Dune: The Graphic Novel, Book 1

 Dune: The Graphic Novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, (2020) 163 pages

 Brian Herbert, the son of the great Frank Herbert, has created a fairly beautiful graphic novel adaptation of his father's masterpiece and very beloved science fiction series Dune. It is sometimes difficult to not only get the whole story into graphic novel form, but I believe this was done very well. The facial expressions of young Paul Atreides match the horror and emotions of reading about his unraveling destiny. The terrifying Baron Harkonnen is equally captured within the images. As a Dune lover, I really enjoyed reading the story in a different light next to the newest film adaptation. Now not the whole story made it within these pages, but I believe the most important parts were done carefully and thoughtfully. This one is a bit different than the film adaptation, as it does go into more detail regarding the background characters on the other planets, such as the guild navigators and those involved with seeing the Harkonnen's back in power on Arrakis.

Paul Atreides, heir to House Atreides is discovering he was meant for much more than just heading his father's great House. As his family is uprooted from the lush planet Caladan, Paul is awakened by vivid dreams of their future home: Dune, or Arrakis, the desert planet. Paul's mother, Jessica, is a Bene Gesserit,an order of women who have gone through thousands of years of mental and physical training to achieve superhuman capabilities. Jessica has taught Paul the ways of the Bene Gesserit. The Bene Gesserit have a secret breeding program that has been carefully planned for 10,000 years which they hope to someday create the "Kwisatz Haderach", or a male Bene Gesserit who will not only have access to the memories of all female but male counterparts as well as capabilities beyond space and time. Paul is tested by the Reverened Mother, who decides that he indeed could potentially become the one they have been waiting for. Through corruption between the Bene Gesserit and the Baron Harkonnen, Paul's father Leto is killed due to a betrayal within the Atreides house, and Paul's path to becoming who he was meant to be is ignited. The main idea behind the Harkonnen's corruption is to regain control of Arrakis, the main source of the spice melange in the universe. As Jessica and Paul flee the capital successfully hidden, the Baron Harkhonnen eventually believe them to be killed. This is where the book 1 adaptation ends.