A different, negative take on Dune (Herbert), review/criticism
I didn't like the Dune book and here are my reasons why.
It should be noted that I'm rating this book without at all taking into account that it is 44 years old -- had I done so this review would be different; thus, hardcore Dune fans, please bear with me if you intend to read this, since I don't give credit to the age of this work. This book/this series is often recommended to newcomers to the science fiction genre who are way too young to have grown up with this (like me). As such this is a brutal review with no regard to how groundbreaking this work may have been and with no regard to the nostalgia I'm sure most of the fans have.
This review might contain spoilers, but will not reveal much of the story itself, if anything.
Having just finished the four novels set in the Hyperion universe and the single short story in the same setting I was shocked that something so great (the Hyperion series) could have existed for so long without myself knowing about it. Having grown up as very young with the 'Dune 2' real time strategy game on the PC which I have fond memories of I later on always had a strong suspicion that the Dune books must be truly great -- but for some reason I never got around to reading the books despite reading a lot of other fiction. Finally I bought all the books in the Dune series -- I was THAT certain this series must be so good I would want to buy all of them anyway; or so I'd been told, having been told things such as, 'So you thought Hyperion was good? You should read Dune.'.
I went into the book with enthusiasm, a truly open mind and embraced every idea when I started reading and didn't care if things didn't make sense at first. I have read the first and second Dune book now and will present my thoughts.
I was deeply disappointed. For starters I didn't like the tone and style of writing, but I didn't like Hyperion immediately either. Although despite my flexibility I found the writing style superfluous and needlessly complex at times, sometimes I got the feeling the author employed as many foreign words as possible as well as original terminology, only to make the reader feel in awe of the work. But I will admit this is at best a subjective triviality of mine, and I'm sure others have no issues -- the real objective criticism has yet to come.
Dune has little or nothing to do with science fiction and technology, even from a 'soft' science fiction point of view. It has everything to do with politics, religion, adventure and what I'd call magic -- the abilities of e.g. the protagonists to manipulate their own bodies and see into the future with no explanation whatsoever or even vague references to physics.
This is hard to grasp. It is even told that the magic spice can 'bend space', presumably as implied by General Relativity (GR). It is even harder to accept that in a high tech, interstellar fairing civilization computers are outlawed and knives are extremely effective weapons.
On Amazon.com, in the review section, it is often stated 'The universe that Frank Herbert creates here is a humanistic one, almost a medieval renaissance world.', which I find to be true, yet it seems that it is always neglected to mention how little this notion has to do with science fiction.
The author seems to employ cheap plot devices to elude the burden of having to speculate on the technology of the future. E.g. all computers are illegal due to a 'jihad' that banned them a long time ago. Apparently digital (or analog) guidance computers are not needed to navigate nor control the massive interstellar spacecraft that are present in the novel but never discussed in detail. Instead they are navigated using one of the many magic forces of the 'spice' in addition to so-called 'navigators'. The most sad thing is that exactly how this (and basically everything else) works is not even mentioned as far as I can recall.
To imagine that strong AI is forbidden is possible, but to imagine that not only weak AI (expert systems) is illegal, but that ALL computers altogether are illegal? Give me a break. Supposedly 'Ornithopters' are used as aircraft on Dune, with no explanation as to whythis is cheaper and more effective than regular aircraft -- however, are we meant to believe these aircraft are operated with analog electronics? Is all communication analog too?
'JIHAD, BUTLERIAN: (see also Great Revolt) -- the crusade against computers, thinking machines, and conscious robots begun in 201 B.G. and concluded in 108 B.G. Its chief commandment remains in the O.C. Bible as 'Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind.''
Since computers per se are never mentioned in the book, as far as I can recall, I can only interpret the Butlerian Jihad as outlawing ALL computers -- which is essentially exactly what is stated in the quoted text. Are we really meant to believe that an interstellar civilization operates a vast network of huge, massive spacecraft of all kids, without using any form of digital computers? All sensors, attitude control, thrusters, life support systems, GN&C, communication, command and data handling are all analog, and somehow fed through a mutated creature that is this 'navigator', who uses a magical spice to fold the very fabric of spacetime itself? And none of this needs to be even remotely explained or even mentioned how actually works?
