Frank Herbert was a pretty good science fiction writer who one day sat down and started to write a true literary classic, a novel that transcends its genre and even its medium -- Dune. It is a masterpiece. It is what every writer hopes and dreams of creating at some point in his career before he dies. Nothing else Herbert ever wrote even comes close to its greatness. It seemed to spring from nowhere, the way Athene sprange from the forehead of Zeus. There is a huge gulf between "good" and "great." Herbert's other novels, some of them, are "good" in the context of science fiction. Only Dune is great.
Herbert gave significant context in interviews over the years. Dune was inspired by his own experiences in the Pacific Northwest, his time with Indians, and ecological movements of the time. Spice is oil, basically. Anyways, he can tell it better than I can, but my point is that perhaps Dune is his best work because it was motivated by his most interesting personal experiences.
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