“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

Bene Gesserit’s Litany Against Fear

For many years, since I’ve read Dune this has been my inner motto. That one book quotation I turned to, when life was taking an unexpected turn. And there is a reason for that. While ‘Dune’, written by Frank Herbert is a Sci-Fi novel, it’s not just a vision of the world in the distant future, it’s so much more. 

‘Dune’ was published in two separate pieces for Analog magazine in 1965 and in 1966, it won the first ever Nebula Award for Best Novel (the ceremony started this very year). Reviews of the novel since the start were very positive and until this day it is considered to be the best science fiction book ever to be written. Much like ‘Lord of the Ring’s, ‘Dune’ has had a faithfull and cult-like fanbase. Though there is a huge difference between ‘Dune’ fans and “LOTR’ or ‘Star Wars’ fans. You will not find a Dune convention, you will not see Dune t-shirts worn by people on the streets, and you will not witness a ‘Dune’ coffee mug on your co-worker’s desk. For some reason the fanbase prefers to keep a low profile. Though you will still find experts deliberating on this.

https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/dune-endures

And although Dune did not impact pop culture like Star Wars did, it produced a number of characters that are not possible to forget. Some of them even made into pop-culture.

Over some years Frank Herbert wrote five sequels in total: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. And later on the series has been continued by Kevin J. Anderson and the author’s son, Brian Herbert. In time this unique story turned into Saga of Dune, telling the story of the planet and its rulers. And their amazing progeny. So despite the fact that ‘Dune’ does not have the same publicity as, for instance Star Wars, it does have equally (or more) valuable heritage.

“A portrayal of an alien society more complete and deeply detailed than any other author in the field has managed … a story absorbing equally for its action and philosophical vistas … An astonishing science fiction phenomenon.”

Washington Post

Imagine a galaxy of planets governed by feudal laws and kept together by substance, a narcotic that expands capacities of the human mind. In those settings Dune tells the story of House of Atreides, powerful family led by Duke Leto, and their coming to the planet Dune – the source of the narcotic – the spice. The plot revolves around young prince Paul Atreides, and his transformation into a man, through loss, treason and war.

However I will not dab into the details of the story plotline; I will say that “phenomenon” is a good word to describe the character of the story. I have not read many books that have this many layers of plot. The politics, the religion, space travel, feudal government, private bloody vendetta’s – one by one they cover the root story – which probably is individual for every reader. For me ‘Dune’s’ real story was always about personal growth, sheer will, and expanding the boundaries for yourself and other people. In that way the book is a masterpiece of showing the most basic human instinct to endlessly evolve.

So, why is right now the best time to read it? Well, for one, if you haven’t read it, you most assuredly should. Even if you might not enjoy it, you should have an opinion about this book, since it’s laid a huge brick on sci-fi foundations. And most importantly – there is a glimmer of hope that incoming movie adaptation will actually be good.

Of course the Dune has been adapted before. Most famous is David Lynch’s adaptation from 1984. However, although the movie has its merits it is still weird. Some things are made really good, while the others are made horribly wrong. For instance, I really enjoy costumes in the movie – especially the Space Guild costumes. They were incredibly detailed, and showed somewhat respect to the book. But how Fremen were pictured in the movie was just sad. Brave warriors of the desert were transformed into some barbarian old folk. Yuck. you could get scarred for life just by watching that. Overall, David Lynch’s movie was criticized by book fans and rightfully too, even if it has become a sci-fi symbol. 

The second attempt at adaptation were two miniseries: in 2000’s “Frank Herbert’s Dune” and 2003’s “Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune.” And while low budget is clearly visible, I would say that they were better at capturing the book’s unique feel than David Lynch’s Dune. 

The new adaptation will be released on Dec. 18, 2020, and we already know that it will be in two installments. Which I consider to be good news, since the source material is extremely hard to build on. We also know that after the movies we will get spin-off series from HBO, called “Dune: The Sisterhood”, which will focus on Bene Gesserit sisterhood.

Now normally I’m very sceptical when it comes to adaptations. Since Lord of The Rings I don’t recall having seen a good adaptation of any book. Yet the pictures released, the casting choices and the fact that film will be split in two parts has given me hope. And that is also the main reason why you should read the book – if you haven’t already. It might be nice to watch a good adaptation for a change. But in order to do that, you need to actually read it.