Dune is a paragon of classic sci-fi for a reason. It's the brilliant story of the Messiah-who-didn't-want-to-be, the teenage boy for whom centuries of intergalactic myth-making and imperial efforts and courtly politics and eugenics, even, have paved the way for a power-quest dripping with religious fervor and immense violence. And even as young Paul Atreides resists his terrible purpose, he knows he cannot undo the machinations that were already at play long before his birth.