use stillsuits to keep their body’s moisture in and are characterized by their blue eyes due to spice exposure.

In the story of Dune, the emperor gives House Atreides the fief of Arrakis, and control of spice production, and takes it away from previous rulers, House Harkonnen. However, the devilish Harkonnen Barron is determined to get his precious fief back. This epic sci-fi adventure is centered around Paul Atreides and his quest to cultivate desert power, find the woman who enchants his dreams, and bring peace to the imperium.

The plot of this book is amazing and tells a first-of-its-kind story for the time. The book is also a product of its time. Gender roles of the 1960s are not forgotten in Dune as women are often regarded as spiritual, elegant, thinkers who are bound to their man. There are moments when men take multiple women as wives and even win them in battle. The medieval concept of marrying off your children is also present with it being used to bring different houses together for the benefit of the imperium. Men are depicted as brute, strong, and anything else you’d associate with 1960s gender roles. 

As previously mentioned the book has many references to the medieval, given it was written off of that time period. There are houses that control fief’s and marry off their children. And in the case of the Bene Gesserit, there is selective breeding in order to play with genetics to create “the one”. All of these concepts are things we learned in history class, but now have an application to a sci-fi novel.

Another notable fact about Dune is the fact that Star Wars is heavily influenced off of the book. Like the desert planet Tatooine and Arrakis, the Bene Gesserit and the Jedi, or even the Empire and the Imperium. When writing Star Wars, George Lucas was heavily influenced by Frank Herbert’s story so if you are a fan of one of the world's most famous franchises, then maybe give Dune a try.

 Overall, Dune was a book well worth reading. Yes, it's dense; and yes, you may have to overcome that big book fear to get through it, but there is adventure in every corner and something new to learn each page. Frank Herbert’s universe is unmatchable as it is so vivid and the reader can not only picture it in their head, but also feels like they are there suffering the pain of Arrakis with the rest of House Atreides. The book, like the sandworms of Arrakis, is a goliath, but one well-worth getting through; especially with the reward of watching part one of the film at the end.