★★★★★ 5
A Fair and Balanced Review from an Unashamed Fan
Frank Herbert's Dune is simultaneously one of the most sublime and frustrating works of literature ever produced.
I gave this novel a 5/5 rating outright for two reasons: it's my favorite novel, one I never tire of re-reading; and it's a book that should be read at least once by anyone interested in science fiction, fantasy, history, political science, economics, mysticism, or narrative. Regardless of whether or not someone actually enjoys Dune, every reader can glean something from it.
That said, were it not for the latter two points, I would likely give this novel a lower rating, and here's why:
Dune sacrifices storytelling for story.
What in the name of Thor am I talking about? Let me explain.
The world-building of Dune is outstanding, and I mean, REALLY outstanding. Tolkien can't hold a candle to Herbert's work in this regard - sure, he came up with a number of artificial languages, but from a narrative perspective that's actually one of the less productive things you can do to flesh out a setting.
In Dune, every story element has relevance and connection to every other story element. The political reality of the galaxy depends on economic power, which is derived from trade, which is made possible by the Spacing Guild, who uses the spice, which exists only on Arrakis, whose administration depends upon the political climate. Paul's character is related to the mystical aspects of the story, but also brings relevance to the ecological and historical aspects. And so on, and so on. There isn't a loose thread here, no equivalent of the Fellowship of the Ring's Barrow-wights; nothing here could be removed from the whole package without substantially diminishing it. Tapping into all of these fundamental spheres of thought and creativity gives Dune the feeling of being a real history, and it gives the reader the feeling they're witnessing a change in the axis of civilization - something more subtly epic than big battles, of which we only get one (and an indirectly described one at that).
That said, because Herbert is so dedicated to giving us as much material to work with as he can, in many instances this novel misses out on what might have been effective dramatic elements. An important plot point early on in the book is the supposed presence of a traitor in the midst of the Atreides, a traitor who will make the Harkonnen plot possible. Ordinarily I wouldn't mention this for spoiler concerns, but the novel basically comes out and tells you who the traitor is from the beginning, a while before it even comes into play in the events of the story. The reason this is problematic is because in a story which is so dependent upon political intrigue, it makes the decisions of the characters more powerful when we share in the mystery of the information around them.
Another narrative problem is Paul himself. Though he is unquestionably the central character of the story as well as its protagonist, Paul starts off as a precocious fifteen-year-old and ends as a major player in galactic politics. In other words, he starts of as unrelatable and becomes less relatable as time goes by. In fact, several of my friends told me they stopped reading after a while because they didn't like Paul. This is an entirely fair criticism. In fact, the only character with whom a reader could form a true emotional connection would be Paul's mother, the Lady Jessica, whose problems are much more grounded in humanity. Now Paul's nature is basically vital to the fabric of the story, so it would diminish the story's complexity for him to become a more human character; but Dune would undoubtedly have been an easier reading experience had the novel chosen to focus on Jessica.
This should give you a taste of what I mean. Dune isn't a novel that really engages a reader on an emotional level; because it reads so much like a history, it engages you on intellectual and thematic levels - but again, not emotionally.
This is still my favorite novel, because measured against the standards of what it's trying to accomplish it succeeds beautifully; but potential readers should know what sort of undertaking they're facing when they pick this up.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2011