The Guide To:		___________
	DUNE IS GREAT That's what everybody says. And I'm sure they're right. I've read a few pages of the book, but didn't get very far. I watched the 80's movie, but I just got confused. I played the Sega Genesis game, and thought it was cool. Anyone who knows what they're talking about will say it's one of the greatest works of science fiction of all time. Yet, when I think of "Dune", my mind goes blank. So, I tried looking at Wikipedia, because Wikipedia knows everything. And, as usual, they had a very informative and very long article, which was great for people who already know what they're talking about, but to the beginner, it's still confusing. So, I tried to lay it all out in a more easily digestable way. DUNE (A vague oversimplified introduction) The main character is a guy named Paul Atreides. He and his family are the head of the "House Atreides", as sort of feudal-type rulers over their land. His father, Duke Leo, has been building up a small army to help protect their land. There's a bad guy named Emperor Shaddam who hears about them, and gets nervous that they might be a threat to him. The emporer knows about a feud between the Atreides and the "House Harkonnen". So the emporer teams up with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen to get rid of Paul and his family. So far, so good. But, it gets more complicated. Meet Paul's mom, Jessica, who is at some point going to have a baby, who will, of course, fulfill some ancient prophesy for a mysterious group, known as the Bene Gesseret. Okay, we've got the good guys, the Atreides, Paul, his dad (Duke Leo) and his mom (Jessica). And we've got the bad guys, Emporer Shaddam and Baron Harkonnen. Got it? Atreides vs. Harkonnen (sort of) Harkonnen and the Emporer force Duke Leo to take over ruling an area of land way out in the desert. So, Paul and the family move to... (wait for it) ...DUNE! Well, it's not called "Dune" in the book, it's called Arrakis. It's a big desert planet, you get the idea. So, moving on... Paul and his family move to the desert. Wouldn't you know it, when they get there, they start thinking that something fishy is going on, and sure enough there is. The Atreides get the help of the locals (aka. Fremen) to fight off the Harkonnens for a while. But the Harkonnens have the emporer's troops (in disguise) helping on their side. Paul's dad dies while trying to assasinate the emporer, so Paul and his mom escape into the desert, and go into hiding, moving in with the Fremen. By the way, the Fremen ride around on huge worms that crawl on the sand (surprisingly enough, known as "sandworms".) Anyhoo... while they're there, Jessica moves up in the Bene Geseret, and becomes a "Reverend Mother" (remember I mentioned the baby...) Well, Jessica starts taking this drug called "spice" while she's pregnant. Spice is pretty much crack on crack. It's also known as "Melange". And, this planet that they're on is the only place to get it. Fun uses for Melange: Travel anywhere in the universe instantly Make old people young again Achieve transcendent awareness Makes a great dessert topping! Some time later, Paul gets a new baby sister, Alia. Meanwhile, Paul has been on a healthy diet of spice and ...more spice. Seems like thats a big part of the Fremen's diet. So, Paul starts going all weird too. He starts seeing the future. The Fremen think that's cool, so they call him Muad'Dib, which I'm gessing is Fremen for "Guy who sees the future". So, Pauly and the Fremen (new band name?) eventually plan war against Harkonnen, who has kind of taken over since the Atreides have been presumed dead. After this... some spying and traitor-ing goes on. Jessica almost dies. Paul almost dies. Alia gets capured. Harkonnen plots against the Atreides. Alia kills Harkonnen. Paul defeats the emporer's army, and has a face off with Harkonnen's nephew in a knife fight. Paul wins and threatens to destroy all the spice. The emporer surrenders. Paul, the good guy, becomes the new emperor. Yadda, yadda, yadda. All I can say is, "Did George Lucas have this book and a Sharpie marker when he made his script?" Now I feel like I know a little something about Dune. Not much, but at least I don't feel completely confused by the whole thing. Back	___________