Dune universe
Encyclopedia
Dune is a science fiction
franchise
which originated with the 1965 novel Dune
by Frank Herbert
. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. Dune won the 1966 Hugo Award
and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel
, and was later adapted into a 1984 film
as well as a 2000 television miniseries
. Herbert wrote five sequel
s, and the first two were presented as a miniseries in 2003. The Dune universe has also inspired some traditional games and a series of video games. Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn
's moon Titan
.
Herbert himself died in 1986. Beginning in 1999, his son Brian Herbert
and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson
have published a number of prequel
novels, as well as two which complete the original Dune series — Hunters of Dune
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
(2007) — partially based on Frank Herbert's notes discovered a decade after his death.
The political
, scientific
, and social
fictional setting
of Herbert's novels and derivative works is known as the Dune universe, or Duniverse. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, the saga chronicles a civilization which has banned artificial intelligence but has also developed advanced technology and mental and physical abilities. Vital to this empire is the harsh desert planet
Arrakis
, only known source of the spice melange, the most valuable substance in the universe.
experiment using poverty grass
es to stabilize damaging sand dune
s, which could "swallow whole cities, lakes, rivers, highways." Herbert spent the next five years researching, writing, and revising what would eventually become the novel Dune, which was initially serialized in Analog
magazine as two shorter works, Dune World (1963) and The Prophet of Dune (1965). The serialized version was expanded and reworked — and rejected by more than twenty publishers — before being published by Chilton Books, a little-known printing house best known for its auto repair manuals, in 1965. Dune won the 1966 Hugo Award
and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel
.
A sequel, Dune Messiah
, followed in 1969. A third novel called Children of Dune
was published in 1976, and was later nominated for a Hugo Award. Children of Dune became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field. In 1981 Herbert released God Emperor of Dune
, which was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly
. 1984's Heretics of Dune
, The New York Times
#13 hardcover fiction best seller of that year, was followed in quick succession by Chapterhouse: Dune in 1985. Herbert died on February 11, 1986.
enlisted science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson
to coauthor a trilogy
of Dune prequel
novels that would come to be called the Prelude to Dune
series. Using some of Frank Herbert's own notes, the duo wrote Dune: House Atreides
(1999), Dune: House Harkonnen
(2000), and Dune: House Corrino
(2001). The series is set in the years immediately prior to the events of Dune.
, consisting of Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
(2002), Dune: The Machine Crusade
(2003), and Dune: The Battle of Corrin
(2004). This series is set during the Butlerian Jihad
, an element of back-story
which Frank Herbert had previously established as occurring 10,000 years before the events chronicled in Dune. Herbert's brief description of mankind's "crusade against computer
s, thinking machines
, and conscious robots
" was expanded by Brian Herbert and Anderson into a violent and generations-spanning war between humans and sentient machines
.
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
(2007), which complete the chronological progression of the original series and wrap up storylines that began with Frank Herbert's Heretics of Dune.
, was published on September 16, 2008. The Winds of Dune
, called Jessica of Dune before publication, was released on August 4, 2009. The next two installments were to be called The Throne of Dune (formerly Irulan of Dune) and Leto of Dune (possibly changing to The Golden Path of Dune). However, in a July 15, 2010 blog post, Anderson announced that these novels had been postponed due to plans by Herbert and Anderson to publish a trilogy
about "the formation of the Bene Gesserit
, the Mentat
s, the Suk Doctors, the Spacing Guild
and the Navigator
s, as well as the solidifying of the Corrino
imperium." The first novel in that series, titled The Sisterhood of Dune, is expected to be published in early 2012.
Eye
, it takes the form of a guidebook for pilgrims to Arrakis
and features images (with descriptions) of some of the devices and characters presented in the novels.
Brian Herbert and Anderson have written several Dune short stories
, most of them related to and published around their novels. The stories include "Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas" (2001), "Dune: Hunting Harkonnens" (2002), "Dune: Whipping Mek" (2003), "Dune: The Faces of a Martyr" (2004), "Dune: Sea Child" (2006), and "Dune: Treasure in the Sand" (2006).
released Dune
, director David Lynch
's feature film
adaptation of the novel.
The Sci-Fi Channel
premiered a three-part miniseries
adaptation called Frank Herbert's Dune
on December 3, 2000. Its March 16, 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, combined both Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. As of 2004, both miniseries were two of the three highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel.
In 2008, Paramount Pictures
announced that they had a new feature film adaptation of Dune in development with Peter Berg
set to direct; Berg dropped out of the project in October 2009, and director Pierre Morel
was signed in January 2010. Paramount finally dropped the project in March 2011.
Print
In 1984, Herbert's publisher Putnam
released The Dune Encyclopedia under its Berkley Books
imprint. Approved by Herbert but not written by him, this collection of essays by 43 contributors describes in invented detail many aspects of the Dune universe not found in the novels themselves. Herbert rendered the work technically non-canon
in its own foreword, and Herbert's estate later reasserted this status after Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson had begun publishing prequel novels which directly contradict The Dune Encyclopedia.
On December 1, 1984, Marvel Comics
and Berkley published Dune: The Official Comic Book (ISBN 0-425-07623-7), a comic adaptation of David Lynch's film Dune. Marvel Comics Super Special
#36: Dune would later be released on April 1, 1985, as well as a three-issue limited comic series from Marvel entitled Dune from April to June 1985. The film also spawned The Dune Storybook (September 1984, ISBN 0-399-12949-9), a novelization
written by Joan D. Vinge
, and The Making of Dune (December 1984, ISBN 0-425-07376-9), a making-of
book by Ed Naha
. In November 1984, Pocket Books
published National Lampoon's Doon by Ellis Weiner
(ISBN 0-671-54144-7), a parody
novel.
