Summary Herbert: “Dune”

What we liked:

• World-building is superb: Economy, politics, fantasy tropes are handled as part of the world-building
• Death and world-building even surpasses “Lord of the Rings” for some of us, it is deeper than “Game of Thrones”
• Complexity reminded us of books like “Lord of the Rings”
• Very original
• Characters have prescience, can guess at the future; very good at analysing people
• Plot twists or surprises still possible
• Chapters start with other pieces of writing that expanded the story
• Great quotes
• Deviates greatly from other sci-fi novels, daring world-building
• Barren desert planet comes alive through the narration, has its own ecosystem
• Lack of water can be found everywhere: language, traditions, culture, world-building, also showcases the otherness of Paul
• Paul is a force of his own, ‘hero’ of his own making, always has plans and tries to change things for the better, son of a politician and one can see that, reasonable depth
• Fremen culture based on Islamic cultures; Herbert researched it well (depiction also partly problematic), daring, 2020 movie excludes the term “jihad”; Fremen cool, highly capable people, more than stereotypes
• Paul has special abilities which are part of the world-building, awareness of his fate
• Some of us will read the sequels, others won’t
• Worms really cool

What we discussed:

• Motivation of the Doctor a bit weird and not convincing, simple hostage dilemma not that convincing
• Pacing of the plot could be better, beginning extensive, ending rushed
• Some characters a bit blunt: Paul sometimes your average fantasy chosen one
• Duncan Idaho and Gurney felt interchangeable for some, Harkonnens: paper cut villains, creation of characters is a weakness
• Paul more active than the other characters; focalization influences how the evil guys are perceived
• Not very immersive character-wise, Paul pretty cool, used to a different narration (YA more immersive)
• Paul the hero in the first book, but it is more complex than that in the sequels
• Chosen one business based in different myths, not an Arthurian hero, also loads of tropes
• White saviour figure highly problematic, but the novel is very old and the Fremen are not a stereotypical depiction, still cultural appropriation problematic, Paul goes native, but still the Fremen consider him their messiah
• DNA, breeding, genes; feels very problematic; people just bodies to be bred; people as tools à create superhumans (breeding computers); eugenics dimension highly problematic in the sequels
• Gender binary annoying
• AI ban weird, fear of computers unexplained
• Aircrafts weird, why no weapons in it?! Illogical! Tactics weird. Why swords/close combat and no pistols? (Evil computers weird explanation.) Future going full feudal weird!
• Late stage sci-fi society going feudal cool, but explanations could be better
• Hard to get into the book, partly struggling during the read
• Not telling the reader but Paul knows it, is annoying

The best article (according to Marthe) which addresses some of the issues with the novel (SPOILERS): https://www.tor.com/2019/03/06/why-its-important-to-consider-whether-dune-is-a-white-savior-narrative/

Marthe is also reading all the sequels (currently Dune #5) and will publish a little review here when she is done!

Thank you for the great meeting and managing to read that big book in time!