I've been working through the first 6 books in the Dune series over the past month, and I've reached a conclusion regarding books and our ability to tell stories.
First off, I absolutely loved the first novel. It had everything I was looking for in a sci-fi epic, and promised an interesting series. The second book (Dune Messiah) was less intriguing, though some of the internal politics and psychological analysis was interesting. Children of Dune was better than the previous: it had a destination (Leto IIs assimilation with the sandtrout to force humanity along the "Golden Path") and felt less rambling than the previous.
Then I hit God Emperor of Dune, and it spiraled downhill quite quickly. Leto's metamorphosis had been underway for 3,000 years, and the planet Dune's development had completed to the point where the Fremen lifestyle was a thing of memory. This book was difficult, to say the least, to drudge through, but it had a destination (Leto's death) which helped.
Enter Heretics of Dune. This book is, in every way, utterly uninteresting and unconvincing, to say the least. The only original character (after 4,000 years have passed since the first novel) only took center stage in Dune Messiah, something which made little sense, given his minimal presence and characterization in Dune. In Heretics, however, Duncan is the only unifying link with the previous 4 books. The Bene Gesserit, Tleilax, and Guild are still scheming and planning, and the planet of Dune is reverting back to its original state.
So, if Dune was so great, what went wrong??
To put it simply, time.
Think back, for a moment, 1,000 years. Our civilization was a drastically different place. For a simple reference, Wikipedia has an interesting article regarding the Eleventh Century and major events which occurred between 1001 and 1100. Though these events may have had an important influence on mankind, think for a minute what the world looked like at the time, and how the passage of a mere 1000 years has seen such drastic change. In addition to this, consider how different the world appears after the intersection and engagement of various cultures: within this time (from a Western-perspective) we've seen the advent of gunpowder, the Industrial Revolution, the Renaissance and Age of Reason, the Protestant Reformation, the advent of the automobile and flight, and have moved into the Age of Information. We live in an era where everyday realities would have been considered somewhat miraculous one millennium ago.
And yet, the evidence of human progress is completely ignored in the latter Dune novels. God Emperor begins 3,000 years after Leto II's ascension as deity, and no progress among humanity can be seen. The predominant argument for this is Leto's suppression of space-travel while imposing his "peace" upon the empire. Unfortunately, this is unconvincing and fails to account for the complete and utter stagnation of Herbert's universe.
In 3,000 years, no civilization makes any technological, cultural, political, or religious advances. The Bene Gesserit's plots and goals remain the same throughout the centuries, without any consideration to the historical progression of human thought. Herbert's position regarding religion seems reservedly cynical, yet withholds itself from any evolution of philosophy or vision. In 3,000 years, the Dune universe is no different than when Leto first began his metamorphosis.
Still, the argument remains that Leto's goal for humanity was to suppress advancement and evolution until the Golden Path was attained.
I'll accept the argument, though I disagree that it's sufficient to account for the stagnation.
Zoom forward another 1,000 years to Heretics and you still have the same problem. What's more, the problem is more greatly exacerbated: Leto's intention was to compress humanity to a critical mass, unleashing their full potential upon the vast reaches of the universe after his death. His dream, apparently, was to hold humanity back from its self-destructive tendencies, and then allow it to rapidly accelerate. Unfortunately, this acceleration is almost non-existent in Heretics.
Once again, technology hasn't advanced sufficiently to account for 1,000 years of unfettered progress. The same assassination techniques/tools are in use (shigawire, seekers), the same limitations exist (lasguns interacting with shields), the same drugs are still present (melange/spice). The introduction of "no-ships" are weak and portray a sad, unexciting existence for mankind.
Again, we are given a glimpse into the Bene Gesserit, and are informed of development and progression over several millenia. But where this progression is, the book doesn't say. Their breeding goals, fears, and biases are still strong and unchanged 4,000 years after Dune. Frankly, I can't imagine any organization or religion (from Herbert's perspective) surviving 400 centuries, let alone maintaining their original goals and world views.
Again, the final product is unconvincing and comes across as ignorant: such great leaps ahead in time remain unaccounted for in terms of culture, politics, religion, and technology.
I've observed this lack in other stories as well: the Foundation series, the Star Wars universe, to name a few. This leads me to wonder why they seem to fail in their scope.
As finite beings with a limited scope of change, I wonder if we're even capable of imagining a universe where massive leaps forward in time occur. Looking back, we can see the various connections in progress which have led us to the present. Hindsight, as they say, is always 20/20. Put another way, we have the ability to understand the mosaic of our development by analyzing each tile contributing to its creation. Unfortunately, we're less capable of understanding those pieces which will be used to expand upon its image. Because of this, how can we even attempt to imagine (other than idle speculation) what the product will look like after 1000 years of unknown tiles have been laid?
Think back to the futuristic images of the mid-20th century. Radio programs, movies, and sci-fi novels portrayed the 21st century as something much different than what we see. Looking back, we can see how the progression functioned; looking forward, however, we had no idea of the limitations and possibilities available to us.
Cars do not fly; we don't wear silver-foil suits; we are not living on the moon. We do, however, have vast amounts of information available to us, at the mere swipe of a finger or touch of a button. We still drive cars and fly in planes; Mars remains physically untouched by humankind; most people own a computer (yes, phones count); holographic TVs do not exist, though 3D technology is growing in popularity.
These are just a few technological progressions in 5 short decades; I've said nothing about the political, cultural, and religious changes which have happened in such a limited amount of time.
Of course, I don't want to misrepresent history: mankind's progress has frequently seen extended periods of stagnation with little development; fortunately, however, such periods have been fostered in specific environments. Once these environments were altered, or their limitations removed, explosions of development have been observed.
Herbert's series struggles to keep this in mind. In 4,000 years, little progress happens, a phenomenon disproved by human history.
