In the speculative Dune Chronicles where the author, Frank Herbert, has devoted incomprehensible scholarship and research towards creating a grand and intricate universe, Dune has withstood the test of time and claimed the imagination of readers since its birth in 1965.
As a visionary masterpiece, Dune, the first book in the series, won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel. It has inspired the work of countless writers and artists, particularly in science-fiction audiences, and its originality is responsible for the innovation of movies, games, songs, prequels and sequels, and heavy influence on other major works of this age.
Frank Herbert spent 20 years writing his Dune Chronicles, a series consisting of six books: Dune (1965), Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976), God Emperor of Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune (1984), and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), ending with Herbert’s death in 1986. His son, Brian Herbert, and sci-fi author, Kevin Anderson, have since published 17 other novels as prequels and sequels, while not as epic as the original series, are a welcome continuity for fans, like myself, who cannot help but imaginatively remain in the Dune universe.
The Chronicles center around the heroic history of the House Atreides, a famed family with a spectrum of unique and impressive talents, and the decedents of Atreus father of Agamemnon, characters in the legends of Greek mythology.
In the first book, Dune, we are introduced to Paul Atreides, a figure who was foreseen in the legends as a coming Kwisatz Haderach, which is "the one who can be many places at once" through foreknowledge and foresight. The Kwisatz Haderach is a superhuman creation of systematic genetic breeding over innumerable generations done by the female school called the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, a deceptive and manipulative school, yet one that seems to have the greater good at heart.
House Atreides was awarded ducal control over the planet Dune (or Arrakis) by Shaddam IV, the Imperium Emperor, and soon after, House Harkonnen attempts an assassination with the purpose of destroying House Atreides, with the approval of the Emperor. Paul, the one who has been fulfilling Bene Gesserit prophecies, is plunged into a battle for survival against the Harkonnen armies from the planet Giedi Prime and the ruthless Imperial Sardaukar legions from the prison planet Salusa Secundus. This begins the grand story of Paul Atreides that will shape the entirety of the Dune Chronicles.
The sheer amount of knowledge and learning that is applied to the Dune Chronicles is astonishing. Herbert demonstrates a profound understanding of numerous sciences, philosophies, arts, languages, and religion. Each page is filled with conflict, action and has a psychological emphasis that leaves a reader experiencing every character’s shudder, the smell of their fear, and the shriek in their voice. I would often have to put the book down and walk around the room to calm myself down, and that was even for chapters that contained primarily dialogue.
If you’re looking for a thrilling read—one that will engage you in breathtaking ways—and that is nothing short of an epic in its story and ingenious in its writing, the Dune Chronicles is a masterpiece that will inspire the deepest of imaginings; it beckons for you to give it a go.
