Dune, the Danger of Messiahs, and Fans

 

 Dune is finally out and Part One is good.

So there. That's my official film review. The movie is good. I am looking forward to Part Two when the main character, Paul, will start leaning into the messiah legend and taking advantage of it.

Oh wait...

SPOILER ALERT... STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOKS.

Paul is the messiah or is he?

Well... It is complicated.

Paul is the messiah, or the pretend messiah, or the pretend messiah is the messiah. Does it matter? But more importantly, Paul eventually becomes the villain.

Which will make Game of Thrones / Danaerys Targaryen fans feel that similar sense of betrayal when they realize the main character becomes the villain.

Wait... Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader? What?! No! You're ruining my childhood!

Seriously.

Get used to it people.

The best villains are the ones you learn to love first and then later learn to hate. Did you really think "the Mother of Dragons" was supposed to be a good character? She goes on her to quest to get the Iron Throne for what reason exactly? For vengeance? Conquest? Because she's a nice person? Definitely not the latter. She wants to conquer the world.

Paul, for all niceness, is a character bent on vengeance. He uses the tools, weapons and people at his disposal in order to achieve that vengeance. That is his primary motivation.

If you haven't read the books then you should go read them. Or read a synopsis for each book.

The new fans of the film(s) will be anxiously awaiting the 2nd film (Dune Part Two), which is already scheduled for October 20th 2023. So roughly 2 years from now. Which is plenty of time to read the books...

And even if you have already read the books, now is a good time to dust them off and reread the Dune series.

The books are: 

1. Dune (by Frank Herbert)
   
2. Dune Messiah (by Frank Herbert)
3. Children of Dune (by Frank Herbert)
4. God Emperor of Dune (by Frank Herbert)
5. Heretics of Dune (by Frank Herbert)
6. Chapterhouse: Dune (by Frank Herbert)
7. Hunters of Dune (by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson)
8. Sandworms of Dune (by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson)
9. Sands of Dune [coming in 2022] (by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson)

Yep. You read that last one correctly. There is a new Dune book coming out June 28th 2022, which is co-authored by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. So thanks to the new film being a financial success we could be looking at the start of a film franchise with 10+ films that lasts most of the 2020s and 2030s.

Which will make fans of the books (and the films) really happy if the film series becomes super successful.

Is Dune Science Fiction or Fantasy???

It is both. It is also a Space Opera. Like Star Wars. The sandworms are basically the Dune equivalent of dragons (aka wyrms). Magic, the Force, the Weirding Way... similar concepts. So yes, Dune is both science fiction and fantasy (and a space opera).

I expect to hear a lot of silly people arguing about this over the coming years. So let's just get that out of the way now.