Characters

Shaddam IV - emperor of the known Universe

The Reverend Mother - leader of the Bene Gesserit, intrigued by Paul Atreides

 

Paul Atreides - son of Duke Leto, and his only heir

Duke Leto Atreides - the ruler of House Atreides

Lady Jessica - Paul's mother and the Duke's concubine

Alia Atreides - Paul's sister who gains extraordinary power at birth

Gurney Halleck - unwavering ally to House Atreides and great warrior

Dr. Wellington Yueh - Doctor of House Atreides who betrays the house to save his wife

 

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen - ruler of House Harkonnen

Rabban Harkonnen - nephew of the baron put in power on Arrakis

Feyd-Rautha - Rabban's replacement, Baron Harkonnen's nephew and heir to the barony

 

Plot

20,000 years into the future, humans have branched out to all corners of the universe. Planets are each ruled by a royal house which is sovereign with exception of an allegiance to the emperor, Emperor Shaddam. At the outset of the novel, Emperor Shaddam is growing increasingly wary of the power of House Atreides, who's Duke Leto Atreides has gained significant popularity in recent years. Shaddam is also concerned by Leto's impressive army. Shaddam cannot attack Atreides directly, however, as such a thing would be political suicide. Instead he ignites an already ages-old feud between House Harkonnen and House Atreides. He then lures Atreides into a trap by placing him in charge of the dangerous but lucrative planet of Arrakis.

Arrakis, primarily a desert wasteland, is the only source of Melange, or Spice, which is paramount for space travel. By seeing into the future after ingesting spice, the pilots can plot a safe course and then use a process called foldspace to travel instantly to their destination. Because of this, Arrakis is crucial to the survival of the Empire.

Not long after House Atreides arrives, the trouble begins. House Harkonnen tries repeatedly to kill Duke Leto and to destroy the palace. Because Leto foresees this foul play, he is able to thwart the oncoming attacks. Meanwhile, Leto's son Paul Atreides is training in a top secret program which is trying to breed the perfect human. Although the perfect human, the Kwisatz Haderach, is supposed to come one generation later, the Bene Gesserit (a secret organization which train their minds by rigorous conditioning) believes that Paul might be the one.

With the help of imperial troops disguised under the Harkonnen banner, the Harkonnens march on House Atreides. Their inside spy Dr. Yueh has already taken Duke Leto hostage and disabled the energy barriers, so the Harkonnens steamroll all in their path. Yueh suspects that Baron Harkonnen has already killed Yueh's wife, whom he was holding as a bargaining chip, so he tries to aide Leto in killing the Baron. The attempt only manages to kill Duke Leto, however, and the Harkonnens take over Arrakis.

Meanwhile, Paul and his mother escape to the sandy wasteland that lies beyond the city walls. They soon become allies of the Fremen, the local people of Arrakis who have glowing blue eyes from their diet of spice. With the aide of the spice, Paul becomes superhuman and can see certain things in the future. Because of this, the fremen call him their messiah, and with his new fremen name of Muad'Dib he begins his journey to reclaim his the planet from the Harkonnens.

After a loyal friend of Paul's, Gurney Halleck, almost kills Paul's mother by mistake, Paul becomes unnerved by his total lack of foresight. He decides to take the water of life, which is a poison but contains huge amounts of spice as well. After nearly dying, he emerges as the Bene Gesserit's chosen Kwisatz Haderach.

After his sister is kidnapped by Baron Harkonnen, Paul acts. He leads an army of Fremen on the capital city, using the cover of a sandstorm he has foreseen to make it past the initial protection. His sister kills the Baron with a poison dart and he makes his move on Arrakeen. Although he takes the city, the emperor could easily take it back. After defeating Baron Harkonnen's heir in a knife duel, he informs the emperor that he knows how to stop the flow of spice and the emperor, after seeing his power, believes him. The emperor gives up the throne, betrothes his daughter to Paul and the novel ends with Paul Atreides as God-Emperor of Dune.