When I was growing up, my family was obsessed with something called DUNE. I heard only whispers: a desert planet, sandwalking, giant worms, and a mysterious antihero figure named PAUL ATREIDES. Imagine my shock when, a creative writing degree later, I started DUNE and discovered it was one of the most philisophical, deeply subversive sci-fi's I've ever encountered. The CHOSEN ONE as bioengineered SUPERWEAPON, the PROPHECY as horrible future ATROCITY he's doomed to commit, the HERO as eventual GENOCIDAL LEADER, the WHITE SAVIOR as CULTURAL DESTRUCTION: the book was a breath of fresh air, and the next, and the next, and six books later I'm a DUNE AFICIONADO.