In May 1992, Ace Books
published Songs of Muad'dib (ISBN 0-441-77427-X), a collection of Dune-related poems written by Frank Herbert and edited by his son Brian. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson released The Road to Dune
on August 11, 2005. The book contains a novelette called Spice Planet (an alternative version of Dune based on an outline by Frank Herbert), a number of the Brian Herbert/Anderson short stories, and letters and unused chapters written by Frank Herbert.
Dune
was released by Avalon Hill
in 1979, followed by a Parker Brothers
game Dune in 1984. A 1997 card game
called Dune
was followed by the role-playing game
Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium in 2000. To date, there have been five Dune computer and video games released: Dune
(1992), Dune II
(1992), Dune 2000
(1998), Frank Herbert's Dune (2001), and Emperor: Battle for Dune
(2001).
is a conflict taking place over 11,000 years in the future (and over 10,000 years before the events of Dune) which results in the total destruction of virtually all forms of "computer
s, thinking machines
, and conscious robots
." With the prohibition "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind," the creation of even the simplest thinking machines is outlawed and made taboo
, which has a profound influence on the socio-political
and technological
development of humanity in the Dune series. Herbert refers to the Jihad several times in the novels, but does not give much detail on how he imagined the causes and nature of the conflict. In Herbert's God Emperor of Dune
(1981), Leto Atreides II
indicates that the Jihad had been a semi-religious social upheaval initiated by humans who felt repulsed by how guided and controlled they had become by machines: "The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as much as the machines," Leto said. "Humans had set those machines to usurp our sense of beauty, our necessary selfdom out of which we make living judgments. Naturally, the machines were destroyed." This technological reversal leads to the creation of the universal Orange Catholic Bible
and the rise of a new feudal
galactic empire which lasts for over 10,000 years before Herbert's series begins. Several secret societies
also develop, using eugenics
programs, intensive mental and physical training, and pharmaceutical enhancements to hone human skills to an astonishing degree. Artificial insemination
is also prohibited, as explained in Dune Messiah
(1969) when Paul Atreides
negotiates with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
, who is appalled by Paul's suggestion that he impregnate his consort in this manner.
The Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly
(and approved by Frank Herbert) presents an extended chronicle of the Butlerian Jihad. According to McNelly, he and Herbert had planned to expand this version into a prequel novel to Dune; Herbert's death in 1986 left this project abandoned, and Herbert's own vision of the actual events of the Butlerian Jihad unexplored and open to speculation. The Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson presents the Jihad as a war between humans and the sentient machines
they had created, who rise up and nearly destroy mankind. The series explains that mankind had become entirely complacent and dependent upon thinking machines; recognizing this weakness, a group of ambitious, militant humans calling themselves the Titans
use this widespread reliance on machine intelligence to seize control of the entire universe. Their reign lasts for a century; eventually they give too much access and power to the AI
program Omnius, which usurps control from the Titans themselves. Seeing no value in human life, the thinking machines — now including armies of robot soldiers and other aggressive machines — dominate and enslave nearly all of humanity in the universe for 900 years, until a jihad is ignited. This crusade against the machines lasts for nearly a century, with much loss of human life but ultimately ending in human victory.
The ancient Battle of Corrin — occurring 20 years after the end of the Butlerian Jihad — spawns the Padishah Emperor
s of House Corrino
, who rule the known universe for millennia by controlling the brutally efficient military force known as the Imperial Sardaukar
. Ten thousand years later, one balance to Imperial power is the assembly of noble houses called the Landsraad
, which enforces the Great Convention's ban on the use of atomics against human targets. Though the power of the Corrinos is unrivaled by any individual House, they are in constant competition with each other for political power and stakes in the omnipresent CHOAM
company, a directorship which controls the wealth of the entire Old Empire
. The third primary power in the universe is the Spacing Guild
, which monopolizes interstellar travel
and banking. Mutated Guild Navigator
s use the spice drug melange to successfully navigate "folded space
" and safely guide enormous heighliner starship
s from planet to planet instantaneously.
The matriarchal
Bene Gesserit
possess almost superhuman physical, sensory, and deductive powers developed through years of physical and mental conditioning. While positioning themselves to "serve" mankind, the Bene Gesserit pursue their goal to better the human race by subtly and secretly guiding and manipulating the affairs of others to serve their own purposes. The Bene Gesserit also have a secret, millennia-long selective breeding program to bolster and preserve valuable skills and bloodlines as well as to produce a theoretical superhuman male they call the Kwisatz Haderach
. By the time of Dune, the Sisterhood are only one generation away from their desired individual, having manipulated the threads of genes and power for thousands of years to produce the required confluence of events. But Lady Jessica, ordered by the Bene Gesserit to produce a daughter who would breed with the appropriate male to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, instead bears a son unintentionally producing the Kwisatz Haderach a generation early.
"Human computers" known as Mentat
s have been developed and perfected to replace the capacity for logical analysis lost through the prohibition of computers. Through specific training, they learn to enter a heightened mental state in which they can perform complex logical computations that are superior to those of the ancient thinking machines. The patriarchal
Bene Tleilax
, or Tleilaxu, are amoral merchants who traffic in biological and genetically engineered
products such as artificial eyes, "twisted" Mentats, and gholas. Finally, the Ixians
produce cutting-edge
technology that seemingly complies with (but pushes the boundaries of) the prohibitions against thinking machines. The Ixians are very secretive, not only to protect their valuable hold on the industry but also to hide any methods or inventions that may breach the anti-thinking machine protocols.
