Dune by Frank Herbert

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Description

Often cited as the best Science Fiction novel ever written, Dune is the story of the desert planet Arrakis and the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud'dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family--and would bring to fruition humankind's... read more

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Summary

The first novel by Frank Herbert sets the year as 10,190 After Guild; a period in our distant future at a time where much historical knowledge of humanity's past has been lost, although some cultural and religious traditions remain. The calendar used in this time is not the same as the... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Cast of Characters

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Paul Atreides: Leto's only surviving son.
Duke Leto Atreides: Head of House Atreides. Paul's Father.
Lady Jessica: Bene Gesserit. Concubine of the Duke. Paul and Alia's mother.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Head of House Harkonnen. his title is officially Siridar (planetary governor) Baron. Vladimir Harkonnen is the direct-line male descendant of the Bashar Abulurd Harkonnen who was banished for cowardice after the Battle of Corrin. The return of House Harkonnen to power generally is ascribed to adroit manipulation of the whale fur market and later consolidation with melange wealth from Arrakis.
Alia Atreides: Paul's little sister.
Duncan Idaho: The Duke's Swordmaster
Thufir Hawat: mentat and Master of Assassins to House Atreides
Gurney Halleck: staunchly loyal troubadour warrior of the Atreides
Dr. Wellington Yueh: Suk doctor for the Atreides
Piter De Vries: twisted Mentat
Feyd-Rautha: nephew and heir-apparent of the Baron (the na-baron)
Glossu 'Beast' Rabban: also called Rabban Harkonnen, older nephew of the Baron
Iakin Nefud: Captain of the Guard
Shaddam IV: the Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe or the Imperium
Princess Irulan: the Emperor's eldest daughter and heir, also a historian
Count Hasimir Fenring: a genetic eunuch and the Emperor's closest friend, advisor, and "errand boy."
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam: Bene Gesserit schemer, the Emperor's Truthsayer
Lady Margot Fenring: Bene Gesserit wife of Count Fenring
The Fremen as a collective: people
Stilgar: Fremen Naib (chieftain); Stilgar is a skilled politician.
Chani: Paul's Fremen concubine.
Liet-Kynes: the half-Fremen son of Imperial Planetologist Pardot Kynes on Arrakis and his Fremen wife Frieth; Liet is the father of Chani, and a revered figure among the Fremen.
Esmar Tuek: leader of the smugglers who befriends and takes in Gurney Halleck and his surviving men.

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Memorable Quotes

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”
Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
“My lungs taste the air of Time Blown past falling sands....”
Gurney Halleck
“A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then, take care that you first place him in his time: born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most special care that you locate Muad'Dib in his place: the planet Arrakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arrakis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place.”
from "Manual of Mad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan
“To attempt an understanding of Maud'Dib without understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens, is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.”
from "Manual of Mad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan
“Do you wrestle with dreams? Do you contend with shadows? Do you move in a kind of sleep? Time has slipped away. Your life is stolen. You tarried with trifles, Victim of your folly.”
Dirge for Jamis on the Funeral Plain, from "Songs of Muad'Dib" by the Princess Irulan

First Sentence

In the week before their departure to Arrakis, when all the final scurrying about had reached a nearly unbearable frenzy, an old crone came to visit the mother of the boy, Paul.

I. Dune
II. Muad'Dib 201
III. The Prophet 363

Appendix I: The Ecology of Dune
Appendix II: The Religion of Dune
Appendix III: Report on Bene Gesserit Motives and Purposes
Appendix IV: The Almanaken-Ashraf (Selected Excerpts of the Noble Houses)
Terminology of the Imperium

Glossary

Bene Gesserit: Secretive and powerful matriarchal order whose members possess extraordinary physical and mental powers.
Deathstill: Fremen device used to extract all moisture from a living or dead human or creature.
Bindu: Relating to the human nervous system, especially to nerv training.
Bled: Flat, open desert.
Chakobsa: The so called "magic-language", derived in part fromthe ancient Bhotani.
Crysknife: The sacred knife of the Frmen on Arrakis. It is manofactured in two forms from teeht taken from the dead sandworms.
Erg: An extensive dune area, a sea of sand.
Fedaykin: Fremen death commandos.
Fremen: The free tribes of Arrakis, dwellers in the desert.
Great Mother: The horned goddess, the feminine principle of space.
Gom Jabbar: Specific poison needle tipped with metacyenide used by Bene Gesserit Proctors inthe death-alternative test of human awareness.
Eyes of Ibad: Characteristic effect of a diet high in melange wherein the whites a pupils of the eyes turn deep blue.
Melange: The "spice of spices", the crop for which Arrakis is a unique source. The spice, chiefly noted for it's geriatric qualities, is mildly addictive when taken in small quantities.
Mentat: A class of Imperial citizens trained for supreme accomplishments of logic. "Human computers".
Muad'dib: An adapted kangaroo mouse of Arrakis, a creature associated in the Fremen earth-spiritmithology with a design visible on the planet's second moon. This creature is admired by Fremen for it's abillity to survive in the open desert.
Ornithopter: Any aircraft capable of sustained wing-beat flight in the manner of birds.
Reverend Mother: Originally, a proctor of the Bene Gesserit, one who has transformed an "illuminating poison" within her body, raising herself to a higher state of awareness.
Sardaukar: The soldier-fanatics of the Padishah Emperor.
Shai-hulud: Sandworm of Arrakis, the "Grandfather of the Desert". They grow to enormous sizes (specimens longer than 400 meters have been seen in the deep desert) and live to great age. Most of the sand on Arrakis is credited to sandworm action.
Stillsuit: Body-enclosing gament invented on Arrakis.
Voice: That combined training originated by the Bene Gesserit which permits an adept to control others merely by selected tone shading of the voice.