1. Paul Atreides's psychic powers are aided by a drug produced on Dune. Are drugs good or bad in Dune? Given the terrible effects many drugs have on people, are drugs portrayed responsibly in the novel? Should the way drugs are depicted matter to readers?

2. What are the dangers of charismatic leadership, according to Dune?

3. Some critics regard Dune as primarily a novel of ideas, emphasizing themes over plot and characterization. How compelling is the novel's plot? Does it entertain, or does it simply provide a framework for Herbert's ideas?

4. In science fiction, planets are often shown as having only one climate. There are desert planets like Dune, or snow planets, tropical planets, wet planets, and so on. Yet Earth has many climates, including deserts, ice caps, tropical forests, and oceans. How realistic is it to have an all-desert planet? Why do you think science-fiction...