Against this backdrop, the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) chronicles the return from obscurity of House Atreides
, whose role in the Butlerian Jihad is all but forgotten. The Imperial House schemes to gain full control of the Empire through the control of melange, precisely at the time that the Bene Gesserit breeding program is nearing fruition.
finds himself in a dangerous position; the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV
has put him in control of the desert planet
Arrakis
, known as Dune, which is the only natural source of the all-important spice melange. The most valuable commodity in the known universe, the spice not only makes safe and reliable interstellar travel possible, but also prolongs life, protects against disease, and is used by the Bene Gesserit to enhance their abilities. The potential financial gains for House Atreides are mitigated by the fact that mining melange from the desert surface of Arrakis is an expensive and hazardous undertaking, thanks to the treacherous environment and constant threat of giant sandworms
which protect the spice. In addition, Leto is aware that Shaddam, threatened by the rising power and influence of the Atreides, has sent him into a trap; failure to meet or exceed the production volume of their predecessors, the vicious House Harkonnen
, will negatively affect the position of House Atreides in CHOAM, which relies on spice profits. Further, the very presence of the Atreides on Arrakis inflames the long-simmering War of Assassins between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, a feud ignited 10,000 years before when an Atreides had a Harkonnen banished for cowardice after the Butlerian Jihad.
The little-understood native population of Arrakis are the Fremen
, long overlooked by the Imperium. Considered backward savages, the Fremen are an extremely hardy people and exist in large numbers, their culture built around the commodity of water, which is extremely scarce on Arrakis. The Fremen await the coming of a prophesied messiah
, not suspecting that this prophecy had been planted in their legends by the Missionaria Protectiva, an arm of the Bene Gesserit dedicated to religious manipulation to ease the path of the Sisterhood when necessary. In Dune, the so-called "Arrakis Affair" puts unexpected Kwisatz Haderach Paul Atreides
in control of first the Fremen people and then Arrakis itself; he deposes Shaddam and becomes ruler of the known universe. With a bloody jihad
subsequently unleashed across the universe in Paul's name but out of his control, the Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxu, Spacing Guild, and House Corrino plot to dethrone him in Dune Messiah
(1969). The Atreides Empire continues to devolve in Children of Dune
(1976) as the religion built around Paul falters and his heirs rise to power.
The Heroes of Dune interquel series (2008–present) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson follows events involving the Atreides before, between, and after Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune.
At the time of God Emperor of Dune
(1981), Paul's son, the God Emperor Leto Atreides II
, has ruled the Empire for 3,500 years from the verdant face of a transformed Arrakis; melange production has ceased. Leto has forced the sandworms into extinction, except for the larval sandtrout with which he had forged a symbiosis
, transforming him into a human-sandworm hybrid. Human civilization before his rule had suffered from twin weaknesses: that it could be controlled by a single authority, and that it was totally dependent upon melange, found on only one planet in the known universe. Leto's prescient visions had shown that mankind would be threatened by extinction in any number of ways; his solution was to place mankind on his "Golden Path," a plan for humanity's survival. Leto governs as a benevolent tyrant, providing for his people's physical needs, but denying them any spiritual outlets other than his own compulsory religion (as well as maintaining a monopoly on spice and thus total control of its use). Personal violence of any kind is banned, as is nearly all space travel, creating a pent-up demand for freedom and travel. The Bene Gesserit, Ixians, and Tleilaxu find themselves seeking ways to regain some of their former power or unseat Leto altogether. Leto also conducts his own selective breeding program among the descendants of his twin sister Ghanima, finally arriving at Siona, daughter of Moneo, whose actions are hidden from prescient vision. Leto engineers his own assassination, knowing it will result in rebellion and revolt but also in an explosion in travel and colonization. The death of Leto's body also produces new sandtrout, which will eventually give rise to a population of sandworms and a new cycle of spice production.
In the aftermath of the fall of the God Emperor, chaos and severe famine on many worlds cause trillions of humans to set off into the freedom of unknown space and spread out across the universe. This diaspora
is later called the Scattering and, combined with the invisibility of Atreides descendants to prescient vision, assures that mankind has forever escaped the threat of total extinction. At the time of Heretics of Dune
(1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) — 1500 years after Leto's death — the turmoil is settling into a new pattern; the balance of power in the Empire rests among the Ixians, the Bene Gesserit, and the Tleilaxu. The Spacing Guild has been forever weakened by the development of Ixian machines capable of navigation in foldspace, practically replacing Guild Navigators. The Bene Gesserit control the sandworms and their planet, now called Rakis, but the Tleilaxu have also discovered how to synthetically produce melange. This balance of power is shattered by a large influx of people from the Scattering, some fleeing persecution by an as-yet unknown enemy. Among the returning people, the Bene Gesserit finds its match in a violent and corrupt matriarchal society known as the Honored Matres
, whom they suspect may be descended from some of their own sent out in the Scattering. As a bitter and bloody war erupts between the orders, it ultimately becomes clear that joining the two organizations into a single New Sisterhood with shared abilities is their best chance to fight the approaching enemy.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
franchise
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
which originated with the 1965 novel Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. Dune won the 1966 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
, and was later adapted into a 1984 film
Dune (film)
Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and includes an ensemble of well-known American and European actors in supporting roles. It was filmed at the Churubusco...
as well as a 2000 television miniseries
Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 3D video game based on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the same name. The game was not a commercial or critical success, and was the last product by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.As Paul, the son of the Duke Atreides's...
. Herbert wrote five sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s, and the first two were presented as a miniseries in 2003. The Dune universe has also inspired some traditional games and a series of video games. Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains and other features on Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's moon Titan
Titan (moon)
Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
.
Herbert himself died in 1986. Beginning in 1999, his son Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
have published a number of prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
novels, as well as two which complete the original Dune series — Hunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune is the first of two books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels....
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune is the second of two novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels. They have stated that it is based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert for Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the Dune series...
(2007) — partially based on Frank Herbert's notes discovered a decade after his death.
