What is the author's style in Dune by Frank Herbert?

Frank Herbert narrates Dune in the third person past tense. More often than quoting character's words in dialog, Herbert lays out their inner thoughts (in italics). He opens new scenes by quoting epigrams in the manner of a historian. Paul Atreides is brought from a precocious 15-year-old living on an idyllic world to a planet where survival is a minute-by-minute struggle.