Frank Herbert is the author of the Dune science-fiction series. More importantly, Frank Herbert is the author of Dune. One of the most psychologically engrossing novels in the genre, Dune tells the tale of a far-flung future, when two ruling families, House Atreides and House Harkonnen, feud over rights to the desert planet Arrakis. Home to the mighty sandworms, Arrakis, or as the native fremen call it, Dune, is where melange, the mystical spice that facilitates the folding of space (warp), possible. The story follows young Paul Atreides who, after various harrowing encounters with Bene Gesserit witches, treacherous doctors, Harkonnen troops, and majestic sandworms, must challenge Feyd Rautha, heir of Harkonnen to a duel for the spiceworld. Along the way, Paul takes on many names, including Muadib and the prophesied Kwitsach haderach. I'm not a fan of the sequels, but Dune remains a science fiction classic.

Strangeling director David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, Wild at Heart) made a decent film of the book, starring Kyle MacLachlan, Sting, Jurgen Prochnow, Max Von Sydow, Patrick Stewart, Brad Dourif, Dean Stockwell, and Sean Young. It's worth a viewing (particularly the four-hour version), but not as a substitute for the book. (Try as it might, the movie can't convey the psychological depths of the novel. Besides, Sting is miscast. But it's still better than the Sci-Fi channel version of 2000.)