The political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, scientific
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, and social
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
fictional setting
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
of Herbert's novels and derivative works is known as the Dune universe, or Duniverse. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, the saga chronicles a civilization which has banned artificial intelligence but has also developed advanced technology and mental and physical abilities. Vital to this empire is the harsh desert planet
Desert planet
A desert planet is a single-biome planet on which the climate is mostly desert, with little or no natural precipitation. Desert planets are known to exist; Mars is often considered a prime example. Indeed, many terrestrial planets would be considered desert planets by this definition...
Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
, only known source of the spice melange, the most valuable substance in the universe.
Original series
Herbert's interest in the desert setting of Dune and its challenges is attributed to research he began in 1957 for a never-completed article about a United States Department of AgricultureUnited States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
experiment using poverty grass
Poverty grass
Poverty grass may refer to:*Any of several grasses that grow in poor or sandy soil, for example:** Aristida dichotoma, Shinner's Three-awn** Eremochloa bimaculata** Sporobolus vaginaeflorus , Sheathed Dropseed...
es to stabilize damaging sand dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
s, which could "swallow whole cities, lakes, rivers, highways." Herbert spent the next five years researching, writing, and revising what would eventually become the novel Dune, which was initially serialized in Analog
Analog Science Fiction and Fact
Analog Science Fiction and Fact is an American science fiction magazine. As of 2011, it is the longest running continuously published magazine of that genre...
magazine as two shorter works, Dune World (1963) and The Prophet of Dune (1965). The serialized version was expanded and reworked — and rejected by more than twenty publishers — before being published by Chilton Books, a little-known printing house best known for its auto repair manuals, in 1965. Dune won the 1966 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel
Nebula Award for Best Novel
Winners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
.
A sequel, Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
, followed in 1969. A third novel called Children of Dune
Children of Dune
Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
was published in 1976, and was later nominated for a Hugo Award. Children of Dune became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field. In 1981 Herbert released God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
, which was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
. 1984's Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
#13 hardcover fiction best seller of that year, was followed in quick succession by Chapterhouse: Dune in 1985. Herbert died on February 11, 1986.
Prelude to Dune
Over a decade after Herbert's death, his son Brian HerbertBrian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
enlisted science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
to coauthor a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
of Dune prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
novels that would come to be called the Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe....
series. Using some of Frank Herbert's own notes, the duo wrote Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Atreides is a 1999 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
(1999), Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Harkonnen is a 2000 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the second book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
(2000), and Dune: House Corrino
Dune: House Corrino
Dune: House Corrino is a 2001 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the third book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
(2001). The series is set in the years immediately prior to the events of Dune.
Legends of Dune
Herbert and Anderson followed with a second prequel trilogy called the Legends of DuneLegends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
, consisting of Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad is a 2002 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
(2002), Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Machine Crusade is a 2003 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the second book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
(2003), and Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Dune: The Battle of Corrin is a 2004 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the third book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
(2004). This series is set during the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
, an element of back-story
Back-story
A back-story, background story, or backstory is the literary device of a narrative chronologically earlier than, and related to, a narrative of primary interest. Generally, it is the history of characters or other elements that underlie the situation existing at the main narrative's start...
which Frank Herbert had previously established as occurring 10,000 years before the events chronicled in Dune. Herbert's brief description of mankind's "crusade against computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, thinking machines
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
, and conscious robots
Cognitive robotics
a robot is a robot device that is built from inanimate matter. Its behavior in response to the environment is deterministic, based on how the robot was designed. Cognition is the process of acquiring and using knowledge about the world for goal-oriented purposes, such as survival...
" was expanded by Brian Herbert and Anderson into a violent and generations-spanning war between humans and sentient machines
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
.
Completion of the original series (Dune 7)
With an outline for the first book of Prelude to Dune series written and a proposal sent to publishers, Brian Herbert had discovered his father's 30-page outline for a sequel to Chapterhouse Dune which the elder Herbert had dubbed Dune 7. After publishing their six prequel novels, Brian Herbert and Anderson released Hunters of DuneHunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune is the first of two books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels....
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune is the second of two novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels. They have stated that it is based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert for Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the Dune series...
(2007), which complete the chronological progression of the original series and wrap up storylines that began with Frank Herbert's Heretics of Dune.
Heroes of Dune
In the foreword to Hunters of Dune (2006), Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson wrote that they planned to continue writing Dune novels after completing the Dune 7 project. In 2006 they announced that after Sandworms of Dune they would release an interquel series of novels called Paul of Dune, which was renamed Heroes of Dune in 2007. Heroes of Dune focuses on the time periods between Frank Herbert's original novels; the first book, Paul of DunePaul of Dune
Heroes of Dune is a planned interquel tetralogy of novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The potential series was initially referred to as Paul of Dune by the authors as early as 2004....
, was published on September 16, 2008. The Winds of Dune
The Winds of Dune
The Winds of Dune is a science fiction novel written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Released on August 4, 2009, it is the second book in the Heroes of Dune interquel tetralogy and chronicles events between Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah and...
, called Jessica of Dune before publication, was released on August 4, 2009. The next two installments were to be called The Throne of Dune (formerly Irulan of Dune) and Leto of Dune (possibly changing to The Golden Path of Dune). However, in a July 15, 2010 blog post, Anderson announced that these novels had been postponed due to plans by Herbert and Anderson to publish a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
about "the formation of the Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
, the Mentat
Mentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
s, the Suk Doctors, the Spacing Guild
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
and the Navigator
Guild Navigator
A Guild Navigator is a fictional humanoid in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Humans mutated through the consumption of and exposure to massive amounts of the spice melange, they are able to use a limited form of prescience to safely navigate interstellar space in a starship called a...
s, as well as the solidifying of the Corrino
House Corrino
Imperial House Corrino is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Corrinos come to power after mankind's victory against the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin , and rule until deposed by Paul Atreides approximately 10,000 years later during the events...
imperium." The first novel in that series, titled The Sisterhood of Dune, is expected to be published in early 2012.
