Dune: the saga that revolutionized science fiction

There are few literary sagas that have been able to unequivocally influence the collective imagination, especially when we talk about science fiction. Almost all of these examples were born in the first half of the last century, materializing over a time span ranging from the early 1950s to the mid-1980s. Among these works Dune emerges in an imperious way, a saga that has also enjoyed a multimedia fame, thanks to its presence in the cinema in recent years (where it is preparing to return), but also in the world of video games, boardgames and comics.

Fully appreciating Dune's profound impact on modern science fiction imagery is probably impossible. Going beyond pure admiration for a story that unfolds over a span of millennia, we must acknowledge this complex portrait of future humanity the merit of having tried to introduce into science fiction themes that were never dealt with, or only vaguely touched upon until then.

Frank Herbert, the search for a different science fiction

Science fiction, both literary and cinematographic, of the 1950s was strongly conditioned by two elements of real life: the Russian enemy and fear of the atomic bomb. Here then appear invading aliens and monsters, the result of failed experiments, which became the science fiction metaphor of the fears of the average American.

Within this narrative flow, however, there were writers who had a different conception of science fiction. Names like Asimov, Heinlein and Dick began to show American society a different future, telling a different tomorrow in which the anxieties and flaws of the contemporary world had to be resolved or, otherwise, we would have paid the extreme consequences. Among these writers, Herbert also fits, but he devotes himself to other aspects.