So, the ‘Dune’ series is one of the most famous sequences in science fiction: a family saga, a space opera, an epic vision of distant future. The original six books by Frank Herbert were published from the sixties to the eighties, then to be continued by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Well, I’ve stopped at book five. In the end, this famous cycle lacked something, though I couldn’t say what, exactly. Still, I’ll try.
I tried to read ‘Dune’ for the first time when I was thirteen or so, but I was too bored, and I stopped reading even before Leto Atreides’ death. Yes… And then, after several years, there was a new adaptation by Paul Villeneuve. I wasn’t going to watch it, but I read many interesting articles about the series: Whether it was Orientalist or not, whether it criticized colonialism or excused a feudal future. It convinced me that there had to be deeper meanings in the ‘Dune’ series, and so I decided to read it. I’ve read five books. For a time, I was still curious about the plot and about Hebert’s concepts, which, though often strange or murky, were still interesting. I also appreciated the books from two to five, since the characters were more ambiguous there than the Mary Sue-ish and villainish archetypes from the first novel. But it wasn’t enough. The fifth book felt strangely disconnected, and, to be honest, I’m not interested in the series’ ending for the time being.
What do I like about this series? There are many things I like about it, actually. It’s nice that Herbert genuinely tried to create a universe which isn’t very Eurocentric, with references to Islam, the Arabic language, and Indian and Chinese philosophy. Yes, you’ve got a guy named Duncan Idaho, and there are Greek, Russian, and Finnish names, but, overall, I’m still surprised that so many references are Hebrew and Arabic. It’s refreshing.
Another thing I like is that the characters become more complex. Paul Atreides is your typical Mary Sue at first, but in the second novel, he grows into a tragic and ambiguous figure. Yes, very ambiguous, since we learn that this ‘messiah’ has killed, like, I don’t know, sixty billion people? How a reader can cope with such revelation, and whether Paul is a villain, a white saviour, a tyrant, or a prophet, is up to interpretation, and I like it too. His sister Alia and then his son are complex human beings too, and I’d say that the fourth book, ‘The God-Emperor of Dune’, is one of the best novels about power and fate I’ve read. I can see that the author had a great vision, and that he must have worked with many sources and ideas. I can see that in his story, there is a big pattern changing, literally, over milenia. It’s epic. It’s moving. But, sadly, it isn’t always clear. In the end, it becomes quite unclear.
If a book series is focused on politics and the fictional course of history, the author has to keep you interested in those aspects. The plot should be clear enough to follow and sprinkled with enough secrets to remain mysterious. The most famous series by Herbert is full of mysteries, why not. Too full. In the end, I don’t care much. I don’t care what will happened to the Bene Gesserit Order and to the revived n-th time Duncan Idaho. The most important characters, the characters who kept this stuff together, are gone.
The characters… They can bore you in the first book until you realize that the following novels will be more complex. At first, Paul Atreides is your typical Gary Sue. He is serious, noble, and responsible. He is just fifteen and already a Chosen One the Bene Gesserit have been waiting for since the time immemorial. And everyone around him has an awareness of how special Paul is, and what a Tragic Hero he is. Do I have to explain why this stuff doesn’t work as a ‘Beware the Cult of Personality’ parable?
Paul is young, healthy, and soon rises to power. Actual novels debunking the cult of personality would rather focus on sick, (prematurely) aging rulers who’ve lost power (‘Noticias del imperio’, ‘The General in His Labyrinth’). You may say that those are some Latin American ‘caudillo novels’, and one shouldn’t compare them to a science fiction masterpiece. Yes, they belong to a very different genre, but it may be a reason why they are simply better in deconstructing the myth of a Great Figure. And if I want such a deconstruction in a book, I’d rather go for novels of that kind. Sorry.
The last important question is: Why the ‘Dune’ series is considered a classic, a masterpiece? The span of years, the themes, they are all great indeed, why not… But Herbert’s style and his execution of the characters aren’t always great. There are many other sci-fi classics whose writing is simply better, more clear, more engaging. If LeGuin’s or Wolfe’s style is rich and captivating, Herbert’s style is… lukewarm. In the end, this lukewarmness spreads into other aspects of his series. It reaches a point when you simply don’t care what will happen and how the story will end.
At least, this is what I felt.
Left Hand of Fiction 