Short stories
In 1985, Frank Herbert wrote an illustrated short work called "The Road to Dune", set sometime between the events of Dune and Dune Messiah. Published in Herbert's short story collectionShort story collection
A short story collection is a book of short stories by a single author, as distinguished by an anthology of fiction by more than one author. The stories in a collection can share a theme, setting, or characters and sometimes can also include work of poetry. Notable collections include Nine Stories...
Eye
Eye (Frank Herbert)
Eye is a collection of thirteen short stories written by science fiction author Frank Herbert. All of the works had been previously published in magazine or book form, except for "The Road to Dune."-Introduction:...
, it takes the form of a guidebook for pilgrims to Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
and features images (with descriptions) of some of the devices and characters presented in the novels.
Brian Herbert and Anderson have written several Dune short stories
Dune short stories
A series of Dune short stories have been written that relate to the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Some of these stories were originally available for download from the official Dune website, released in a promotional capacity in conjunction with the Brian...
, most of them related to and published around their novels. The stories include "Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas" (2001), "Dune: Hunting Harkonnens" (2002), "Dune: Whipping Mek" (2003), "Dune: The Faces of a Martyr" (2004), "Dune: Sea Child" (2006), and "Dune: Treasure in the Sand" (2006).
Film and television adaptations
In 1984, Universal PicturesUniversal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
released Dune
Dune (film)
Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and includes an ensemble of well-known American and European actors in supporting roles. It was filmed at the Churubusco...
, director David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
's feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
adaptation of the novel.
The Sci-Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
premiered a three-part miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
adaptation called Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune
Frank Herbert's Dune is a 2001 3D video game based on the 2000 Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the same name. The game was not a commercial or critical success, and was the last product by Cryo Interactive, which went bankrupt shortly after the game's failure.As Paul, the son of the Duke Atreides's...
on December 3, 2000. Its March 16, 2003 sequel, Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, combined both Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. As of 2004, both miniseries were two of the three highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel.
In 2008, Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
announced that they had a new feature film adaptation of Dune in development with Peter Berg
Peter Berg
Peter Berg is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is known for directing films such as Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom, The Rundown, Hancock and Battleship. He also developed the television series Friday Night Lights, which was adapted from the film he directed. As an actor...
set to direct; Berg dropped out of the project in October 2009, and director Pierre Morel
Pierre Morel
-Movie career:After spending his formative years in cinema school, Pierre Morel debuted in 2000 as camera operator with the first Richard Berry's film L'Art de la séduction....
was signed in January 2010. Paramount finally dropped the project in March 2011.
G. P. Putnam's Sons
G. P. Putnam's Sons was a major United States book publisher based in New York City, New York. Since 1996, it has been an imprint of the Penguin Group.-History:...
released The Dune Encyclopedia under its Berkley Books
Berkley Books
Berkley Books is an imprint of Penguin Group that began as an independent company in 1955. It was established by Charles Byrne and Frederic Klein, who were working for Avon and formed "Chic News Company". They renamed it Berkley Publishing Co. in 1955. They soon found a niche in science fiction...
imprint. Approved by Herbert but not written by him, this collection of essays by 43 contributors describes in invented detail many aspects of the Dune universe not found in the novels themselves. Herbert rendered the work technically non-canon
Canon (fiction)
In the context of a work of fiction, the term canon denotes the material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction, which are not considered canonical...
in its own foreword, and Herbert's estate later reasserted this status after Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson had begun publishing prequel novels which directly contradict The Dune Encyclopedia.
On December 1, 1984, Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and Berkley published Dune: The Official Comic Book (ISBN 0-425-07623-7), a comic adaptation of David Lynch's film Dune. Marvel Comics Super Special
Marvel Comics Super Special
Marvel Comics Super Special was a 41-issue series of one-shot comic-magazines published by Marvel Comics from 1977 to 1986. They were cover-priced $1.50 to $2.50, while regular color comics were priced 30 cents to 60 cents, Beginning with issue #5, the series' title in the its postal indicia was...
#36: Dune would later be released on April 1, 1985, as well as a three-issue limited comic series from Marvel entitled Dune from April to June 1985. The film also spawned The Dune Storybook (September 1984, ISBN 0-399-12949-9), a novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
written by Joan D. Vinge
Joan D. Vinge
Joan D. Vinge is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award-winning novel The Snow Queen and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and her Heaven's Chronicles books.-Biography:...
, and The Making of Dune (December 1984, ISBN 0-425-07376-9), a making-of
Making-of
In cinema, a making-of, also known as behind-the-scenes, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program...
book by Ed Naha
Ed Naha
Ed Naha is an American science fiction and mystery writer and producer. He was born June 10, 1950 in the town of Linden, New Jersey. His first known publication was artwork that appeared in the first issue of Modern Monsters magazine, dated June 1966....
. In November 1984, Pocket Books
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.- History :Pocket produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in America in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing industry...
published National Lampoon's Doon by Ellis Weiner
Ellis Weiner
Ellis Weiner is an author and humorist who has previously worked as an editor of National Lampoon and a columnist for Spy Magazine. His humor has also appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review, and the New York Times Magazine....
(ISBN 0-671-54144-7), a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
novel.
In May 1992, Ace Books
Ace Books
Ace Books is the oldest active specialty publisher of science fiction and fantasy books. The company was founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn, and began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns...
published Songs of Muad'dib (ISBN 0-441-77427-X), a collection of Dune-related poems written by Frank Herbert and edited by his son Brian. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson released The Road to Dune
The Road to Dune
The Road to Dune is a science fiction companion book to the Dune novels by Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The book was released in September 2005.-Contents:...
on August 11, 2005. The book contains a novelette called Spice Planet (an alternative version of Dune based on an outline by Frank Herbert), a number of the Brian Herbert/Anderson short stories, and letters and unused chapters written by Frank Herbert.
