’Move over Tolkien - Herbert is here....’ This was one of the quotes from its reviews carried out in various publications. This is high praise, for anyone. Tolkien is the top dog in sci-fi/fantasy arena and some reputed daily saying that this person is better than the best is something. So I decided I will read this one.
I later found out that there were 6 books in this series written by Frank Herbert, and later after his death his son Christopher Herbert wrote many more. I have just read the first 2 books written by Frank till now and plan to read all of them later. Now the review. I was not disappointed at all. The world described here is probably the best of all the sci/fi/fantasy books I have ever read. The world described here is millions of years after our time.
A lot has happened since our time. After us, the machines gained a lot of relevance and power. They managed to rule in a lot of places too. A war broke out between men and humans. This went on for a long time. Meanwhile the earth was destroyed in the battle and the inhabitants moved of to various different planets.
The war was won by the humans and the machines were destroyed. The aftermath of this was that the humans started a new religion called Orange Catholicism. Its main commandment was ’Thou shalt not make a machine in then human image’ . But humans could not advance a lot without the aid of machines. A new class of people called mentats were developed. These people were given training since their birth and were (after training) able to calculate and reason at impeccable speed and accuracy.
Apart from these on a planet called Arrakis (Dune by is inhabitants) a material called Melenge (spice) was discovered. This spice when consumed increased the awareness of the consumer temporarily.
Depending on his ability he could see the future and present. This reduces the needs of the computers and machines and humans with consuming this could do all they needed better than any computer. The spice soon becomes the most important and expensive commodity in the whole universe.
This is where the story starts. There is an emperium and an emperor. There are a lot of ruling houses, which rule various planets. There is a company called CHAOM, which controls the planet Arrakis and all the houses and emperor hold shares in it. There are two very important houses called the Aesterides and Harkonnens.
They both want to control the planet Arrakis for its profits. There is also an organization of women called Bene Gesserit. They are manipulative and aware. Theis main aim seems to be the advancement of the right gene pool, so that they can make a person who can exceed all limits of awareness and see what no one has ever seen.
This is the story of all these people and their struggle. Between this a young boy Paul Asterides becomes a Messiah. He starts staying in Arrakis. He brings the local people called ’Fremen’ to their glory. His journey towards becoming a Messiah and the aftermath. The book is so detailed in its nature, and yet fun to read. The details are hidden in conversations.
There are hardly and details revealed in narration. One learns about it during the various conversations and thinkings. Hence the story is not halted for the details. But the details are marvelous. The characters are richly defined. The scenes and surroundings and moods are expressed is a brilliant manner. The author is inspired by the Muslim scripts, stories and terminology.
The story seems a reminiscence of the story of all the Messiahs. Their curious start, their different upbringing, the unfairness, the rejection, the enlightenment, the wandering, the cause, the acceptance, the worship, the fulfillment and the death. This seems to be the epitome of all messiah stories (Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohommad, Budha, Mahaveer Jain et al). This book also follows it.
Overall a must read for any sci-fi enthusiast, although it is a classic in its own right and all should enjoy it. I have hardly told anything about the story in the review and yet it has grown so long. Its the details, you see.