Dune has two protagonists: Paul Atreides, the scion of an exiled noble family who wins the loyalty of the Fremen of the planet Arrakis, nicknamed "Dune"; and the planet itself, a once lushly vegetated world that was turned to desert by the giant sand worms that are vital to the production of melange. When Paul takes a drug produced from melange, he not only becomes able to see the future but also becomes part of the planet's development from wretched backwater to the focus of a galactic empire.

The novel is filled with ideas and speculations about human societies and the potential of the human mind. These ideas are elaborately worked out, and much of the novel's appeal is its ability to convey a reader into a completely detailed society. As the Dune series progresses from one novel to the next, characters become pawns in the history of...