Games
The board gameBoard game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
Dune
Dune (board game)
Dune is a strategy board game set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, published by Avalon Hill in 1979. The game was designed by Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka.- History :...
was released by Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. Its logo contained its initials "AH", and it was often referred to by this abbreviation. It also published the occasional miniature wargaming rules, role-playing game, and had a popular line of sports simulations...
in 1979, followed by a Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers is a toy and game manufacturer and brand. Since 1883, the company has published more than 1,800 games; among their best known products are Monopoly, Cluedo , Sorry, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, and Probe...
game Dune in 1984. A 1997 card game
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
called Dune
Dune (card game)
Dune is a collectible card game produced by Last Unicorn Games and Five Rings Publishing Group, and later Wizards of the Coast. Set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, the game pits two or more players against each other, each in control of a minor house vying for entry in the...
was followed by the role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium in 2000. To date, there have been five Dune computer and video games released: Dune
Dune (video game)
Dune is a 1992 video game, based upon Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name. Developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Virgin Interactive, is the first of the Dune computer games. Dune blended adventure with economic and military strategy, and is considered by many the most...
(1992), Dune II
Dune II
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a Dune computer game released in 1992 by Westwood Studios...
(1992), Dune 2000
Dune 2000
Dune 2000 is a real-time strategy video game, released by Westwood Studios in 1998 for Microsoft Windows, and later ported to the PlayStation. It is a partial remake of Dune II, which is also based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in...
(1998), Frank Herbert's Dune (2001), and Emperor: Battle for Dune
Emperor: Battle for Dune
Emperor: Battle for Dune is a Dune video game, released by Westwood Studios on June 12, 2001. It is based in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe....
(2001).
Music
Soundtrack albums have been released for the 1984 film, the 2000 TV miniseries, and the 2003 Children of Dune miniseries, as well as the 1992 video game, the 2001 computer game Emperor: Battle for Dune, and select tracks from the entire series of Dune video games.Plot arc
The Dune universe, set in the distant future of humanity, has a history that stretches tens of thousands of years (some 15,000 years in total) and covers considerable changes in political, social, and religious structure as well as technology. Creative works set in the Dune universe can be said to fall into five general time periods:- The Butlerian Jihad: Legends of DuneLegends of DuneLegends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
prequelPrequelA prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
trilogyTrilogyA trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
(2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson - The Corrino-led Imperium: Prelude to DunePrelude to DunePrelude to Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe....
prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Brian Herbert and Anderson - The ascension of the Atreides: DuneDune (novel)Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
(1965), Dune MessiahDune MessiahDune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
(1969), and Children of DuneChildren of DuneChildren of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
(1976) by Frank Herbert; Heroes of Dune interquel series (2008–present) by Brian Herbert and Anderson - The reign and fall of the God Emperor: God Emperor of DuneGod Emperor of DuneGod Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981) by Frank Herbert - The return from the Scattering: Heretics of DuneHeretics of DuneHeretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) by Frank Herbert; Hunters of DuneHunters of DuneHunters of Dune is the first of two books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels....
(2006) and Sandworms of DuneSandworms of DuneSandworms of Dune is the second of two novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels. They have stated that it is based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert for Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the Dune series...
(2007) by Brian Herbert and Anderson
The Butlerian Jihad
As explained in Dune, the Butlerian JihadButlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
is a conflict taking place over 11,000 years in the future (and over 10,000 years before the events of Dune) which results in the total destruction of virtually all forms of "computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, thinking machines
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
, and conscious robots
Cognitive robotics
a robot is a robot device that is built from inanimate matter. Its behavior in response to the environment is deterministic, based on how the robot was designed. Cognition is the process of acquiring and using knowledge about the world for goal-oriented purposes, such as survival...
." With the prohibition "Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind," the creation of even the simplest thinking machines is outlawed and made taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
, which has a profound influence on the socio-political
Social engineering (political science)
Social engineering is a discipline in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behaviors on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups. In the political arena, the counterpart of social engineering is political engineering.For various reasons,...
and technological
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
development of humanity in the Dune series. Herbert refers to the Jihad several times in the novels, but does not give much detail on how he imagined the causes and nature of the conflict. In Herbert's God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981), Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
indicates that the Jihad had been a semi-religious social upheaval initiated by humans who felt repulsed by how guided and controlled they had become by machines: "The target of the Jihad was a machine-attitude as much as the machines," Leto said. "Humans had set those machines to usurp our sense of beauty, our necessary selfdom out of which we make living judgments. Naturally, the machines were destroyed." This technological reversal leads to the creation of the universal Orange Catholic Bible
Orange Catholic Bible
The Orange Catholic Bible is a fictional book from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
and the rise of a new feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
galactic empire which lasts for over 10,000 years before Herbert's series begins. Several secret societies
Secret society
A secret society is a club or organization whose activities and inner functioning are concealed from non-members. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla insurgencies, which hide their...
also develop, using eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
programs, intensive mental and physical training, and pharmaceutical enhancements to hone human skills to an astonishing degree. Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination, or AI, is the process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse or natural insemination...
is also prohibited, as explained in Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
(1969) when Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
negotiates with the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam
Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and initially appears in the 1965 novel Dune and its 1969 sequel, Dune Messiah. Mohiam also has a major role in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert...
, who is appalled by Paul's suggestion that he impregnate his consort in this manner.
The Dune Encyclopedia (1984) by Willis E. McNelly
Willis E. McNelly
Willis Everett McNelly was a professor and writer best known for The Dune Encyclopedia, the 1984 companion to Frank Herbert's classic Dune series of science fiction novels....
