{"id":9218,"date":"2023-02-18T10:32:20","date_gmt":"2023-02-18T09:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=9218"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:04:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T12:04:01","slug":"der-wuestenplanet-frank-herbert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2023\/02\/dune-frank-herbert\/","title":{"rendered":"Dune \u2022 Frank Herbert"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

In truth, I don\u2019t usually read science fiction and can\u2019t really warm to the genre. I can\u2019t even put my finger on why. Surely it has to do with the fact that I look for a beautiful world in books \u2014 a place I want to sink into \u2014 and the drab, infinite expanses of space are a rather uninviting destination. It\u2019s different with nonfiction on physics, cosmology, and similar topics, which I devour with fascination time and again. Dune<\/em> is a book one repeatedly stumbles upon \u2014 a science-fiction classic with cult status \u2014 and it piqued my curiosity after all. It has probably sat unread on my shelf for two years, and now I\u2019ve taken the plunge with the first volume of this science-fiction epic and would like to share my impressions here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The story is set in the distant future. Duke Leto of House Atreides receives the desert planet Arrakis as a new fief from the Padishah Emperor. There, however, he faces the intrigues of House Harkonnen. For Arrakis is the source of the spice, a coveted substance mined on an industrial scale, whose consumption grants the ability to see into the future. At the center of the narrative stands Paul, the Duke\u2019s son, and his hero\u2019s journey \u2014 his struggle to survive in this inhospitable world and to find his place within its web of power.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I didn\u2019t read up on the book beforehand, nor did I look at the blurb \u2014 as I so often don\u2019t. There aren\u2019t that many science-fiction classics, and I let myself be guided by its popularity; after all, the book was published more than fifty years ago. It can\u2019t be that bad if it has endured so long, is still read, and is being adapted anew for film. Once I picked it up, it quickly became clear that this is the first volume of a multi-part cycle. The pace is simply too measured, and stylistically it is expansive, lingering again and again on detail \u2014 especially when it comes to the characters\u2019 thoughts, which are explored at length. I liked that on the one hand, since it lends the protagonists and their adversaries a certain depth. In exchange, the plot sometimes moves forward only slowly, resulting in noticeable stretches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

From the very first page you can tell that Herbert describes and creates a complex world with its own history, many actors, and a thoroughly constructed background. Over the course of the novel, you do get a good overview of this imagined future with its various factions and peoples; for me, it ultimately felt fairly exhaustive and left only a few loose ends.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While Herbert gives the main characters ample space and lets the reader immerse deeply in their inner worlds, nearly all the figures struck me as somewhat stereotypical. The antagonist \u2014 Baron Harkonnen \u2014 and his nephews are classic villains and feel highly exaggerated in that role. Likewise Paul Atreides, who from the outset is an Old Shatterhand, a Jean Valjean, or an Edmond Dant\u00e8s, and the reader immediately knows he is the infallible hero. Of course, that\u2019s intentional; one can read a deeper meaning into it \u2014 a necessary consequence of a world in political and economic conflict \u2014 which I find a bit far-fetched. Or it\u2019s simply a device to inject tension into the story, which seems more likely to me. I also found the main characters only moderately sympathetic, so I cared only to a limited extent about their fates.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What I found very fascinating is the stark desert world, which Herbert renders quite compellingly. As you read, you feel how precious water is there and how every drop is fought over. It inevitably makes you reflect on what a lush, life-friendly place our Earth is. The desert planet took vivid shape in my mind\u2019s eye, and this imagined harsh world did manage to cast a spell on me. I also think the Fremen are especially well realized \u2014 a people who inhabit the planet like its indigenous inhabitants. With their customs and social structures, they possess something archaic; in their word choice and manner of speech, they often recall Native Americans \u2014 except they are shaped by a lethal environment in which water is the most valuable good. They reminded me of the cultural circles in Horizon Zero Dawn<\/em>, where a certain level of technology coexists with strong theism and archaic superstition intertwined with a feudal order.