Dune - Entry #2

Where to begin?  The story is just so intense in this book!  So many wonderful scenes and dialogues.  I had not recalled the supremely intense confrontation between Lady Jessica and Thufir Hawat when Jessica finds out that Thufir Hawat suspects she is a spy and traitor. Jessica superbly guides him through the logic that he should have seen for himself as a mentat!  Let me insert here a bit of the exchange:

     The shock must be severe and he's almost ready for it, she thought.
     "You listen respectfully to me in Council, " she said, "yet you seldom heed my advice. Why?"
     "I don't trust your Bene Gesserit motives," he said.  "You may think you can look through a man; you may think you can make a man do exactly what you --"
     "You poor fool, Thufir!" she raged.
     He scowled, pushing himself back in the chair.
     "Whatever rumors you've heard about our schools," she said, "the truth is far greater.  If I wished to destroy the Duke ... or you, or any other person within my reach, you could not stop me."

Dune (40th Anniversary Edition), p. 152

SOOOOOOOO intense!!! I mean this is Thufir Hawat, the Mentat Master Assassin!!!  As she built up the argument and the logic to get him to see that the rumor that she was a traitor was exactly that, and likely spread by a Harkonnen spy to discredit her and build suspicion within the Atreides ranks, she then commanded him with Voice.  Here is the description of his reaction to that command and the ensuing dialogue ...

    Hawat tried to swallow in a dry throat.  her command had been regal, peremptory -- uttered in a tone and manner he had found irresistible.  His body had obeyed her before he could think about it.  Nothing could have prevented his response -- not logic, not passionate anger ... nothing.  To do what she had done spoke of a sensitive, intimate knowledge of the person thus commanded, a depth of control he had not dreamed possible.
     "I have said to you before that we should understand each other," she said.  "I meant that you should understand me.  I already understand you.  And I tell you now that your loyalty to the Duke is all that guarantees your safety with me."
     He stared at her, wet his lips with his tongue.
     "If I desired a puppet, the Duke would marry me," she said.  "He might even think he did it of his own free will."

Dune (40th Anniversary Edition), p. 153

The dialogue ends on page 154 and every single line is intense.  I don't want to type in all those pages but if you get a chance, reread this part.  So intense.