One thing that stuck out early is how much Star Wars took from it. Very immediately, the desert planet setting, the idea of a chosen one, the emperor, etc but really what got me is that Paul has such a more interesting struggle with evil than Luke does. Paul sees a future where he leads a holy war that kills a whole lot of people, where as Luke just vaguely struggles with the Dark Side, the ends arent really explored, its just the process that matters (Luke is a lib).
Anyways, sick book. Loved it, will read the sequel. Hoping to get more of the 4 year old girl with multiple intelligences, very sick.
Honestly the cooler liet stuff comes posthumous in later books when
spoiler
You find out about the goals of fremen ecological engineering project
Oh definitely. But I think it is implied that he had his hands in that from the start.