Dune by Frank Herbert

Reviewed by Lucas

From behind the headboard slipped a tiny hunter-seeker no more than five centimeters long.  Paul recognized it at once-a common assassination weapon that every child of royal blood learned about at an early age.  

In the book Dune by Frank Herbert, Paul, the protagonist, has to flee into the wild desert of Arrakis after his father, Duke Leto, is killed, and the capital of Arrakis is captured by a rival family.  For better or for worse, once Paul is forced into the desert, he begins to acquire strange powers of prescience and mental capacity.  After being rescued by the indigenous Fremen of Arrakis, Paul must learn the ways of the Fremen and how to survive the desert.  Uniting the Fremen under his powers, he becomes one of the most powerful men on Arrakis, but what shall he do with that power?  You’ll have to read the book to find out.

One of the reasons I like this book is because it has so much action.  There’s one thing after another, all in quick succession.  For example, when the rival family attacks the capital of Arrakis, it is very fast-paced, starting with the Duke walking outside of his quarters, only to see the attack, then quickly being seized and bound up by the traitor.  Quickly, the point-of-view switches to the Duke’s wife, who also wakes up captured.  

A different interesting trait of Dune is that it is realistic, in some ways.  As the book progresses, economics and politics are intertwined in the plot, making it feel compelling and similar to real life.  An example of this is the Spacing Guild, a galaxy-wide organization that has great influence and regulates space travel.  In the real world, you can’t just travel willy-nilly; there are laws and regulations about where and how you can travel.  The Guild is representative of that, lending Dune a sense of realism that is not often seen in other science fiction novels.

I would give this book a 8.5/10.  There are a few reasons why I didn’t rate it higher, one of them being that in some places, there is a lot of talking, and the plot is rather slow-moving in some places. However overall, it’s a great book for people who like adventure with a nice dose of realism.  Dune is the first book in the series of the same name, making it a good preparation for the books to come.  You should go get it now! 

ACE, 672 pages