Guest Reviewers

The Northern Lights: The True Story of the Man Who Unlocked the Secrets of the Aurora Borealis. Lucy Jago. Book Review by Janet.

Seventy Times Seven and Beyond: Mystery of the Second Chance. Monty Christensen and Roberta L. Kehle. Book review by Uriah.

Dune. Frank Herbert. Book review by Rourke.

The Children of First Man. James Alexander Thom. Book review by Jan.

The Legend of Prince Madoc and the White Indians. Dana Olson. Book review by Jan.

CAPTAIN SUNSHINE
A nitrous oxide Philosopher
who knows the answers
to all the questions and mysteries
that the Universe holds

Big like a Mountain

small like an atom

I suck Fire and spit Sunshine
Death to the Republic

Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1). Frank Herbert. Ace Book published by arrangement with Chilton Book Company. 1990. Chilton edition 1965.

Book review by Rourke
I first attempted reading Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) about 15 years ago and was put off by all the words created for the book by its author, Frank Herbert. There is a glossary in the back to define these words, but I just didn't have the ambition to flip pages back and forth in order to follow along and understand what was going on in the plot. The next time I picked up the book, about a year later in 1993, I put in the requisite effort and really enjoyed it. While perusing the used books at Elliot Bay Bookstore in the historic neighborhood of Pioneer Square in Seattle, I came upon a Dune prequel, co-written by Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson called House Atreides (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 1). This book renewed my interest in the series and after finishing it, I reread Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) again, and gained many new insights as a result.

Dune is the name that the aboriginal inhabitants (the Fremen) gave to the planet where they immigrated. The colonial masters that rule the planet call it Arrakis. Dune is an arid desert planet that would hold no value if not for the "spice" or "melange" that is mined there. The spice is used throughout the Universe to aid specially mutated navigators in space travel. It also greatly increases life expectancy and aids the enigmatic witches of the Bene Gesserit with their religious rites and their plans in making the inhabitants of the Universe into a more civilized, peaceful, and ultimately a more evolved species. Since this book was published in 1965, one can't help comparing the "melange" and it's psychoactive properties to the rise of hallucinogenic drugs like LSD, psilocybin, THC, mescaline, and MDA. Though these drugs adversely affected some people, others (like Timothy Leary) used hallucinogenic drugs to expand their minds and ultimately to pull the societal curtain away revealing the evils of racism and war and the unjust ways that a capitalist society deals with its subversive and progressive elements.

Though the novel is set in the distant future, the political structure has devolved into monarchies that rule individual fiefdoms under the auspices of its emperor, the Padishah Shaddam IV. Even though society is dependent on its highly evolved technological innovations, its social and political structure is set up like a Shakespearean play with assassinations, loveless marriages formed to gain political advantages, and a caste system set up to keep the privileged class in power and the working class subjugated. The Fremen are at the bottom of the caste system. They were once enslaved, but escaped to Dune and adapted to its harsh, arid climate. Their religious zeal and savage fighting skills are based upon the real life struggle of Palestinians in Israel. The Palestinians and other Arab groups have had their desert homelands colonized to exploit their trade routes and strategic military location, and of course their oil resources.

Dune is the only place in the known Universe where the spice can be found. After its powerful properties were discovered, it was colonized to mine the melange. The Fremen had known about its psychoactive properties all along and had created many religious rights around its use. Once the planet was colonized, the Fremen fomented a resistance movement to expel the imperialists and take back their planet. The spice also has a precognitive effect, so the Fremen awaited their Messiah to help lead them in their rebellion. Over the centuries, the witches of the Bene Gesserit were using a complicated esoteric breeding program that was to give birth to person who could "be in many places at the same time" (whatever that means). Their progeny ended up being the Messiah the Fremen prophecy foretold. This book tells of the trials, tribulations, and exploits of Paul Atreides, or Muad'dib, this Messiah, the Savior of the Fremen.

Rourke.