Dune
Frank Herbert
 Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV of House Corrino has come to fear House Atreides due to the growing popularity of Duke Leto Atreides within the Landsraad, the convocation of ruling Houses. Shaddam decides that House Atreides must be destroyed, but cannot risk an overt attack on a single House, as this would not be accepted by the Landsraad and could be met with civil war. The Emperor instead uses the centuries-old feud between House Atreides and House Harkonnen to disguise his assault, enlisting the brilliant and power-hungry Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in his plan to trap and eliminate the Atreides. To remove them from their fief of Caladan, where they are protected by their elite navy, Shaddam entices Leto to accept the lucrative fief of the "spice planet", Arrakis, previously controlled by the Harkonnens. Leto's control of the only planet capable of spice production would increase the power of House Atreides, which has not, historically, been influential or wealthy. Complicating the political intrigue is the fact that the Duke's son Paul Atreides is an essential part of the Bene Gesserit's secret, centuries-old breeding program. Leto's concubine, the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica, was ordered to give birth to a daughter. Capable of determining her child's sex due to her Bene Gesserit abilities, she instead bears a boy, to provide an heir for Leto. Leto correctly believes his rivals and enemies to be plotting against him, and the Atreides are able to thwart initial Harkonnen traps and complications while simultaneously building trust with the mysterious desert Fremen, with whom they hope to ally. However, the Atreides are ultimately unable to withstand a devastating Harkonnen attack, supported by House Corrino's elite Corps of Sardaukar, disguised as Harkonnen troops. The attack is assisted by a traitor within House Atreides Suk doctor Wellington Yueh, who is not suspected of disloyalty due to conditioning he underwent to complete his medical training. House Atreides' forces are unable to counterattack effectively and the House is scattered, with Leto taken captive by Yueh and delivered to the Harkonnens. Of the Houses' principal retainers, mentat Thufir Hawat is captured by the Sardaukar; the troubador-soldier Gurney Halleck escapes with the aid of smugglers, whom he joins; and military commander Duncan Idaho is killed defending Paul and Jessica. Yueh, who has only betrayed the Atreides to further a personal feud with Baron Harkonnen, plants a poison tooth in Leto's mouth, which he hopes will kill the Baron when bitten. Yueh is executed by the Baron, who distrusts him, but Leto manages to kill the Baron's chief retainer, mentat Piter De Vries, when he is brought before Harkonnen. The Baron evades the poison cloud expelled from the tooth, surviving the attack and enlisting Atreides mentat Thufir Hawat into his service. Jessica's Bene Gesserit abilities and Paul's developing skills, which have been taught to him by his mother, help them join a band of Fremen. Paul and his mother quickly learn Fremen ways while teaching the Fremen the weirding way, a Bene Gesserit method of fighting. Jessica becomes a Reverend Mother, ingesting the poisonous Water of Life while pregnant with her second child; this unborn daughter Alia is subjected to the same ordeal, acquiring the full abilities of a Reverend Mother before even being born. Paul takes a Fremen lover, Chani, with whom he fathers a son. Years pass, and Paul increasingly recognizes the strength of the Fremen fighting force and their potential to overtake even the "unstoppable" Sardaukar and win back Arrakis. The spice diet of the Fremen and his own developing mental powers cause Paul's prescience to be increase dramatically, allowing his forsight of future "paths" of possible events, and he is regarded by the Fremen as their prophesied messiah. As Paul grows in influence, he begins a jihad against Harkonnen rule of the planet under his new Fremen name, Muad'Dib. However, Paul becomes aware through his prescience that, if he is not careful, the Fremen will extend that jihad against all the known universe, which Paul describes as a humanity-spanning subconscious effort to avoid genetic stagnation. Both the Emperor and the Baron Harkonnen show increasing concern at the fervor of religious fanaticism shown on Arrakis for this "Muad'Dib", not guessing that this leader is the presumed-dead Paul. Harkonnen plots to send his nephew and heir Feyd Rautha as a replacement for his more brutish nephew Glossu Rabban — who is in charge of the planet — with the hope of gaining the respect of the population. However, the Emperor is highly suspicious of the Baron and sends spies to watch his movements. Hawat explains the Emperor's suspicions: the Sardaukar, nearly invincible in battle, are trained on the prison planet Salusa Secundus, whose inhospitable conditions allow only the best to survive. Arrakis serves as a similar crucible, and the Emperor fears that the Baron could recruit from it a fighting force to rival his Sardaukar, just as House Atreides had intended before its destruction. Paul is reunited with Gurney. Completely loyal to the Atreides, Gurney is convinced that Jessica is the traitor who caused the House's downfall, and nearly kills her before being stopped by Paul. Disturbed that his prescience had not predicted this possibility, Paul decides to take the Water of Life, an act which will either confirm his status as the Kwisatz Haderach or kill him. After three weeks in a near-death state, Paul emerges with his powers refined and focused; he is able to see past, present, and future at will. Looking into space, he sees that the Emperor and the Harkonnens have amassed a huge armada to invade the planet and regain control. Paul also realizes the way to control spice production on Arrakis: saturating spice fields with the water of life would cause a chain reaction that would destroy all spice on the planet. In an Imperial attack on a Fremen settlement, Paul and Chani's son Leto is killed, and the four-year-old Alia is captured by Sardaukar and brought to the planet's capital Arrakeen, where the Baron Harkonnen is attempting to thwart the Fremen jihad under the close watch of the Emperor. The Emperor is surprised at Alia's defiance of his power and her confidence in her brother, whom she reveals to be Paul Atreides. At that moment, under cover of a gigantic sandstorm, Paul and his army of Fremen attack the city riding sandworms; Alia kills the Baron during the confusion. Paul quickly overtakes the city's defenses and confronts the Emperor, threatening to destroy the spice, thereby ending space travel and crippling both Imperial power and the Bene Gesserit in one blow. Feyd-Rautha challenges Paul to a knife-duel in a final attempt to stop his overthrow, but is defeated despite an attempt at treachery. Realizing that Paul is capable of doing all he has threatened, the Emperor is forced to abdicate and to promise his daughter Princess Irulan in marriage to Paul. Chani is not happy with this decision, and Paul describes that Chani will always be the one he loves. Paul ascends the throne, his control of Arrakis and the spice establishing a new kind of power over the Empire that will change the face of the known universe. However, despite being Emperor of the Known Universe, Paul realizes that he will not be able to stop the jihad he has seen in his visions, his legendary status among the Fremen having grown past the point where he can control it.