DUNE: The Original Novels (1965-85)

Dune (1965)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 562 (605 inc. Appendices)

"What do you despise? By this are you truly known."

-From 'Manual of Muad’Dib' by the Princess Irulan

Frank Herbert's Dune Saga is the story of the planet Arrakis, also known as Dune, upon which is found a rare and valuable resource that every Great House in existence depends upon. Without it interstellar trade would end. Even the Emperor of the Known Universe would be rendered mostly powerless in all but name. Whosoever controls the retrieval and distribution of that specific resource will be a formidable foe in a never-ending and far-reaching power struggle.

The first book concentrates on the rise of a reluctant messianic figure from not-quite-humble beginnings towards something he never expected to be.

The two things are connected but are each only a small part of what the novel contains. There's a staggering amount of depth beneath the surface, exploring everything from petty feuds and familial concerns to the basic needs of evolution, ecology, society and the intersection of religion, politics and power.

You won't find what's great about Dune solely by reading the words on the page, especially in the early stages when the descriptive language is sometimes stiff and the dialogue unnatural. The real treasure only reveals itself if you delve between the lines and identify the nuances and implications of the situations that Frank engineers.

He calls upon the reader to recognise what's required of them, to engage with the layers of meaning. Character responses are tailored to the person making the enquiry, dictated by the speaker's relationship to the recipient and the calculated balancing of full or limited disclosure. How they behave in different situations or in the presence of different people is itself a guide that teaches how we as readers ought to be analysing it. New ways of seeing are gradually revealed to the protagonists and we must adopt the same approach or be left behind.

It eases you into the concept slowly. The structured opening sets the base level and then builds upon it until you're second-guessing every action and wondering at more than just the moral implications of every decision. If you're able to get into that mindset, then reality can get swept away; nothing exists except the book and its world.

A word of caution if you have the 40th Anniversary Edition: Frank's son Brian mentions in his afterword that he's aware for some people the book they're holding is their first experience with Dune, and yet he deems it acceptable to put in spoilers for Books II and III. If you want to avoid those, either don't read it at all or wait until after you've read Children of Dune (1976).

Dune Messiah (1969)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 222

'Every civilization must contend with an unconscious force which can block, betray or countermand almost any conscious intention of the collectivity.'

-Tleilaxu Theorem (unproven)

The first sequel to Dune (1965) is almost half as thick as the one that came before, but that's not the only difference. When you begin reading you'll discover a significant shift in reader-sympathies. Herbert didn't lay a lengthy groundwork, because he already had the characters where he needed them to be. Instead, he jumped straight into an exploration of what happens after the war is won and the tyrant vanquished. When the new order has replaced the old, what then?

He also studies what happens when a thing is set in motion - a thing that takes on an impetus of its own and branches into other avenues. The one who set the ball rolling from a historic perspective gets blamed for every nuance, more so when the beliefs of the people who act in the name dictate that it be deified and that the religion should spread as far as possible throughout the stars.

The sects and orders that Muad'Dib subjugated were forced to publicly shuffle to their respective corners with heads bowed, but pride demands redress, so the enemy of my enemy scenario becomes an option. Of course, when you consider that the most powerful players in that wounded collective include the likes of the Bene Gesserit and the Spacing Guild, then you have to also factor in the secret goals of each and acknowledge them in every decision made.

For Muad'Dib there's compensation for the hard choices he must make, but the balance is cruel. Being aware that the crutch of prescience his every waking hour relies upon is both what he needs and what he fears doesn't help. Life is hard, even for the gifted.

Messiah often feels like a belated epilogue to the first book, set twelve years after. Likewise, the second half feels like a lengthy prelude to the third book, Children of Dune (1976). Knowing that doesn't lessen the enjoyment of reading, but should help prepare you for being assailed by an overpowering need to go direct to the following volume upon reaching the final page.

Children of Dune (1976)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 426

'When you believe something is right or wrong, true or false, you believe the assumptions in the words which express the arguments. Such assumptions are often full of holes, but remain most precious to the convinced.'

