To be honest, I have never been a fan of science fiction as a book genre (as far as films are concerned, this is my favorite genre :)), and I started reading Dune by Frank Herbert only after watching the amazing film Dune by Denis Villeneuve. But I could not imagine that I would finally and irrevocably fall in love with this wonderful world and the extraordinary heroes inhabiting it. But first things first.
Frank Herbert was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of science fiction.
Dune is good not only for its history, but also for the world created by Frank Herbert. It is so real, detailed and solid that you understand that if you forget about Arrakis, it is still interesting to study it. Read about political forces, laws, religion, traditions and planets. This world has its own history, its own language, state system - which helps the reader to completely immerse himself in history and causes a strong fear of realizing that the book is not endless.
Then of course the story and its characters. And I want to start not with Paul Atreides, but with his antagonist - Vladimir Harkonen. Why? Because this is the first time in my life when I was equally interested in reading about the protagonist and the antagonist. I can't call Vladimir Harkonen a villain because he isn't. Yes, he is cruel, cunning, distrustful, lusts for power, but there is nothing personal in this - it is just business. And this hero is not flat and one-sided, he is evil, but one cannot but admire his intelligence, prudence, foresight.
And now, of course, Paul Atreides is an amazing hero who struggles with fate. His story was the most tragic for me. I am not a supporter of the idea of fate, that something is destined for a person. I like to think that man has free will and creates his own destiny. That is why I felt incredibly sorry for Paul when he tried to escape his terrible destiny and reverse his fate. And in a sense, his struggle ended successfully.
Bottom line: read "Dune", enjoy immersion in another world, meeting bright, interesting characters and let this story not let you go for a long time, as it was with me.
This article was sponsored by Andrew Lehr
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