A world to explore: Dune

(Part 3 of a series on Dune. Read part 1 and part 2.)

Since Dune is commonly hailed as the best of its genre, it's worth going back and looking at what makes it so effective at connecting with readers. This post covers House Atreides arriving on Arrakis to Dr. Yueh's betrayal. This part of the book is mostly confined to a mansion and a command post next to a landing field, but the intensity of the threat level is constantly cranked up to 10. There's a memorable scene over the desert, a worm attack on a spice crawler. It's an appetizer for the setting immersion to come.

• A world to explore. Frank Herbert does not give sweeping setting descriptions of Arrakis. He describes just enough to give you a sense of the geography, and he repeats certain details so you'll remember them (e.g., the blue within blue of the Fremen's eyes). Usually a detail is noted to drive home an observation, contradiction, or quick deduction. The richest setting description comes when Duke Leto stops to think on a balcony.
  

  To the east, the night grew a faggot of luminous gray, then seashell opalescence that dimmed the stars. There came the long, bell-tolling movement of dawn striking across a broken horizon.

  It's poetic and brief, and it leaves a lot of gaps for your imagination to fill. I have more thoughts on that here.


• Brisk prose. One of the first things I noticed in Herbert's writing style when I first read Dune is he often doesn't connect compound predicates with a conjunction. It's a small thing, but it goes a long way in setting a brisk pace and highlighting the characters' sharpened senses. I don't have time to make a direct comparison to the prose before they arrive on Arrakis and after, but I wouldn't be surprised if this prose style was more pronounced afterwards, to complete the setting shift.


• Honorable Leto. In two key scenes, at a briefing of Duke Leto's lieutenants, and on a tour of a spice mining operation in the desert, Leto shows his leadership, magnanimity, even temper, and resourcefulness. The way he rushes in at great risk to himself to save spice miners from a worm is not just thrilling. It amplifies the tragedy of his downfall. He sets the leadership example for Paul, who bears the weight of the future of the House on his shoulders. One thing the Reverend Mother drilled Paul on after he passed the gom jabbar test was what it is to rule. He said to rule is to command, an insufficient if not incorrect answer. She says:
  

  Grave this on your memory, lad: A world is supported by four things... the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous and the valor of the brave. But all of these are as nothing without a ruler who knows the art of ruling.



• Red herrings. Here's where I bring Dune in for some criticism. There are scenes late in the opening act that show Lady Jessica's developing suspicions of a coup attempt. She's tipped off by a drunk Duncan Idaho, which seems out of character for a trusted lieutenant of the Duke's. Then she gives Thufir Hawat a stern talking-to and basically boasts of her Bene Gesserit skills. Then there's a lengthy dinner scene with the crème de la crème of Arrakeen high society. Since we know it's Yueh, all this intrigue feels like wheel spinning, which is especially frustrating as the characters are supposed to be smart.


• Yueh's motive revisited. This is Dune's biggest flaw. Yueh suspects the Harkonnens killed his wife, and he wants to know for sure. He also wants to kill the Baron. Step outside the narrative and look at Yueh's actions. They do not match his motive. Why betray House Atreides, causing the death of hundreds if not thousands of your allies, to get back at the Baron? Why not confide in the Duke that you must find out what happened to your wife? Yueh has been in Leto's employment for 6 years. It's inconceivable that Yueh would feel so isolated in the loss of his wife that virtually no one in House Atreides would help him. If you think I'm missing something or you have a reasonable explanation for this, I want to hear it.


• "The tooth!" So the mechanism of Yueh's assassination attempt on Baron Harkonnen is a toxic gas pill disguised as a tooth hidden in Duke Leto's mouth. You could be detained Hannibal Lekter-style and still clear a room with a chomp of your jaw. The most memorable aspect of this is the refrain Yueh employs to help the drugged Leto to remember: "The tooth!" Associating an obscure concept with something easy to recall is part of writing craft. I don't know why, but it makes me chuckle.


• War out of focus. Yueh's betrayal is only part of the Baron's plot, as explained in just the second chapter. With the head of House Atreides cut off, the fighting men lack the leadership to fight off the invasion. A whole battle takes place, but it's all in the background. Herbert wasn't interested in showing the space cruisers landing, the fall of the mansion, or the fighting in the caves on the cliffs. He keeps the narrative focused on the characters. All you need to know is that House Atreides fights and loses.
  
  Another book that did this is One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters. Early in the book there's a massive battle, but she skips it completely and shows just the aftermath. Why? Because the story isn't about war or fighting. It's about a mystery of a man's death. Likewise, Herbert did not set out to write a war novel. He'll do this again where he simply skims over the battle to show the confrontation between Paul and the Emperor. Some readers may miss the battle scenes, but the book is helped by maintaining focus.


• Paul's great leap. It's all but confirmed at the end of the first act that Paul is the Kwisatz Haderach. This development occurs almost entirely in his head. He sees years into the future, and it looks dark and terrible. The YouTube channel Quinn's ideas has an excellent video on Paul's foresight if you don't mind sequel spoilers.
  
  
  It's unclear what sparks this leap in Paul. It could be the small amount of spice he's ingested so far on Arrakis. I'm more inclined to think it came about by necessity after his father died. The scene highlights the difficulty of adapting Dune to film. How do you show in a visual medium a character arc that takes place mostly between the main character's ears? It'll be interesting to see what Denis Villeneuve comes up with.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. If you like hard sci-fi, check out my books Seeds of Calamity and Tendrils to the Moon. You can find extended previews for each here and here.