Herbert's short fiction is diverse and entertaining, but his novels show a unifying concern with systems and systems interactions. Physical ecology is the subject of The Green Brain (1966) and an important part of the Dune series, while a concern with social ecology--the dynamics of social structures and restraints, social conflicts as a means of natural selection, the nature of psychology and religion, and racial imperatives--infuses all of his novels. The most common focus of this interest in systems is an exploration of the causes, functions, and limits of human consciousness. Herbert usually views consciousness as a "systems effect," in which the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and an understanding of this mechanism permits many of his characters to overcome social manipulation or transcend the limitations of individual memory and power. Many of his characters have formal training which enables them to control their own emotional responses and detect the subtle betrayals of emotion made by their opponents.
Less concerned with plot and characterization than with setting and ideas, Herbert usually employs a fragmented narrative structure, in which relatively brief episodes are introduced by quotations from invented works. Within each episode, the story line progresses less by action than by observation, cogitation, and antagonistic dialogue.
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