This classic by Frank Herbert has been on my TBR for ages, but it wasn’t until all the hype around the new adaptation coming out that I decided I had to make time for it. I waited too long to get a copy from my library before the movie came out because there were a bunch of holds on everything so I went ahead and used an Audible credit so I could read it before the movie came out. Audible has a pretty great version with full cast, so if you like audiobooks and you get a chance to listen to that one, I highly recommend it.
It starts with a teenaged boy, Paul Atreides, the only child of Duke Atreides and his concubine, Lady Jessica, who happens to be a Bene Gesserit, which means she has been trained to have an extremely high level of self control and awareness. Of course, part of the training includes developing abilities that aren’t really possible, such as “The Voice”, which forces people to do as she says.
I don’t think it’s ever stated that only women are Bene Gesserits, but it appears to be dominated by women, which of course leads to a lot of people calling them “witches”. Nevertheless, Jessica has been training her son in the ways of the Bene Gesserit, so when we first see him, he’s undergoing some sort of test to see if he’s “human” (apparently he’s only mostly human, but we don’t learn that until later). It’s a painful test with deadly consequences if he fails, but he passes and his training certainly comes in handy not much later when he and his family are attacked.
At the time the book begins, Paul’s father has been assigned to rule over Arrakis, a desert planet where water is so scarce the people have to harvest the morning dew and wear suits to recycle their own excretions. When a person dies, their water is harvested and distributed among the tribe.
The duke’s family doesn’t have to worry about not having enough water, but they are betrayed by one of their own. The Baron Harkonnen has managed to turn one of their own against the family. The duke is killed and Paul and Lady Jessica are brought out to the desert and left to die so the baron can claim their deaths were accidental. But Paul and his mother manage to escape after killing the minions who were tasked with taking them to the desert and leaving them for dead.
Against all odds, they’re found by some members of the Fremen, the “native” inhabitants of Arrakis. Although “the Fremen way” is to kill any foreigners they find and harvest their body water, Stilgar, their leader, decides to make an exception for Paul and his mother, and they are adopted into the tribe.
Not everyone is cool with this, though. Another member of the tribe calls Paul out and Paul has to fight and kill him. According to tradition, the man’s “woman” and children are now Paul’s responsibility. Paul has no interest in the woman as a companion, but he agrees to take care of her and her children.
Paul is already smitten with Chani, a young Fremen woman he dreamed about even before coming to Arrakis.
Turns out, Paul’s dreams are often prophetic, which does not quite provide the advantage you would initially think because he cannot see the whole future and he can see multiple possibilities. For example, he knows there’s a chance he’ll see his friend and teacher, Gurney Halleck again, and if he does, that puts him on a path towards the Imperial Throne, but he’s not sure if or when he’ll see Halleck.
They do run into each other again and they do manage to storm the capital and face the emperor. Despite the fact that Paul has already had a child with Chani and they’re definitely in love, they are not formally married, which means Paul is free to marry the Princess Irulan, another Bene Gesserit and his path to the throne. He fully intends to keep Chani as his concubine and have more children with her, which is apparently is a pretty established practice.