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Dune - Frank Herbert
In the Duniverse, mankind had gone through an apocalyptic war against artificial intelligence and machines - a fight referred to as the Butlerian Jihad. Following the war – the role of machines and artificial intelligence was outlawed for most, and regulated for the few (not unlike nuclear technology today). There are no robots, computers or androids in Dune; and the powers-that-be have agreed to proscribe all things AI and ensure machines never rise up against mankind again. After the Butlerian Jihad, two prominent organisations were came to be – the Bene Gesserit sisterhood and the Space Navigators Guild. The events of Dune begin in 22,000 CE – known as the year 10,191 AG (After Guild) of the imperial calendar. This imperial calendar began when the Navigators Guild established their monopoly on interstellar commerce, travel, communications and banking.
In place of supercomputers the ruling class rely on ‘mentats’ – human computers with tremendous analytical brainpower. Mentat training also addresses moral angles, but mentats are not bound by ethics. The general lack of computers makes the inhabitants of the Duniverse a little smarter, their world a little less globalised, less digital more analogue, with distinct & entrenched cultures. The saga doesn’t take place in a hi-tech world, it unfolds in a world with its own technology (mostly mechanical), medievalism and dystopic elements.
The events of Dune occur under the auspices of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino. The imperium that is made up of several noble houses – three of which are front and centre in the book. House Corrino which presides over the imperium, House Harkonnen which controls the spice trade under the emperor’s mandate and Homerically named House Atreides which is given the mandate to take over the spice trade. The imperial court has its share of intrigue and plots, with houses vying for favour and profit, and the emperor rooting out threats and ambitious courtiers.
The imperium is largely a single product economy focused on the mining and trade of the geriatric spice Melange. The desert planet Arrakis is the only world where Melange naturally occurs on account of it’s ecology; and is also home to the Fremen and sandworms. These giant sandworms attack spice miners, and are intertwined with the natural history of Arrakis. The territorial sandworms are crucial to the Fremen culture, playing a part in establishing leadership roles within Fremen tribes. The sandworms are one of the few alien creatures in the Duniverse, another ‘alien’ species being the highly evolved humans who have become Guild Navigators and whose complete dependence on Melange have given them distinct physiology.
The Fremen people are an old civilization bound by the harsh rules of the desert - their culture, social structure, myths, apparel, and their practice of raiding are all products of the desert’s influence. Their customs and spiritual anchors have also grown out of this unforgiving terrain. The Arab / Persian connect to the Duniverse in general and the Fremen in particular is readily apparent. Words originating in the Arabic and Persian languages like Muad’ib (Mahdi), Arrakis (Iraqis), Padishah (Badshah) and Butlerian Jihad are central to the story; but the Native Americans along the coast of the US also share hunting tactics with the Fremen who use harpoons on the sandworms much like the Natives of Washington State did on whales.
The spice Melange is everywhere on Arrakis – in the desert, water and air. It is an addictive substance with properties that enhance mental capabilities and extend life, and it is also rumoured to unlock precognition. These properties of Melange have made it vital for interstellar travel and the Space Navigators Guild, who run commerce, travel and communication in the Duniverse. The spice trade – like the oil industry, big data (& narcotics) – is too big for the rulers to ignore. Mining and trade in Melange was monopolized by the imperium because of its commercial importance. The indigenous people of Arrakis – the Fremen – receive no material benefit from this spice trade.
The recreational consumption of Melange is also a socially accepted vice like tea, coffee, tobacco or alcohol. Its properties in prolonging life and stimulating the nervous system mirror traditional medicinal systems’ appreciation of herbs & spices. Melange is a superfood of the Duniverse. However, Melange is also addictive leading to dependencies, and regular users have their eyes turn blue from overuse. Heavy users of Melange – like the Space Navigators – have evolved a new physiology because of heavy spice consumption.
The other powerful force of the imperium are the Bene Gesserit. They are a shadowy sisterhood on a multi-generational mission to stabilize the universe through their eugenics programs. Their aim is to create a super-being – the kwisatz-haderach (the shortening of the way), and they do this by arranging marriages among the noble houses of the imperium. Their position in the courts of the imperium allow them unparalleled access to the ruling class; however just two successive generations of recalcitrant royalty undo most of their plan. While on one hand their eugenics program pushes towards the manifestation of the super-being, on the other hand the sisterhood infiltrate local peoples and seed spiritual myths and legends that will make the acceptance of their super-being easier for the common people. The Bene Gesserit want the super-being to be seen as a messiah according to local legends.
Into this setting fall the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica and her son Paul Atreides. Jessica is concubine to Duke Leto Atreides of Caladan. Jessica bears him a son against the instructions from the sisterhood, and the story starts with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam coming to examine the fifteen-year-old Paul. She takes a measure of him with a painful test called the Gom Jabbar (the high-handed enemy), in order to determine his control, stamina and awareness. Paul has been trained to thrive as a feudal ruler from a young age, by members of his father’s war council. Thufir Hawat is Master of Assassins and a mentat – who sharpens Paul’s mind. Paul is trained in the physical martial arts by Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck – both active members of the Duke’s council who are at the forefront of the Arrakis mission. Jessica for her part had trained Paul in the ways of the Bene Gesserit.
The Atreides mandate over Arrakis at the cost of House Harkonnen by the Emperor’s own dictum doesn’t sit well with Duke Leto. The Duke suspects a plot and danger, but honour and protocol don’t allow him to turn down the emperor. He sends diplomatic missions to Arrakis on his own initiative and makes contact with the Fremen, attempting to reduce hostilities with the locals. In the fluid situation during the changing of the guard on Arrakis, the enemy strikes deep.
The Atriedes leadership is decimated, and Paul and Jessica are stranded in the desert, where he undergoes a metamorphosis and begins to manifest as the very thing the Bene Gesserit feared. However, the manifestation would not have been completed without his acceptance into a Fremen tribe. Paul adopts their ways – leading raids, fighting to live, and taking a Fremen as concubine. Eventually even Paul defies the Bene Gesserit mating instructions, choosing his Fremen concubine Chani and refusing to mate with his Bene Gesserit bride from House Corrino.
Dune has soft science fiction themes and begins like a fantasy story with feudal lords, mysterious sisterhoods and imperial mandates. Sci-fi themes in Dune include ecology, planetology, eugenics, and the evolution of religions. Fantasy themes include feudal settings, mysticism, messiahs and empires. There is an appendix on ecology, and another on religion; and the backstory of the Dune entrenches the reader deeper into the universe. Mixing elements of fantasy and science has worked for Dune, making it one of the most enduring sci-fi novels today. Fans of the Duniverse have their own theories and they argue over the white-saviour complex, similarities with Lawrence of Arabia, if Paul Atreides is actually the hero of Dune, and how much of Dune inspired the Star Wars story.
