Daily Times

Frank Herbert published Dune as an epic science fiction novel in August 1965. Even after 57 years, the themes discussed in the novel – set in a distant future – seem relevant to our world today. Herbert’s world revolves around Paul Atreides. His family leads the planet Arrakis. It is inhospitable but it is the source of melange that increases mental capabilities. Melange also facilitates interstellar travel. The empire will end if Melange becomes scarce. Atreides has to leave Caladan – a planet with life and water. However, when he enters Arrakis also known as Dune, he experiences a new inner strength. Dune is among those novels that focused on religion and made it an integral part of the story.

Critics and readers opine that Dune influenced the creation of Star Wars and perhaps the Game of Thrones. The plot of Dune brought to the fore an intricate system of interlinked characters with the story moving through plots and subplots.

Herbert created Caladan and Dune – two distinct planets with an environment polar opposite to each other. We too have countries where one part is flourishing with all sorts of flora and fauna while the other area is a barren land. The climate of Dune is intense and does not have water. The inhabitants need to wear still suits which are special garments that collect moisture from the body and recycle it for drinking.

Dune comprises House Atreides, House Harkonnen, House Corrino, Bene Gesserit, Fremen, and the Smugglers. Dune combines hard science fiction and soft science fiction. Authors normally focus on one mode of sci-fi – hard or soft-. Hard sci-fi refers to delving into the intricate details of how technology works – including the actual physics of how it operates – and its impacts on society. Soft sci-fi only explains the surface level of technology.

Dune also discussed Butlerian Jihad or the Great Revolt. The Butlerian movement, also called the Cult of Serena, was an anti-technology organization founded by Rayna Butler. It destroyed computers and thinking machines. The events of the Butlerian Jihad occur 11,000 years into the future and 10,000 years before when the story of Dune begins. According to John Harrison, who adopted Dune for a miniseries in 2000 said, “A lot of people refer to Dune as science fiction. I never do. I consider it an epic adventure in the classic storytelling tradition, a story of myth and legend…It just happens to be set in the future…The story is actually more relevant today than when Herbert wrote it. In the 1960s, there were just these two colossal superpowers duking it out. Today we’re living in a more feudal, corporatized world more akin to Herbert’s universe of separate families, power centres and business interests, all interrelated and kept together by the one commodity necessary to all.”

Herbert discusses space travel but does not delve into the details of how spaceships work. He focuses on the social system and the hierarchy that is present within and among the Houses. Herbert also delves into how politics impacts society. His world building sense is intense as he creates a world that is thousands of years into the future yet remains relevant to the thought process of the readers’ mind – no matter in which year or decade they are reading the novel.

The writer is an independent researcher, author and columnist. He can be reached at omariftikhar@hotmail.com and Tweets at @omariftikhar