Dune Messiah (1969)
Frank Herbert (1920-1986)
337 pages
Dune (my review linked to at right) tells the story of Paul Atreides, the son of the Duke who rules the planet of the book’s title. Paul has been schooled by his mother in the arts of the Bene Gesserit, an order that uses extreme mental and physical training to exert control over others; he has also had his skills enhanced by generations of genetic selection, and finally augmented by the Dune spice that gives prescience. In the wake of his father’s death in battle to forces of the Emperor of the galactic federation, Paul uses his extraordinary abilities to mobilize the subjugated, native Fremen of Dune, ultimately leading them to victory over the Emperor.
But the same foresight enabling his success also warns him of future dangers. Having played into deep-seated religious beliefs among the Fremen in order to rally them to his side and overthrow their enslavers on Dune, Paul has effectively created a ferocious Jihad in his name. His visions tell him that this Jihad will rise up to overrun many of the planets of the federation, consolidating his power as emperor and securing the Fremen’s new-found liberty. But, they also hint at the great difficulty he will face in controlling his followers, and so avoiding that the empire sinking into despairingly dark and violent chaos. Thus, while Dune reads as a thrilling adventure of political and military maneuvering, it reveals too the doubts and fears that plague Paul. And although it can be easy as a reader to gloss over Paul’s profound misgivings about what he has unleashed, for those who do, the shift in tone in the sequel then comes as a shock.
Dune Messiah opens some dozen years after Dune ends. As foreseen, Paul has gone from having defeated the Emperor on Dune to becoming Emperor of the federation of worlds. But the violence and death of the Fremen Jihad that has accomplished these victories troubles him deeply, as do the dystopic potential futures his prescience continues to reveal. His visions warn him too of a conspiracy that has arisen around him among those who lust for his power or have become disenchanted with the violence of his rule.
In the sequel, the concerns that occasionally plagued Paul in the first novel now come to dominate his thinking – and the story. In order to achieve peace and prosperity for the peoples of the federation’s many worlds, he must navigate around the myriad possible destructive futures that his action or inaction at certain moments could precipitate, a challenge complicated by the developing conspiracy. And he finds himself forced to manipulate even friends and family as he carefully plots a path toward a peaceful future, which further isolates him in his own thoughts. Thus, the story comes to be focused on Paul’s preoccupations with his cryptic visions.
Herbert alternates chapters between Paul sinking into his ruminations, and the scheming of the group fomenting the conspiracy against him. These two storylines then come crashing together in the final portion of the novel, as the planning of the conspirators and Paul’s maneuvering in response come to a head. Finally the pace quickens, and a bit of the thrilling ride that propels much of the first novel returns.
In the light of its sequel, Dune can be seen as a kind of an extended preface, setting up the critical questions Herbert then tackles in Dune Messiah: the dangers of personality cults for even the most beneficent of rulers, and the challenge of not only achieving but more pointedly maintaining good governance, even when given significant awareness of how the future could play out and some idea of the impacts of the options one has.
It is not simply that power corrupts, Herbert seems to say: more damaging is that the lust for power corrupts, and so even the best ruler will struggle to maintain a constructive, peaceful course in the face of those arrayed against them. And Paul comes to realize that the paths that deviate off into darkness are so many many more, relative to those that remain in the light, and ultimately that avoiding a dystopic future can require great personal sacrifice.
Herbert also points to the challenges of governing in the face of the broad range of motivations and misunderstandings of the general population, which can be as challenging for a ruler to navigate, if not perhaps more so, than concrete, willful opposition. For the opinion of the masses can shift against a ruler suddenly, and for unpredictable reasons, undermining even the best-intentioned plans with little warning.
Dune Messiah lacks the action and thrills of Dune, but with the shift to a plot that plays out on a more contemplative plane, the result is also a more nuanced story. Rallying forces to overcome and conquer can sometimes be successfully accomplished by a ruler; but then comes the challenge of transitioning those same forces to a more peaceful, stable and sustainable path, without losing one’s mandate to lead.
Other notes and information:
Have you read this book, others by this author, or even similar ones by other authors? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Other of my book reviews: FICTION Bookshelf and NON-FICTION Bookshelf
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