Dune: A Planet of Danger (by Ben Newman)

 Dune: A Planet of Danger

The novel Dune, by Frank Herbert, takes place in the far future (~10,000 AD), where the creation of interstellar travel and the initial colonization of other planets is already ancient history. Dune stands at the pinnacle of the science fiction genre as a whole, with many praising it as one of, if not the best, science fiction novels of all time. While reading the first of three sections that the book is split into (i.e., the first two-hundred pages), one feature that makes the book stand out is its use of the theme of entrapment and suspense. It is for this reason that I recommend this book (on a scale from 1 to 5, I would give it a 4).

*Minor spoilers ahead

In the beginning of the novel, we are introduced to House Atreides, consisting of Paul, the son of the Duke; Leto Atriedes, the Duke; and Paul’s mom, the Lady Jessica, a woman trained in espionage by the mysterious Bene Gesserit and concubine to the Duke.  In the world of Dune, planets are ruled by houses, with all houses collectively ruled by a singular leader, the Emperor. The House Atreides has been commanded by the Emperor to leave their home planet in order to rule Arrakis, a desert planet with scarce amounts of water and also the only source of the valuable spice, Melange. As House Atreides cannot deny a direct order from the Emperor, they have no choice but are trapped into leaving for Arrakis. Arrakis is already being ruled by the House Harkonnen, a cruel house led by the Baron Vladmir Harkonnen, the main antagonist of the book. Upon arrival, Paul notices the desolate state that the people of Arrakis have been living in. Citizens beg for dirty water that has been wrung off of the bathing towels of the rich and powerful, and the Baron uses his control over this scarce resource to coerce his people into paying high prices. 

The lopsided power dynamic is also conveyed in this book through the setting. Upon arrival on Arrakis, House Atreides takes shelter from their suspected enemy, the Harkonnens, in a town called Arrakeen, which was the previous residence of House Harkonnen. They are thus less familiar with their new home than the enemy is, a fact that becomes more apparent as it is revealed that a Harkonnen agent has already set up Paul’s bedroom (in a palatial house formerly occupied by Harkonnens) with a drone carrying poison in an attempt on Paul’s life. Paul survives this attempt with some quick thinking and the perpetrator presumably dies in his attempted escape (although on Arrakis, nothing can be taken at face value). Aside from their residence, members of House Atreides are also imperiled by the sky itself. When Lady Jessica looks at the stars in the night sky, all seems normal at first until she sees a signal from the spies attempting to kill her family. “She saw one bright star so low on the horizon that it twinkled with a clear, precise rhythm . . . Someone signaling!” (pg 123).

The dinner party scene was especially captivating. As his family stays on Arrakis, Paul and his mother notice spies have been sent to infiltrate their social circles. As their enemies close in on them, House Atreides runs out of options, while the Duke Leto refuses to heed warnings from both Paul and the Lady Jessica. Soon the family realizes that they have few people on their side, and can seldom trust anyone. During a dinner in the Atreides house with powerful people on Arrakis (Bankers, water distributors, space navigators etc.), Lady Jessica and Paul discover numerous spies infiltrated among them. This scene in particular highlights how trapped the Atreides family is on this new and unfamiliar planet. Almost everyone they are eating dinner with seems to want to kill them. Paul, Lady Jessica, and the Duke remain aware of this continuous threat throughout section one of the book. As a reader, I found Herbert’s descriptions of the family’s ubiquitous peril to be thrilling. The existential situations the family repeatedly found themselves in made me curious to see how they would get out of danger. In the dinner conversation, the Duke in particular directly rebels against the enemy at some points. He begins drawing more attention to himself by ending the traditional custom of offering basins of dirty water to the citizens. By denying his guests this custom, the Duke almost seems to be telling the Harkonnen agents that he is aware of their presence in his halls. He even spills water on purpose--uncommon and taboo on a planet where clean drinking water is so rare and valuable. 

In conclusion, section one of the book Dune by Frank Herbert details a family being put in a situation that they cannot avoid, and in which they face danger at every turn. While I have not finished the book yet, it is foreshadowed that death is coming for some members of the House Atreides, whether they are ready for it or not. The continual suspense made me want to read more, both because it was exciting and because it made me curious what would happen next.