The problem is not that this is too fantastical or too abstract or incredible (e.g. bending spacetime), the problem is, that this is only a product of the many possibilities that the spice brings into the Dune universe, not a product of engineering marvel, mathematics, chemistry nor physics, or any combination thereof -- it is just a magical construct that is kept secretive, magical, and left at that.
Herbert decides not to speculate into the uncertain and risky future of certain concepts, e.g. computers, hence he 'cannot miss' and hence his fans regard his work as timeless and epic. I don't consider it that way, I consider it a cheap excuse for not daring to speculate into the future of computer technology. I would like to hear how it is imagined a massive *interstellar spacecraft* can possibly be thought feasible without any form of computer.
How does the great spacecraft navigate? What are its subsystems? What propulsion technology does it employ? How are all these subsystems managed? Are any parameters at all even hinted at? No, it is all either 'explained' (mentioned) by the spice, sometimes explicitly but more often than not, merely implicitly.
The weapon systems regarded in the book are dry at best, the notion of knives being the ideal weapon of choice borders on sheer insanity -- I have no problem with shields, but what has always happened from a historical point of view is as follows, as the shields get better, so does the weapons -- thus there is an 'arms race' between the shield/armour technology and the weapon technology; this is the real past, this is the present, and this is likely the future; why didn't the author merely extrapolate from that? While the Herbert's solution with fusion is clever, it ruins all the fun of weapon systems, which is a common neat trait to science fiction. Who wants to read about knife fighting, especially in THE greatest science fiction novel of all time? I'm sure the Crysknife is a distinctive mark of the Dune universe that the fans love, but as for a reality check -- from a science fiction point of view -- it is plain wrong; again, try fantasy.
In short, the Butlerian Jihad is to computers what the shield is to weapon systems, it allows Herbert to elude the burden of speculation.
Other works of science fiction (especially soft sci.fi.) often refrain from explaining the inner workings of arbitrary technology too, but in those cases the underlying concepts or ideas that are implied (or stated explicitly) are often familiar ones that are easy to imagine -- the reader can fill in the voids and gaps on his/her own, however with Dune I'm unable to do this. It seems impossible.
In all Dune seems more like a desert fantasy universe with the technology so distant and so remote that it is felt as if it is not even there at all. The ideas and concepts seem more magical than scientific. It seems all too easy for me to replace the word spice and melange with magic or mana.
Due to the age of the work I obviously expected a space opera/soft science fiction -- little talk about technology and science, but as I've tried to explain there is less than that, there is so little science in the book that fantasy is almost a better term.
The point is that the *science* has nothing to do with the story; the story could just as well have been without any of the alleged science, set in medieval times with a fantasy theme, and it would be a much better book at that. Why couldn't Dune have taken place in a fantasy land instead? If it did, I would enjoy it a lot more, even if I don't like the fantasy genre very much.
Although if you can live with what I've briefly mentioned so far, the rest of the book must be said to be great, but there are plenty of other reviews that deal with what the book is really about. I'm just disappointed from a *science fiction* point of view.
As I have yet to read far into the series, I will give it the benefit of the doubt, perhaps the issues I've mentioned matures with time.
To avoid angry replies I will point out (despite being somewhat repetitive) the following:
Dune is a fantastic novel, it was groundbreaking in a lot of regards at its time; but I do not account for this, this is criticism and a review meant for a new audience in regard as to what to expect in terms of science fiction, as compared to the modern hard science fiction books available. I have also only barely touched upon the good aspects of the book, or not mentioned them at all -- which there are many of -- I feel they are already covered well enough in other reviews.
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The fact is the reader doesn't care what genre, subgenre, hard, soft, fantasy, the story is, as long as it's good.
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