-The Open-Ended Proof from The Panoplia Prophetica

More than twenty years have passed since Duke Leto Atreides of Caladan first set foot on the arid landscape of Arrakis. Much has changed in that short time. The descendants of Leto are now children of Dune.

In a manner similar to how the ducal signet ring passed to more than one successor in that time, so too has an important part of the story's focus. While the planet is always the largest concern, it's arguably characters that make any book worth reading, so we have the twins, now aged nine. They explore their origins while their aunt goes ever-deeper into the political and religious realm, for reasons that she keeps secret, scheming how best to make even the most desperate situation an advantageous link in the chain of practical eventualities.

Herbert's presentation of the twins is amazing. Their heritage gifts them with certain talents and knowledge that belies their age, accentuating the almost magical bond that exists between a brother and sister born from the same womb only seconds apart. Each is able to instinctually know what the other is thinking, or, at the very least, make an informed judgement call on how their sibling would respond to any given situation, to anticipate reactions and even to allow for the unknown. When confronted with a problem, familial or otherwise, they've more than one perspective to draw on. When they debate it's like one mind questioning itself, excising the incorrect assumptions to leave only the correct path. However, it's a situation filled with just as many dangers.

For a time the book is heavily-weighted towards the women. The Reverend Mother role of the old religion never really went away; like everything else it changed and adapted to better fit the new political climate.

Previously we had a voice from the 'outer world' bringing change. Now there's a voice from Dune itself, a figure from the planet's past known only as The Preacher, passing judgement on the present situation, on the religious beliefs, on the ecology and on the state of rule.

I've chosen to highlight only a small part to avoid spoilers, but there's a lot more to be discovered. For example, most of us will know how easily the mind slips into romanticising what's past after change has occurred; the effect that has on larger concerns can be immeasurable and remain unseen by a populace who are a component part of it.

Remember also that the 'Children' aspect of the title can be understood as more than literal and can be applied in a broader sense to more than just the twins.

God Emperor of Dune (1981)
Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 454

'To those who dare ask why I behave as I do, I say:

With my memories, I can do nothing else. I am not a coward and once I was human.'

-The Stolen Journals of Leto II

Book IV ventures further down unpredictable avenues. Whereas the previous volumes each had identifiable influences, actions reminiscent of classic tales (Muad'dib as Aeneas, etc), God Emperor isn't so easily relatable. It stands apart, exploring the mind of a man become a god, changed in more than just the figurative sense.

Leto II's current condition grants him a unique insight into the human condition. It also paradoxically distances him from fully empathising with the people he's closest to.

Empathy is a process dependent on memory. Being Atreides means Leto has access to an almost infinite store of memories from countless lives, but they're each shaped by the era in which they were formed. His only experience of a society held in the grip of a God Emperor for millennia is from the side of the ruler, not the ruled. His outlook is invaluable but one-sided.

Arrakis is changed, too. No longer just a place to train the faithful, it's the centre of the universe as predicted by Muad'dib. The Bene Gesserit, Spacing Guild, and Ixian societies are diminished but still around, biding their time as slaves to the planet's resources and the God Emperor's forced tranquillity.

It's impossible to know for sure but I suspect the voice of the author is split between at least two of the main characters. With his knowledge of atavistic characteristics and myth structures Leto is, of course, one of them. Using the poetic or prosaic as the situation demands; teaching on an active level, not through repetition; forcing the listener (and reader) to apply what they know as fact and extrapolate into the equation what they think they know in order to fully understand the lesson is an idealised version of an author/ teacher.

As usual, the introduction to each chapter is a commentary not just on the individual parts but on the whole. You should also have recognised by now how Frank sets up situations for each subsequent book to follow up on. God Emperor delivers on that. It has a proper ending so you can stop the series afterwards if you want to, but there's more to the story of Arrakis.

Heretics of Dune (1984)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 508

'When things change, your absolute universe vanishes, no longer accessible for your self-limiting perceptions. The universe has moved beyond you.'

