Hooked by the first chapter: Dune

Every sci-fi writer dreams of reaching the heights Frank Herbert reached with Dune. It comes as close to universally praised as any book in any genre. When I read it as a young teenager, a little younger than the hero Paul, it gave me more than diversion and joy. I wanted to be Paul: skilled in combat, truth discerning, and hyper-conscious of my world. The worldbuilding may be Dune's greatest achievement, but I think Herbert's brilliance was to take a character trait, self-awareness, and bring it to the level of plot and setting.

Somehow I talked my wife into reading Dune. Inspired by her, I reread the first chapter to see what Herbert does to hook the reader. These things stood out to me:

• Head-hopping. "They" say don't head-hop, and 99% of the time they're right. Dune belongs in the 1%. We hear the inner thoughts of all three characters in a scene. Here's why it works. Paul, Lady Jessica, and the Reverend Mother all share the same super power: observation. They're all carefully watching each other. It's said Paul can detect whether someone believes what he is saying. The gom jabbar test shows how he has been trained to put mind before body. The effect of Herbert showing the thoughts of the other characters is to elevate the reader to Paul's level. Without being explicitly told so, we assume naturally that Paul knows what we know.
  
  
• Loads of exposition. For the bulk of the first scene, Paul is lying in bed thinking. The stream of consciousness flows between Paul's mother, his family's new fief, the planet Arrakis, and his capacity for self-control. In the gom jabbar scene, we get more exposition about the Bene Gesserit breeding program, and hints that Paul may be the Kwisatz Haderach, setting up the hero's journey. We also get some rather obscure exposition about the Butlerian Jihad. My point in noting all this is that the exposition dump works because it's intent isn't to help the reader understand everything. It hints at the breadth of the world these characters occupy. It's also expertly woven in with the tense mood of the prose.
  
  
• Focused details. As explained above, observation is basically Paul's super power. What does he observe, though? What does Herbert draw our attention to? The first chapter takes place in an ancient castle surrounded on three sides by a river of Caladan. Many writers would be tempted to awe the reader with a description of the castle and the landscape. Herbert doesn't do that. The castle is ancient, having served the Atreides family for 26 generations, but it is not tall with so many towers. The castle is simply a castle. Moat or wall, drawbridge or portcullis, it doesn't matter. So what does matter? For a book this long, I was surprised at Herbert's economy of descriptive words. The setting is something the characters move through. Descriptions come when detail changes, like at the break of dawn or when someone enters a room. The most important details are the characters' moods and inner thoughts. Details of the setting are secondary.
  
  
• Paul is only 15. This is more noticeable now that I'm an adult. Let's be real. Pubescent man-children do not make good heroes. However, making Paul so young facilitates several story elements. It pairs his maturation and coming of age with the hero's journey. It gives him a meek body that a keen mind compensates for. His ability and prescience in contrast to his tender age reinforces the book's heavy tone. And finally, his youth allows Lady Jessica, at 36, to be stronger than an otherwise middle-aged woman. Also, it's more believable that she could conceive Paul's sister at 36 than at 46.
  
  
• Ominousness. You knew this already. The first chapter--nay, all of Dune--drips with foreboding because of the gom jabbar test. Dangers await on Arrakis, and dangers await Paul as heir to a duke and possibly as the Kwisatz Haderach. The excerpt from Princess Irulan's hagiography of Paul hints at the great man he will become. How will he become great? That's the hook. We know a little more than Paul does about his future, but we want to know more. "It's the journey, not the destination" is a trite cliché. It's better to say "The destination known, the journey becomes interesting."
  
  

As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'll reply to you as soon as I can.

If you've read Dune and you're looking for something new to read, give my second book, Seeds of Calamity, a try. It's set in the future and features an alien parasite that gives its host clairvoyance! If that piques your interest, get yourself a copy at Amazon. I appreciate the support!