Sunday, March 16, 2008

What happens when a Superman becomes leader of men?

I found this montage off YouTube. It comes from Sci-Fi Channel Mini-Series, Children of Dune and the awesome and beautiful score was made by Brian Tyler. It is called Inama Nushif (She is Eternal).

Are all leaders, just human?

Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were the first three in a series of novels written by Hugo and Nebula winning writer Frank Herbert. Dune is set in a desert planet, called Arrakis. It is a hellish, desert world where water is not only scarce, but is considered wealth.

In opening saga of Dune, the reader finds two waring families with centuries old vendetta competing for domination of the desert world Arrakis, also known as Dune. Though Dune is hellish, it is also the only place in the entire Universe where Spice exist.

Spice allows Guild Navigators to fold space making interstellar travel possible and thus a means for commerce to thrive in the Empire. The Spice prolongs life, fights off disease. Spice when ingested gives witches their power. If the spice does not flow, the Empire and humanity would cease to exist. In short, the Empire is very much like an addict that needs spice to survive.

Dune has been described as the Lord of the Rings of the sci-fi world. It is received as the Greatest Science Fiction novel thus far. Its characters are rich in dimension. Its plot multilayered. In a story where Water is an analog for Oil, draws great inspiration from the real world's geopolitics. Some think of it as an ecological novel.

People like me who love Dune not only for it being a master piece of writing but it is a damned interesting read that even for a fictional tale inspires the reader to think. Dune and its series is my all time favorite fictional series.

In the end,  Frank Herbert in 1979 was quoted: " The bottom line of the Dune Trilogy is: beware of heroes. Much better to rely on your own judgement, and your own mistakes." 

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