Dune Read-Along discussion

It's March 30. It feels like a decade has passed since we began our Dune readalong. Not because of the book! No, because of the events of the world. Time is moving in such a weird way. I'd be curious to know what Paul would make of all of this. Or the Bene Gesserit.

As we are at the end of our readalong, I'm curious to know who has finished the book? If you haven't finished it, will you do so? Was it hard for anyone else to read the same book over six months?

***spoilers for the end of the book ahead***

The last few chapters of Dune go so quickly compared to the rest of the narrative. We build up to the attack on the Atreides, then we slowly (even with the time jump) watch Paul and Jessica find their place with the Fremen, and then the inevitable confrontation with the Harkonnens and the Emperor happens in a whirlwind. In some ways, I feel that's true to life. Things happen slowly until they move so quickly that they hit you in the face with their forward momentum. But it was weird for me to go through the relatively slower pacing and then into a rapid slide at the end.

As an example, the death of Paul's son was mentioned only in passing. As readers, we had to process it kind of the same way as Paul--with little attention and acceptance in order to stay focused on the bigger parts at play. Those bigger parts of course being the Emperor and Harkonnens arriving on Arrakis with sweeping forces. And then quickly learning the true strength of the Fremen. Arrogance blinded them. By them I mean the Emperor, the Baron, the Spacing Guild. All of them underestimated the strength and numbers of Arrakis' people.

“And that day dawned when Arrakis lay at the hub of the universe with the wheel poised to spin.”

A few questions for you to ponder as we wrap up:
- Did you buy into the cluelessness of the Emperor and the Baron? Could they really have been that unaware of the Fremen’s strength?
- Do you think Alia’s abilities will be a threat as she grows older?
- How do you feel about Paul, an outsider, leading the Fremen to victory?
- For anyone else who's been rereading, did you also completely forget that Irulan has such a small appearance in the book (outside of her chapter intros, obviously)?

I finished the book a while ago, and I've read it multiple times so I've been trying to avoid spoilers. It was definitely tough to spread it out over time, so I ended up rushing through to the end. I agree the pacing speeds up a bit too much as it reaches the end. It felt like everything was inevitable and the story was just rushing to get to the end. I had forgotten about Paul's son, so his existence and off screen death goes by really fast.

I buy that the Baron is so arrogant that he would be completely unaware of the Fremen's true strength, but I'm not sure about the Emperor. Possibly, he was relying on all his intel from the Harkonnen, but I also feel like he should have spies everywhere. Even if he can't get accurate intel on the Fremen, I can't imagine he'd just rely on the Harkonnen.

I suspect we should keep an eye on Alia's abilities in the future.

I'm not the right person to answer this. Paul as an outsider leading the Fremen to victory has always sat a little uneasy for me, but without spoiling too much, I recall later books do touch on how Paul (whether intentionally or not) may have changed Fremen culture through his influence.

And Irulan having so little actual page time in the story was something that surprised me the first time I read it, but it's become something I really enjoy with each reread. Just from a narrative structure point of view, I like the idea of the storyteller being adjacent or slightly outside of the story they are telling.