ots of information in these first forty-odd pages. We meet our main character: Paul Atreides, the son of a Duke in some kind of future/past (”A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…”–this won’t be the last Star Wars reference). We meet his mother, a mysterious witch-woman, and some of his friends who also happen to be adults in the employ of his father. We also meet his and his father’s rival, and some political machinations are introduced. Phrases pop up like crazy, so I assume there has been lots of flipping to the glossary.
There’s a fair amount of exposition in these opening chapters. We’re introduced to a number of systems, which are the real rulers in Dune. There’s the environmental systems on Arrakis, the fiefdoms of the Imperium, the Spacer Guild, the Bene Gesserit and all kinds of other certifications and classifications and bureaucratic powers. Even the members of the “main cast” that we’ve been introduced to are like members of a D&D (or WoW) raiding party, each with their own powers and allegiances. While there’s certainly some action (the gom jabbar is a great scene, and the carefully controlled shielded sword fighting [swords!--there's your second Star Wars reference], plus there is already so much intrigue with Yueh’s CONSTANTLY MENTIONED betrayal), these opening chapters are clearly setting the stage for excitement to arrive in full force when the Atreides family arrives on THE DUNE PLANET.
There’s a lot to take in, in the beginning. The characters are not only the people, but the whole of the world that Frank Herbert’s built for this story.
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So, for the discussion. Feel free to talk about the first part we’ve read in the comments. I’ve got threading turned on, so you can reply directly to someone’s comment and start your own mini-thread if you feel the need. Here’s the rules, in ALL CAPS because I am shouting them:
BE NICE
KEEP YOUR SWEARS TO YOURSELF (at least humorously self-censor, like we’re watching the TV edit of your comments)
NO SPOILERS (that means discuss nothing after the first week reading line)
SERIOUSLY, BE NICE
that’s it! For supplemental reading, check out the first post over at DHarbin’s Book Club.
If you are reading this and have not caught up–be aware that spoilers await. Also, don’t stress. The first month is easy reading because I figured some of you bums would take a while to jump in. Feel free to revisit these posts+comments once you get to this point.
6 Responses
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First of all, the scene with the gom jabbar drove me nuts. I hate the idea of doing horrible things to people for your own purposes, of controlling people, of ‘tests’ and hidden motives. Grr. I was similarly angry when reading the torture scenes near the end of 1984.
Now, with that out of the way, i am enjoying a little suspension of my cynical sensibilities, overwhelmed as they are with the torrent of sci-fi (and sci-not-fi) that i’m immersed in. What we’re reading is, unless i’m mistaken, a pioneering book that shaped most of the science fiction i know… including, as Ryan mentioned (although with backwards causality), Star Wars.
It reminds me quite a lot of the Foundation series by Asimov, made 20 years or so earlier. I dare say, in fact, that with not much tweaking this book could be placed in the Foundation universe. . . at least as far as I’ve read.
Yeah, this series is really similar to Foundation in terms of the author’s world-building, politics, economics, and a few other things that will come into focus in the future.
In general, though, I think the politics and economics are pretty heavy in this point in the book. It’s kind of odd for a sci-fi book, especially one that has had so little, uh, sci-fi in it up to this point. Even Foundation had talk about blasters and the like. And the way space travel is handled is basically the author telling the readers not to look into it. Weird, to me.
I’m not sure whether Dune qualifies as a space opera (as it mostly doesn’t actually occur in space), but it certainly shares many elements with other space operas – Star Wars, Asimov’s Foundation, Iain M. Banks’ Culture series, Reynolds’ Revelation Space universe – namely, an emphasis on creating an immersive, layered world that plays background and foreground to what is to occur later.
I think the comparisons to Foundation will somewhat diminish as we go further into the book (although I’ll definitely admit that the Bene Gesserit are pretty Foundation-like, and being the Kwisatz Haderach sounds an awful like the inverse version of the Mule).
I think the Gom Jabbar scene is supposed to be disturbing, and if I recall correctly, Paul says something about the “wrongness” of it.
As far as the tech is concerned, Herbert pretty much goes out of his way to announce that he is not very interested in technology. As ambivalent as I am about the distinction between hard sci-fi and soft sci-fi, I think so far Dune has revealed itself to be a soft sci-fi – less interested in scientific accuracy and explanations, more interested in philosophy, ecology, politics, and economics.
Oh, I somehow lost the main thread of my comment on tech in a detour into the soft/hard sci-fi distinction. Herbert goes out of his way to remove technology from the main purview of the story – not just with the Guild ships, as Ryan mentioned, but with the shields that block things that move too fast (no lasers), and the banishment of computers and robots (and the introduction of Mentats). I’m not sure what Herbert’s motive was for doing this, but it forces him away from a lot of the themes and and devices which we are accustomed to in SF, and I think a large part of the reason Dune ended up with such great critical/commercial success.
So I just read the Dune Book Club post, and found that almost the entirety of those two posts are utterly redundant. I guess I’m not that original of a thinker.
I gotta mention that I’m sort of a sucker for world-building – I just love new/cool ideas about how systems could work. I think I’ve come to the realization that I’m not an economist because I’m interested in “The Economy”, per se, but rather because I’m interested in systems, and economics provides a way of looking at a lot of different kinds of systems.
Anyway. On to the second week of readings!
Thanks Fred for pointing out the hard vs. soft sci-fi. I must fully admit I am somewhat of a sci-fi virgin. I never read Star Wars nor have I even heard of Foundation…or Dune for that matter until this invitation to join in the read along. With that said, I think I would get distracted, rather disinterested in descriptions of robots and gadgets found in this other world. I find my self challenged at imagining the world of Dune, yet refreshed by the characters and their role in politics and the economy…their terrible purpose.