Dune

=**The Desert World**=

By Allen Miller
Frank Herbert 489 pages. ACE Science Fiction. $7.99.
 * Dune**

Arrakis, the desert planet, is a world where water is more important than anything else and daily life is a struggle to survive against the sandstorms and the inevitable attacks of sandworms hundreds of meters long. A master swordsman tells his pupil of the dangers present in Arrakis, "I'm ... getting across to him the importance of this planet as an enemy. It's madness to go in their without that caution in our minds." The science fiction classic, Dune, follows Paul Atreides in his development from a teenager to a messianic figure to whom the desert is no threat. Frank Herbert's novel tackles environmentalism, philosophy, and the rivalry between two political Houses both wanting control of Arrakis. The author has created a universe so different from our own that this novel has only begun to explore its depths.

Dune is a classic hero's journey story where the protagonist, Paul Atreides, suffers greatly because of the mendacious acts of his rival House, the Harkonnens, who are trying to conquer his rightfully inherited desert planet. Over the course of this book, the young Atreides learns the harsh techniques needed to survive in Arrakis, such as extracting water from the dead and walking to create sounds that belong in a desert to avoid attracting one of the sandworms. In this aspect, Herbert is successful in creating the plausible epic of Paul Atreides, providing a logical progression and maturation of the boy. He grows from a naive yet sly boy to a leader who is followed by thousands of fanatics in response to his struggle with the Harkonnens.

Each of the dozen or so recurring characters in this novel are well-developed. Even the characters who only appear for a short time have depth and receive just as much focus from the writer as the main characters. Herbert's third-person omniscient narrator allows him to communicate the characters' thoughts and their hidden reactions, thus showing how each character thinks. The author successfully accomplishes this in a manner that does not interfere from the flow of the book, and actually contributes to the progression of the novel. Herbert creates a unique mind and "thinking style" for each character. Paul’s arms teacher, Gurney Halleck, exemplifies Herbert’s writing style with the thought, "I'm the well trained fruit tree ... full of well-trained feelings and abilities and all of them grafted onto me - all bearing for someone else to pick." From the hawk-eyed Duke Leto Atreides to the servant woman Shadout Mapes, Herbert assigns them qualities and quirks that serve to distinguish them from each other, making the characters in Dune memorable in their individuality.

The broad range of characters helps Herbert emphasize his diverse range of topics included in Dune: environmentalism, philosophy, and the political dynamics. For example, the resident planetologist Liet-Kynes indirectly explains how the many separate aspects of Arrakis' ecology all act in tandem without breaking the immersion by talking directly to the reader. Herbert's novel will make the reader ask questions about how humans treat the environment today, even though this book was written decades ago. The problems created by humans' treatment of the environment today draws an odd parallel to the environmentalism in Dune.

However, the use of characters to communicate more abstract ideas such as the philosophy and mysticism in Dune could have been executed more effectively; often merely communicating what a character was feeling or thinking is not sufficient to inform the reader of what particular development is occurring. When Paul Atreides is transformed into something inhuman, the changes that happened to him were communicated through his thoughts which give a very narrow perspective of the alterations. To make matters clearer Herbert could have provided the view points from multiple characters or have provided the view points from multiple characters or have eliminated the more abstract psychological developments and mysticism entirely.

Another aspect of the book which is commonly viewed negatively in the present time is the portrayal and depiction of women and homosexuals in Dune. Women, in Herbert's novel, are either perceived like witches as per the dominant female-only mystic school or are submissive wives who are completely controlled by their husbands. Homosexuality is seen as depraved practice, where the single gay character is the mendacious primary villain who also is a pedophile.

The reader will find in this book an epic hero’s journey rife with deep characters who explain the diverse topics in this Dune like environmentalism, philosophy, and politics. Herbert has crafted a story by blending these seemingly unrelated elements into a masterpiece, with the ever-present dangers of the desert world serving as a backdrop.