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The political intrigues, in turn, reminded me a bit of George R. R. Martin\u2019s books. In Dune<\/em> there are likewise various peoples and political actors competing for power and influence, each pursuing its own interests \u2014 only extrapolated to a backdrop of multiple planets and interstellar travel. That too creates suspense, but it\u2019s a device that only works for me to a degree, especially when the aims become rather clear and linear, making things feel only somewhat realistic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Dune<\/em> is the first volume of a multi-part series. The novel originally appeared as a serialized story in a science-fiction magazine. In total, the cycle comprises six novels, and if one believes the descriptions on the internet, the series has achieved cult status by now. Notably, it was among the first science-fiction novels to sketch a vision of a possible future while engaging with a variety of themes: competition for scarce resources; the deliberate ecological exploitation of the desert planet in favor of economic interests; and, with the Bene Gesserit, a feminist component \u2014 though in my view only weakly developed. Topics like genetics and artificial intelligence also find their place in the saga, as does the conscious interference in human genetic development, albeit only on a superficial level. Despite this hidden wealth of themes, I did not find the book truly philosophical; it is too focused on plot and world-building and remains more on the surface. What I did enjoy very much was the concept of prescience and also the Mentats \u2014 humans whose mental capacities rival those of computers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Frank Herbert was an American author, lived from 1920 to 1986, worked as a journalist and photographer, studied creative writing, and held several other jobs. The novel cycle \u2014 his literary breakthrough \u2014 appeared in 1965 and won multiple awards. Looking at the list of Herbert\u2019s works, he was indeed very productive. Anyone fascinated by this world will find enough material here for many, many hours of reading.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I picked up the Heyne Verlag edition \u2014 an exception for me, since not a single Heyne title has ever truly won me over; on the contrary, I\u2019ve found some of their books a total flop. So I tend to give the publisher a wide berth. There isn\u2019t really a beautiful German-language edition of this book, so I chose this paperback version, which looks quite attractive with its black cover and the pictured desert planet. The book also includes an extensive appendix with further information about the world and a simple map at the end, which, for me, offered no added value.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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I found the included color illustrations by John Schoenherr very appealing \u2014 atmospheric, with that typical \u201960s science-fiction style. They fire the imagination, but there aren\u2019t so many that anything is spoiled. In that context, I find it a real shame there\u2019s no handsome hardcover edition of this book.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Conclusion:<\/strong> If you\u2019ve read this review to the end, you can probably sense between the lines that the book didn\u2019t win me over. It\u2019s certainly not bad: it builds a solid, epic tension, ranges widely in its themes, and \u2014 not least \u2014 the desert planet Arrakis, with its barren, hostile environment, is a fascinating setting. But I found the characters unsympathetic, stereotypical, and overdrawn; the plot too slow and excessively epic; and the competing, scheming houses and factions too contrived and transparent. I can understand why many are captivated by the series \u2014 it contains numerous elements that lend the story depth and the world a certain authenticity, especially in the context of the time in which it appeared and the novelty it represented. It just didn\u2019t speak to me, and I won\u2019t be reading the subsequent volumes. The lack of a handsome, classy edition also disappoints me. For me, then, it\u2019s not a must-read classic \u2014 but readers who enjoy science fiction certainly won\u2019t be disappointed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Book Information: <\/strong>Dune \u2022\u00a0Frank Herbert \u2022 Heyne Verlag\u00a0\u2022 800 pages\u00a0\u2022 ISBN 9783453317178<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In truth, I don\u2019t usually read science fiction and can\u2019t really warm to the genre. I can\u2019t even put my finger on why. Surely it has to do with the fact that I look for a beautiful world in books \u2014 a place I want to sink into \u2014 and the drab, infinite expanses of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Dune \u2022 Frank Herbert”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Der W\u00fcstenplanet \u2022 Frank Herbert - lesestunden","description":"Eigentlich lese ich keine Science-Fiction B\u00fccher und kann dem Genre nicht so wirklich etwas abgewinnen. Ich kann gar nicht genau benennen woran das liegt. Siche"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,263],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/der_wuestenplanet_dune_1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9218"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11320,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9218\/revisions\/11320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}