(and approved by Frank Herbert) presents an extended chronicle of the Butlerian Jihad. According to McNelly, he and Herbert had planned to expand this version into a prequel novel to Dune; Herbert's death in 1986 left this project abandoned, and Herbert's own vision of the actual events of the Butlerian Jihad unexplored and open to speculation. The Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002–2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson presents the Jihad as a war between humans and the sentient machines
Strong AI
Strong AI is artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence — the intelligence of a machine that can successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of artificial intelligence research and an important topic for science fiction writers and...
they had created, who rise up and nearly destroy mankind. The series explains that mankind had become entirely complacent and dependent upon thinking machines; recognizing this weakness, a group of ambitious, militant humans calling themselves the Titans
Titan (Dune)
The Titans are a group of fictional characters in the Legends of Dune series of novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
use this widespread reliance on machine intelligence to seize control of the entire universe. Their reign lasts for a century; eventually they give too much access and power to the AI
Strong AI
Strong AI is artificial intelligence that matches or exceeds human intelligence — the intelligence of a machine that can successfully perform any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of artificial intelligence research and an important topic for science fiction writers and...
program Omnius, which usurps control from the Titans themselves. Seeing no value in human life, the thinking machines — now including armies of robot soldiers and other aggressive machines — dominate and enslave nearly all of humanity in the universe for 900 years, until a jihad is ignited. This crusade against the machines lasts for nearly a century, with much loss of human life but ultimately ending in human victory.
The Corrino-led Imperium
Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor is the title given to the hereditary rulers of the Old Empire in the science fiction Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Original series:...
s of House Corrino
House Corrino
Imperial House Corrino is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Corrinos come to power after mankind's victory against the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin , and rule until deposed by Paul Atreides approximately 10,000 years later during the events...
, who rule the known universe for millennia by controlling the brutally efficient military force known as the Imperial Sardaukar
Sardaukar
The Sardaukar are a fictional fanatical army from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily featured in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
. Ten thousand years later, one balance to Imperial power is the assembly of noble houses called the Landsraad
Landsraad
The Landsraad is a fictional organization in Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is the assembly of all noble Houses in the Imperium.-Overview:...
, which enforces the Great Convention's ban on the use of atomics against human targets. Though the power of the Corrinos is unrivaled by any individual House, they are in constant competition with each other for political power and stakes in the omnipresent CHOAM
CHOAM
The Combine Honnete Ober Advancer Mercantiles is a fictional universal development corporation in Frank Herbert's Dune universe, first mentioned in the 1965 novel Dune...
company, a directorship which controls the wealth of the entire Old Empire
Old Empire (Dune)
The Old Empire is a fictional galactic empire in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The term has been applied to two distinct eras in the fictional history of the Dune series.-The Padishah Empire:...
. The third primary power in the universe is the Spacing Guild
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
, which monopolizes interstellar travel
Interstellar travel
Interstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
and banking. Mutated Guild Navigator
Guild Navigator
A Guild Navigator is a fictional humanoid in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Humans mutated through the consumption of and exposure to massive amounts of the spice melange, they are able to use a limited form of prescience to safely navigate interstellar space in a starship called a...
s use the spice drug melange to successfully navigate "folded space
Holtzman effect
The Holtzman effect is a fictional scientific phenomenon in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, beginning with the 1965 novel Dune...
" and safely guide enormous heighliner starship
Starship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
s from planet to planet instantaneously.
Matriarchy
A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called a gynocratic or gynocentric society....
Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
possess almost superhuman physical, sensory, and deductive powers developed through years of physical and mental conditioning. While positioning themselves to "serve" mankind, the Bene Gesserit pursue their goal to better the human race by subtly and secretly guiding and manipulating the affairs of others to serve their own purposes. The Bene Gesserit also have a secret, millennia-long selective breeding program to bolster and preserve valuable skills and bloodlines as well as to produce a theoretical superhuman male they call the Kwisatz Haderach
Kwisatz Haderach
In Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe, Kwisatz Haderach is a term which refers to a prophesied messiah and superbeing. In the series, the Bene Gesserit, a matriarchal secret society, hope to create a male who can survive the deadly ritual spice agony that changes a capable female acolyte into...
. By the time of Dune, the Sisterhood are only one generation away from their desired individual, having manipulated the threads of genes and power for thousands of years to produce the required confluence of events. But Lady Jessica, ordered by the Bene Gesserit to produce a daughter who would breed with the appropriate male to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, instead bears a son unintentionally producing the Kwisatz Haderach a generation early.
"Human computers" known as Mentat
Mentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
s have been developed and perfected to replace the capacity for logical analysis lost through the prohibition of computers. Through specific training, they learn to enter a heightened mental state in which they can perform complex logical computations that are superior to those of the ancient thinking machines. The patriarchal
Patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination...
Bene Tleilax
Bene Tleilax
The Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Genetic manipulators who traffic in biological products such as artificial eyes, gholas, and "twisted" Mentats, the Tleilaxu are a major power in the Imperium...
, or Tleilaxu, are amoral merchants who traffic in biological and genetically engineered
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
products such as artificial eyes, "twisted" Mentats, and gholas. Finally, the Ixians
Ix (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
produce cutting-edge
State of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
technology that seemingly complies with (but pushes the boundaries of) the prohibitions against thinking machines. The Ixians are very secretive, not only to protect their valuable hold on the industry but also to hide any methods or inventions that may breach the anti-thinking machine protocols.
Against this backdrop, the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) chronicles the return from obscurity of House Atreides
House Atreides
House Atreides is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line...
, whose role in the Butlerian Jihad is all but forgotten. The Imperial House schemes to gain full control of the Empire through the control of melange, precisely at the time that the Bene Gesserit breeding program is nearing fruition.
