I asked around for ideas, and Mike from the library suggested the classic sci-fi novel Dune, by Frank Herbert. This seemed like a good choice, so I found a copy in the library stack.
Dune was published in 1965, and is the first of the Dune saga.
The story is set far in the future and a long way off, and concerns a feud between two great dynastic families in the planet Arrakis, This planet is a vast desert where water is scarce and valuable, but there is another substance which is valued even more: spice, also known as melange.
There are plots and treachery, spies and attacks, and the story is incredibly complex.
It took me a long time to get into the tale, as it seems rather slow, but the scene needs to be set, even before arriving on the planet Arrakis. Soon after, the main man is killed, and his son Paul takes over, but is forced into exile with his mother.
I wonder if the 'spice' is a metaphor for hard drugs, as it is affects the minds of the users, and there are struggles to control the mining and distribution of it.
It is also an ecological tale, with discussions of how to make this desert planet more habitable, the collection and storage of water being key to this.
Super-giant worms live in the desert, and the Fremen, who are the native people, have learned to ride them. I haven't seem the film of this book, but I bet that part was spectacular.
Overall, I am glad I have read Dune, but I doubt I will read the sequels, there is too much detail about the politics of the Empire, the feuding families. I prefer more humanity in the books I read.
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