How Do You Begin to Describe A Plausible Alternate Reality?

When one mentions science fiction, the big names come to mind-H. G. Wells, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury. There are, however, at least two more, two who have come into their own—one for epic science fiction, whose writing spans, literally, millennia and one who wrote quirky, fun science fiction. I refer, of course, to Frank Herbert, the brilliant mind that gave us the world of Dune, and Douglas Adams with his quirky Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy “trilogy of 5 books”. On a side note, one of many of Adams’ claim to fame was writing for Dr. Who in 1978-1979 (4^th Doctor; Tom Baker) (Contributors).

I was first introduced to science fiction by my father, with the advent of “StarTrek”. It was NOT an easy introduction. At that time (1965), I was four and was more interested in “The Flintstones” than in some stupid space ship, and “The Flintstones” ran opposite “Star Trek” in prime time. It came on once a week-as did “The Flintstones”. We didn’t see re-runs until summer, with new seasons starting the first week of September, or, right round Labor Day.  A television set was still considered a luxury item and boy were you rich if you could afford a color television! There were 3 national broadcast channels, an independent channel and, where we lived, often an emergency channel. Morning shows, Saturday morning cartoons and the Wonderful World of Disney were allowed to me and my siblings; our parents ruled the television after that. In hindsight, it’s easy to see why Star Trek would appeal to my parents, but then, at four, I wanted “The Flintstones”.

When my father wasn’t indulging his mind in Star Trek, he was reading, often one of the masters listed above. But this master, MY favorite master, wasn’t even on my father’s radar.

MY master was Frank Herbert. The flagship of his epic world, Dune, wasn’t published until 1965. Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976), God Emperor of Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse Dune (1985) soon followed. Dune won the Hugo Award in 1966 and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel, also in 1966.

The world of Dune is multi-layered and multi-faceted. It covers the themes of good and evil, ecology, evolution, artificial intelligence and the banning thereof, as well as the banning of complex computers; political machinations and intrigues; nobility; native peoples; scarcity of resources necessary for basic life in this world; love; power; politics; messiahs; religious manipulations; ancient feuds and epic battles; self-sacrifice and selfishness; cult legends and coming of age. It takes place 21,000 years in our future.

It is HUGE. The effect of Dune on our popular culture, not to mention Herbert’s impact on contemporary writers, is far-reaching-all the way to that galaxy far, far away.

It is quite safe to say Frank Herbert is not only A master of this genre; he is THE master of this genre.