Dune

Dune is the greatest science fiction novel of all time, largely because it transcends the genre and raises it to the level of literary art. The vast epic of spice traders on the desert planet Arrakis, Frank Herbert's epic explores human attitudes toward religion, the environment, political messiahs, and death in the context of an intricately detailed and wholly convincing society at once unlike and closely mirroring our own. The ethics of preservation and the mechanics of salvation inform the complex plot which follows the origins and rise of the Übermensch Paul Atreides and his alter ego Muad'Dib, military leader, humanitarian and god of the tribal desert-dwelling Fremen.

The narrative is incredibly complex, drawing on elements of political intrigue, religious conspiracy, intergalactic war, and moral struggle. Paul Atreides is a young heir-apparent to the House Atreides duchy, an increasingly strong entity feared by the corrupt Emperor Shaddam IV and the perverted and terrifying Baron Harkonnen. When House Atreides relocates to Arrakis, they are targeted by terrorist attacks and assassination attempts, and eventually Lady Jessica Atreides is forced to flee to the desert with her teenage son Paul. They are taken in by the Fremen, where Paul fulfills his destiny (laid on him at birth by the mysterious religious order called the Bene Gesserit) and assumes religious headship, leading the Fremen in Jihad against the Harkonnen and the Emperor's feared crack troops, the infinitely evil Sardaukar.

Central to the novel's themes is the interplay of water and spice. Spice is required for any number of things, from facilitating space travel to religious awareness, but it is both scarce and dangerous to procure—the spice melange is an organic byproduct of the elusive sandworms, the riding of which signifies a Fremen's entry into adulthood. The Fremen have a mystical bond with the sandworms, controlling them with water and worshipping them for their power and their spice-producing capabilities. For Herbert, water becomes symbolic of man's control and frequent misuse of the natural world, while spice indicates the power of religion and its stewards to manipulate society.

There is more depth here than in many more traditional novels. Those prone to dismiss science fiction as mere entertainment should try reading Dune before dismissing everything within the genre. Herbert's intent is not just to wield his obviously impressive imagination (which he does to great effect), but to examine universal human themes in a context not bound by the typical stictures imposed by fiction. Philosophical and majestic but also personal and sad, Dune is a towering achievement of literary and creative genius.