The ascension of the Atreides
As Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) begins, Duke Leto AtreidesLeto Atreides I
Duke Leto Atreides I is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He features in the novel Dune by Frank Herbert and in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson....
finds himself in a dangerous position; the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV
Shaddam Corrino IV
Shaddam Corrino IV is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is Padishah Emperor of the known universe in Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Shaddam's accession to the throne is chronicled in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.Born...
has put him in control of the desert planet
Desert planet
A desert planet is a single-biome planet on which the climate is mostly desert, with little or no natural precipitation. Desert planets are known to exist; Mars is often considered a prime example. Indeed, many terrestrial planets would be considered desert planets by this definition...
Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
, known as Dune, which is the only natural source of the all-important spice melange. The most valuable commodity in the known universe, the spice not only makes safe and reliable interstellar travel possible, but also prolongs life, protects against disease, and is used by the Bene Gesserit to enhance their abilities. The potential financial gains for House Atreides are mitigated by the fact that mining melange from the desert surface of Arrakis is an expensive and hazardous undertaking, thanks to the treacherous environment and constant threat of giant sandworms
Sandworm (Dune)
The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series.In the series, the sandworms called Shai-Hulud...
which protect the spice. In addition, Leto is aware that Shaddam, threatened by the rising power and influence of the Atreides, has sent him into a trap; failure to meet or exceed the production volume of their predecessors, the vicious House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
, will negatively affect the position of House Atreides in CHOAM, which relies on spice profits. Further, the very presence of the Atreides on Arrakis inflames the long-simmering War of Assassins between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, a feud ignited 10,000 years before when an Atreides had a Harkonnen banished for cowardice after the Butlerian Jihad.
The little-understood native population of Arrakis are the Fremen
Fremen
The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis and are based on the desert-dwelling Bedouin and Kalahari Bushmen. In Herbert's novels, Arrakis is the sole known source...
, long overlooked by the Imperium. Considered backward savages, the Fremen are an extremely hardy people and exist in large numbers, their culture built around the commodity of water, which is extremely scarce on Arrakis. The Fremen await the coming of a prophesied messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, not suspecting that this prophecy had been planted in their legends by the Missionaria Protectiva, an arm of the Bene Gesserit dedicated to religious manipulation to ease the path of the Sisterhood when necessary. In Dune, the so-called "Arrakis Affair" puts unexpected Kwisatz Haderach Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
in control of first the Fremen people and then Arrakis itself; he deposes Shaddam and becomes ruler of the known universe. With a bloody jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
subsequently unleashed across the universe in Paul's name but out of his control, the Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxu, Spacing Guild, and House Corrino plot to dethrone him in Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah
Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
(1969). The Atreides Empire continues to devolve in Children of Dune
Children of Dune
Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
(1976) as the religion built around Paul falters and his heirs rise to power.
The Heroes of Dune interquel series (2008–present) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson follows events involving the Atreides before, between, and after Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune.
The reign and fall of the God Emperor
God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981), Paul's son, the God Emperor Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
, has ruled the Empire for 3,500 years from the verdant face of a transformed Arrakis; melange production has ceased. Leto has forced the sandworms into extinction, except for the larval sandtrout with which he had forged a symbiosis
Symbiosis
Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...
, transforming him into a human-sandworm hybrid. Human civilization before his rule had suffered from twin weaknesses: that it could be controlled by a single authority, and that it was totally dependent upon melange, found on only one planet in the known universe. Leto's prescient visions had shown that mankind would be threatened by extinction in any number of ways; his solution was to place mankind on his "Golden Path," a plan for humanity's survival. Leto governs as a benevolent tyrant, providing for his people's physical needs, but denying them any spiritual outlets other than his own compulsory religion (as well as maintaining a monopoly on spice and thus total control of its use). Personal violence of any kind is banned, as is nearly all space travel, creating a pent-up demand for freedom and travel. The Bene Gesserit, Ixians, and Tleilaxu find themselves seeking ways to regain some of their former power or unseat Leto altogether. Leto also conducts his own selective breeding program among the descendants of his twin sister Ghanima, finally arriving at Siona, daughter of Moneo, whose actions are hidden from prescient vision. Leto engineers his own assassination, knowing it will result in rebellion and revolt but also in an explosion in travel and colonization. The death of Leto's body also produces new sandtrout, which will eventually give rise to a population of sandworms and a new cycle of spice production.
The return from the Scattering
In the aftermath of the fall of the God Emperor, chaos and severe famine on many worlds cause trillions of humans to set off into the freedom of unknown space and spread out across the universe. This diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
is later called the Scattering and, combined with the invisibility of Atreides descendants to prescient vision, assures that mankind has forever escaped the threat of total extinction. At the time of Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) — 1500 years after Leto's death — the turmoil is settling into a new pattern; the balance of power in the Empire rests among the Ixians, the Bene Gesserit, and the Tleilaxu. The Spacing Guild has been forever weakened by the development of Ixian machines capable of navigation in foldspace, practically replacing Guild Navigators. The Bene Gesserit control the sandworms and their planet, now called Rakis, but the Tleilaxu have also discovered how to synthetically produce melange. This balance of power is shattered by a large influx of people from the Scattering, some fleeing persecution by an as-yet unknown enemy. Among the returning people, the Bene Gesserit finds its match in a violent and corrupt matriarchal society known as the Honored Matres
Honored Matres
The Honored Matres are a fictional matriarchal organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They are described as an aggressive cult obsessed with power, violence and sexual domination...
, whom they suspect may be descended from some of their own sent out in the Scattering. As a bitter and bloody war erupts between the orders, it ultimately becomes clear that joining the two organizations into a single New Sisterhood with shared abilities is their best chance to fight the approaching enemy.
See also
- List of Family Houses in Dune
- List of Dune characters
- List of Dune Bene Gesserit
- List of Dune Fremen
- List of Dune planets
- List of Dune terminology
- List of Dune religions
- Technology of the Dune universeTechnology of the Dune universeThe technology of the Dune universe is a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. Herbert's concepts and inventions have been analyzed and deconstructed in at least one book, The Science of Dune...