Few would deny that Dune is a "great read," as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is a "great read." It gives us strongly defined heroes and villains, engages us in an action which is simple in essence but full of events, twists, complications. Dune and its sequel, Dune Messiah, first appeared as serial fiction, and they exhibit the frequent climaxes and moments of great suspense which the serial format requires. Dune is a romance of adventure, and it is not my intention here to suggest that this romance hides great speculative profundities. What makes it exceptional is the systematic way in which the narrational events are imbedded in a particular ecological setting, and the thoughtfulness and delicacy that have gone into the major characterizations. By choosing as his main location a planet that is naturally a desert, Herbert has alloted the ecosystem a major role in structuring his...