The world of “Dune” always repelled me as well. I did not like to think of a future humanity that had regressed to ugly feudalism.
I certainly do not think Frank Herbert was trying to glorify the coldbloodedness and ruthlessness depicted. I always saw it as a warning against thinking that democracy and freedom was somehow guaranteed in the future.
I have enjoyed Dune. It is a remarkeable book and less ham handed, and more morally ambiguous, than this tripe sounds. I did not associate the attempt to create the Maud Dib with Nietzsche’s idea of the superman before reading this though . . . the nature of the Maud Dib is so fantastic. That said Dune is a “buyer beware” sort of book in terms of its effect on your thinking; particularly for the young. Sci-Fi has a basic humanist, “man can solve all problems,” ethos at its core. “Dune” is actually outside of this pollyanna type tradition in my opinion, even with the traditional sci-fi superman protaganist. In that sense most sci-fi leans to Nietzsche like forms . . . as do westerns . . . as do . . .