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Thus spoke St. Alia-of-the-Knife

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Thus spoke St. Alia-of-the-Knife: “The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension so long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, h as become a wellspring of cunning and resourcefulness.” —- FROM “MUAD’DIB, FAMILY COMMENTARIES” BY THE PRINCESS IRULAN In this epigraph from the Princess Irulan, a character from the end of the book is introduced. As we have discussed previously, Frank Herbert was definitely not afraid to spoil points of plot in the pursuit of the goal of teaching the reader. Who Alia is, and why she will attain sainthood status via her actions with a knife, will be revealed much later in Dune. Irulan and Alia’s association is one of the main story points of the sequels to Dune, “Dune Messiah,” and “Children of Dune.” It is also ironic that although Alia has been quoted abo
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To attempt an understanding of Muad’Dib without understanding his mortal enemies

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To attempt an understanding of Muad’dib without understanding his mortal enemies, the Harkonnens is to attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is an attempt to see the light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be. —FROM “MANUAL OF MUAD'DIB” BY THE PRINCESS IRULAN When Dune was published in 1965 the world of science fiction was introduced to one of the most enduring antagonists. The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a humongous man, with unchecked appetites that bend to the perverse and extreme. Composing his council are his loyal Mentat, Piter De Vries and his nephews. Mentats are author Frank Herbert’s answer to how computation is performed after the Butlerian Jihad—-people are conditioned to serve as mathematical machines. Each ducal house of the intergalactic feudal Landsraad has Mentats at their service. Piter, like his liege, the Baron Harkonnen is a twisted plotter, who helps with the Baron’s schemes. For his part, the Baron has promised Piter the lady Jessica, and this
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A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct

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A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then, take care that you first place him in his time: born in the 57th year of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV. And take the most special care that you locate Muad'Dib in his place: the planet Ar- rakis. Do not be deceived by the fact that he was born on Caladan and lived his first fifteen years there. Arra- kis, the planet known as Dune, is forever his place. —FROM “MANUAL OF MUAD'DIB” BY THE PRINCESS IRULAN It took Frank Herbert six years to research and write Dune starting in 1959. The weighty book does not provide much in terms of exposition apart from this first epigraph by the Princess Irulan. As the reader will find out, Irulan is a minor character in terms of the plot of Dune, but in this novel, she provides chapter introductions in the form of excerpts from her own writing of the history
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