I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not usually a science fiction fan. I don’t enjoy books full of futuristic battle scenes, evil alien overlords, or intergalactic romance with badly written female characters. I do, however, enjoy engaging action, multi-faced characters, and the dynamics of relationships, all of which Frank Herbert’s Dune has. I’m a firm believer that excellent literature can come in any genre, and this book was a great example. It touched on a variety of topics, including politics, addiction, loyalty, environmentalism, religion, racism, gluttony, marginalization, self-fulfilling prophecies, parental love, nepotism, and the idea of the common good, just to name a few.
I kept having to remind myself that this book was written almost fifty years ago. The technologies described seemed so believable that the suspension of disbelief usually needed for stories set on other planets in the distant future was hardly needed. The characters felt contemporary and the issues – such as mining for spice resources and the extreme water shortage - caricatures of our own current problems. I also have to give credit to authors who can weave such intricate stories and back stories as to need to include appendices and glossaries in the back of their own novel.
I really enjoyed the shifts in the point of view, giving insight into many of the different characters in the story. It was fascinating to watch the protagonist, Paul, evolve from a sheltered teenager from a royal household to a highly-revered messianic leader of a rebellion, and to follow his mother, Jessica, as she struggles between understanding the grandiose destinies of her family and fostering maternal feelings and instincts.
Despite my apprehensions about reading a brick-sized scifi novel, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Even if you don’t usually read science fiction.
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