Inama Nushif

How little she understood the bitter choice. Selecting among agonies, he thought, made even lesser agonies near unbearable. Thoughts of Paul Muad'dib Atreides.

"You may have eternity. I have only now." Chani to Paul in Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert.


How long it has been since I first read the first of the Dune novels, and how close I felt then to Chani, royal concubine, who was closer to the role of wife than the princess that bears that title, and certainly more loved. In spite of obvious differences, that identification continues through the second, more heartbreaking novel.

For amid the twisted power-plays, and the complex political and religious scheming, lies the true tragedy of a man, who once set upon the path, continues inexorably onward toward his own terrible grief, a grief that he knows is coming, and he cannot in all of his conscience deviate, not even for love, to avoid that terrible loss.

It's a masterful piece of writing, which presents the reader with an omniscient view into the thoughts and fears of all of the characters. Nothing is hidden, and like Paul we see the instrument of all those little stabs of pain that lead up to the ultimate break in the expected future as laid out for us by Paul's visions, (and Herbert's writing), and it truly is heartbreaking.

Anyone who's ever grappled with the question of whether fate is preordained or the product of the path we walk in reaching our future – anyone who's ever wondered, 'if I knew what was coming would I try to change it' and anyone who's ever found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place, or being a slave to the circumstances of their 'creation/moulding' will find a companion in this book, in truly thought provoking ways.

And in me, I find it hard to say what – aside from Chani's life and death, (I did mention that the Dune series is epic, didn't it?) – truly touched me, except perhaps the quoted words of Chani, which I, on occasion, have been known to speak for and of myself.

You may have eternity. I have only now.