SPOILER WARNING

The following reaction will contain spoilers for both Dune and Dune Messiah. As a policy, I’m trying to keep the spoilers in What I’m Reading reactions to a bare minimum and limited to the first fifty pages of the book. If the spoilers exceed those guidelines, I’ll make a point to include a note up front.

DUNE MESSIAH

From a certain point of view, Dune Messiah is a disappointment: It simply doesn’t live up to the incredibly high standard set by Dune itself.

Some of the problems with Dune Messiah are failures in the basic craft of storytelling; flaws which would be notable in any work. For example, there are far too many scenes – particularly in the first half of the novel – which are told in flashback or exposition instead of being shown. One is often left with the feeling that Herbert just didn’t quite feel up to the challenge of telling the story to be found in those scenes.

This central flaw, in fact, contributes to many of the problems in Dune Messiah. For example, the stellar character conflicts of Dune are notably blunted in Dune Messiah… often because key components of those dramas are ignored or elided over. For example, there is a cold war tension between Chani and Irulan which begins to flare into open conflict at the beginning of the novel. But then the resolution of that interplay is simply shoved off-screen and then cursorily resolved in an almost incidental and completely off-hand fashion. (And this despite the fact that its resolution is absolutely pivotal in setting up the novel’s conclusion.)

What ultimately keeps Dune Messiah from achieving the true status of classic is that it fails to find that precious gestalt of Dune: Where Dune operated on many different levels at once, Dune Messiah is stripped down to a far simpler dynamic. Elements of the political thriller, character drama, and high tragedy remain… but Herbert can’t quite seem to keep all the balls in the air.

For one example, let us consider the tragic grandeur of Yueh’s betrayal in Dune. Herbert almost manages to capture the dynamic of high tragedy once again in his portrayal of Paul’s prescient vision turned to bane. Paul, trapped by the inexorable fate seen within his prescient vision and bound by the irresistible momentum of the race consciousness lying behind the Jihad carried out in his name, has all the makings of such a tragedy. But Herbert lets it slip through his fingers: The prescience itself, although brilliantly handled in many respects (such as the scene where Paul must let a doom befall himself in order to find a greater good), also ends up denying some of the central necessities of true tragedy.

I also think that Dune Messiah is a difficult story specifically because it ties Paul in those chains. I think a lot of people (myself included) read the end of Dune as a triumph… and Dune Messiah makes it explicit that Paul failed and failed badly. That’s a tough pill to swallow. I know it’s what made me put the book down the first time I tried reading through the Dune saga: It wasn’t the sequel I had written in my own head. I wanted the Messiah Triumphant and I got something akin to the False God’s Fall.

With all that being said, I would be seriously remiss in ignoring the strengths of Dune Messiah, particularly in the book’s second half: Duncan Idaho’s personal struggle is a very powerful and well-handled piece of characterization. Paul’s manipulation of his prescient vision — his constant struggle to find the slightest loophole through which to escape the chains of his own future — is often powerfully dramatic. And there’s also some great expansion done on the nifty, sensawunda stuff, along with the depth and unique feel of the Dune universe (Tleilaxu face dancers, for example).

But, with that being said, I would still love to read a version of Dune Messiah in which Herbert managed to:

(1) Avoid the storytelling errors in the first half.

(2) Expand Alia’s personal drama (something which would have also added a great deal of depth to Children of Dune).

(3) Let the Chani and Irulan conflict play out with the type of detailed political intrigue that he displayed himself fully capable of in Dune.

(4) Communicate the by-play of the mutual and interacting betrayals between the conspirators (and let more of those by-plays and betrayals play themselves out).

(5) Handle the framing devices of the story better.

In short, Dune Messiah reads like a rushed novel. There’s a lot of potential in the basic structure of the story, but little or none of it is realized in actual practice. Perhaps if Herbert had taken the time to develop the novel more fully, we might have gotten a work that would stand up better in the inevitable comparison to its predecessor.

GRADE: B-

Frank Herbert
Published: 1969
Publisher: Ace
Cover Price: $7.99
ISBN: 0441172695
Buy Now!

WALLS OF FAIRY STONE AND BLOOD…

Built of the seven fairy stones, the city of Anyoc stands proudly upon its hill. Pale purples mix with soft blues and faded greens; pinkish reds stand in contrast to burnished gold. And its white walls of essabas – the star stone – gleam in the bright light of the sun.

But long ago, in days dimmed by the thick mists of time, the site where Anyoc now stands was home to another great city: A black city which served dark and evil powers. It was said that the walls of that nameless city towered above its streets to a height of five hundred feet, and every inch of them was stained black with blood.

And beneath the streets of Anyoc, that ancient evil still waits for the time of its return…

To read a spoiler-free review of Dune, click here.

For some spoiler-filled thoughts about the book, go ahead and read more…

(more…)

It’s interesting reading Dune immediately following a mass-reading of Vernor Vinge’s catalog, because both authors are essentially fascinated by post-humanity: Both see something essentially incomprehensible in the transhuman, but they approach it in different ways. Vinge chooses to approach it at oblique angles – from the POV of children; or on the rapid approach to it; or from a great distance; or through the lens of the primitive.

Herbert, on the other hand, tends to tackle the transhuman directly, but he does so from a fundamentally religious point of view.