-First Draft, Atreides Manifesto, Bene Gesserit Archives

Fifteen-hundred years have passed since the God Emperor's extended reign came to an end. Previously we witnessed Leto II musing upon the role his religion had to play in the great work and the sacrifices he had to pay to ensure it was carried out. Now we're privy to how the various factions that endure respond to that legacy and how they choose to act within its various interpretations.

Each group dreams of dominance while attempting to make the best of what the Tyrant left them. They strive to elevate their place in the universe's new shape. They're hopeful elements adrift in the human current believing their order worthy of filling the impossible gap left by his absence. They even begin to believe the whispering assurances of their own wounded ego.

Heretics of Dune explores the 'myth of the Messiah' that remains after he's passed, mostly by reference to, and direct experience of, movements within the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.

The labels we give to things in some ways define and influence them, so it's fascinating to see how place names change over time. Frank incorporated that phenomenon into the book's structure and explores the question of whether or not the new names also change the people that reside there, or do old prejudices remain, hidden, diluted but still potent in the right hands?

Concepts and belief systems can also change and grow in the same manner. The Tyrant, for example, in some circles has become known as the Divided God, referencing the belief that he exists still as separate pearls of awareness in an endless dream. His Golden Path rolls onward.

Many different dependency infrastructures exist within the novel. Much of your reading will require you to recognise them and weigh their importance with regards to the bigger picture. I believe that's the best way to approach it, because those seeking a quick fix or a standalone resolution will be left wanting - the Divided God's story is split across more than one book.

NOTE: I'm aware that the picture on the cover is the same as on God Emperor of Dune (1981). It depicts a scene from Book IV, so was obviously an error on the publisher's part (New English Library), but that's how my editions are, so the scans will have to remain that way.

Chapterhouse: Dune (1985)

Author: Frank Herbert  |  Page Count: 476

'Some never participate. Life happens to them. They get by on little more than dumb persistence and resist with anger or violence all things that might lift them out of resentment-filled illusions of security.'

-Alma Mavis Taraza

The last of the original Dune books wasn't planned to be the last. Frank had hoped to finish the second trilogy (V + VI + VII) but sadly he died before it could be written, less than one year after the publication of Chapterhouse.

For the reader that means some things are left unresolved at the end of the book. The new directions hinted at didn't come to pass as Frank would've directed them.*

Does that mean you shouldn't bother to read it? That's entirely up to you, but if you've read Book V, then I feel it would be folly to stop thereafter because Book VI is an improvement upon its predecessor, bringing the quality back up to a level almost equal that of the first trilogy.

In Chapterhouse: Dune the Honoured Matres of the Scattering are hunting and killing the Bene Gesserit. The Sisterhood is large and spread across many planets but the Honoured Matres are erasing them from the universe on a mass scale.

To turn the tide in their favour and give themselves a fighting chance the Sisters rely on a number of things that they acquired in Book V: Heretics of Dune (1984).

To ensure the survival of both their Order and homeworld they have the option of setting something in motion that'll change everything, from the very small to the very large, like an interdependent ecology. The book explores the decision making process, among other more personal decisions, some of which are calculable to a certain degree but still dangerous.

The women have a small number of human subjects in their care, under deep scrutiny. Likewise, thanks to Frank's reveals, we're able to watch the watchers in the same manner. The Bene Gesserit view of themselves reveals much about the truth of themselves to an observer. The reader is also gifted a deeper insight into what the Spice Agony is and how it affects anyone brave enough to undergo the trial. (Like the aphorism says, change is the only constant.)

I was left wondering if, like in previous books, some of the passages/testimonials that introduce each chapter (in a sense presented as histories acting as a kind of prescient commentary when placed out of their original time) were from someone who would go on to play a key role in the next book; and if so, would their actions change how I view the things they said in this one.

*Frank's son (Brian Herbert) and Kevin J Anderson took up the mantle and attempted to write Dune VII, but rather than one book they did a Peter Jackson and split it into multiple parts (well, two). The books are called Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007). I've not read either of them because I read two-thirds of their Prelude to Dune Trilogy and found them to be a mere shadow of what Frank achieved, padded out with filler and lacking the multitudinous layers of what Dune should be. Nevertheless, if I ever do give their Dune VII a try, I'll link to them.