To be clear on the distinction here: Vinge also equates transhumanity with godhood (the references to “Applied Theology” and “deicide”, for example, in A Fire Upon the Deep). But Herbert actually structures his narrative around a religious viewpoint – he couches his understanding of the transhuman through symbolism and prophecy; through divine mystery and ceremony.

Of course, the post-humanities of Vinge and Herbert are not exactly identical, either. But it would be interesting to see Vinge tackle Herbert’s thought (as expressed in an interview): “I had this theory that superheroes were disastrous for humans, that even if you postulated an infallible hero, the things this hero set in motion fell eventually into the hands of fallible mortals. What better way to destroy a civilization, society or a race than to set people into the wild oscillations which follow their turning over their critical judgment and decision-making faculties to a superhero?”

And it would be equally interesting to have seen Herbert tackle Vinge’s thesis: “Let an ultraintelligent machine be defined as a machine that can far surpass all the intellectual activities of any any man however clever. Since the design of machines is one of these intellectual activities, an ultraintelligent machine could design even better machines; there would then unquestionably be an “intelligence explosion,” and the intelligence of man would be left far behind. Thus the first ultraintelligent machine is the _last_ invention that man need ever make, provided that the machine is docile enough to tell us how to keep it under control. … It is more probable than not that, within the twentieth century, an ultraintelligent machine will be built and that it will be the last invention that man need make.”

But I digress.

For those of you completely unfamiliar with Dune, it may suffice to say that it is one of those works grouped with the Foundation Trilogy or The Lord of the Rings: A transformative and pivotal classic which cast a long shadow upon the entire genre from the moment it was published.

To understand how Dune achieved this stature, consider for the moment a seemingly simple question: What is the most impressive thing about Dune?

The trick is not in any particular answer. It is in the breadth of answers your question will provoke. Many people will point to the planet of Arrakis itself — painstakingly rendered and with a completely realized ecology. Others will point to the manipulation of prophecy. Or the action-packed battle sequences. Or the alien cultures. Or the evocative future history. Or the exploration of religious themes.

The story of Dune is a political thriller; it’s a character drama; it’s high tragedy; it’s mythological; it’s religious. And then Herbert tells it in the style of historical fiction within one of the most deeply realized science fiction settings ever realized on paper. It’s a gestalt creation.

And what do I, personally, find most impressive about Dune? The fact that Herbert successfully realized a story with the emotional depth and archetypal resonance of a Greek tragedy. I’ve probably read, watched, and listened to the Dune story more than two dozen times. And yet, every single time, there’s something fresh and new which can be gleaned from the experience.

GRADE: A+

For additional comments on Dune, which include SPOILERS, click here.

Frank Herbert
Published: 1965
Publisher: Ace
Cover Price: $7.99
ISBN: 0441172717
Buy Now!

Spells of Light and Darkness: The Art of the Flame and Void was released last week. If you’ve been thinking to yourself, “Light and darkness spells? Sounds pretty lame.” here are two spells of darkness that might change your mind:

Eclipse
Evocation [Darkness]
Level: Cleric 7, Sorcerer/Wizard 7
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 2 miles
Area: 2-mile-radius sphere
Duration: 4d12 hours
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell creates an area of magical darkness in a 2-mile radius centered on a point chosen by the caster. Within the area of the spell the sun is blotted out, creating an area of magical darkness that suppresses natural light sources, resulting in an area of shadowy illumination. Creatures within an area of shadowy illumination gain concealment (20% miss chance). Even creatures that can normally see in such conditions (such as with darkvision or low-light vision) have the miss chance in an area shrouded in magical darkness.

A darkness spell (one with the darkness descriptor) counters and dispels a light spell (one with the light descriptor) of an equal or lower level. A darkness spell brought into the area of a light spell of equal or higher level is temporarily negated (and vice versa). If both the darkness and light spells are simultaneously negated, the otherwise prevailing light conditions exist in the overlapping areas of effect.

Arcane Material Component: A small diamond dipped in black oil.

Shadow Spy
Divination [Darkness, Scrying]
Level: Assassin 3, Cleric 4, Sorcerer/Wizard 3
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Personal
Target: Your shadow
Duration: 1 min./level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell animates your shadow, allowing you to independently move it up to your speed as a move action. In addition, the shadow spy acts as a scrying sensor, allowing you to see (but not hear) the immediate surroundings of your shadow as per a scrying spell.
A shadow spy can be difficult detect, making Hide checks using your skill modifier with a +10 circumstance bonus. In areas of dim light or shadowy illumination, this circumstance bonus doubles to +20. The shadow spy cannot be physically harmed.

While the spell remains in effect, you possess no natural shadow.

A darkness spell (one with the darkness descriptor) counters and dispels a light spell (one with the light descriptor) of an equal or lower level. A darkness spell brought into the area of a light spell of equal or higher level is temporarily negated (and vice versa). If both the darkness and light spells are simultaneously negated, the otherwise prevailing light conditions exist in the overlapping areas of effect.

Arcane Material Component: A shard of obsidian.

The eclipse spell is the type of thing that high-level necromancers use to keep their undead happy and Dark Lords crafts into sunslayer spheres to keep the yokels properly cowed with fear.

But shadow spy is the type of all-purpose utility spell that just about any self-respecting spellcaster will find useful. It’s less powerful than scrying, but also a slightly lower level and very flavorful.