Dune universe

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1st edition cover of Dune (1965)

The Dune universe, or Duniverse,[1] is the political, scientific, and social fictional setting of author Frank Herbert's six-book series of science fiction novels which began with 1965's Dune. Dune itself is considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time,[2] was the first bestselling hardcover science fiction novel,[3] and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.[3][4] Dune won the 1966 Hugo Award and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel,[5] and was later adapted into a film in 1984 and a televised miniseries in 2000. In 2003, the novel's first two sequels appeared as a miniseries as well. The Dune universe has also inspired a series of Dune video games, including Dune II, one of the first modern real-time strategy games.

Herbert himself died in 1986. Beginning in 1999, his son Brian Herbert and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson produced a number of prequel novels, as well as two — Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007) — which complete the original Dune series. These, like the prequels before them, are partially based on Frank Herbert's notes, discovered a decade after his death.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Contents

[edit] Brief synopsis

The fictional Dune universe, set in the distant future of humanity, has a history that stretches tens of thousands of years (some 16,000 years in total) that 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:

A comprehensive Dune timeline is available on the official Dune website.

[edit] The Butlerian Jihad

Main article: Butlerian Jihad

The Butlerian Jihad is a conflict taking place 10,000 years before the events in Dune that results in the total destruction of virtually all forms of "computers, thinking machines, and conscious robots."[12] The aftermath leads to a near-universal taboo on the creation of even the simplest thinking machines — Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind — which has a profound influence on the socio-political and technological development of humanity.[12] The causes and exact nature of this conflict are left vague in Frank Herbert's books, but in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy (2002-2004) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, the Jihad is presented as a battle between humans and the sentient machines they had created, who rise up and nearly destroy mankind.[13]

[edit] The Corrino-led Imperium

In the ten thousand years following the Butlerian Jihad, a feudal empire spanning millions of inhabited star systems develops, with power shared among the Padishah Emperor, the noble houses of the Landsraad, and the Spacing Guild, which possesses a monopoly over interstellar travel.[14] As a result of the Butlerian Jihad's ban on thinking machines, several secret societies have developed, using eugenics programs, intensive mental and physical training, and pharmaceutical enhancements to hone human skills to an astonishing degree.[15]

Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV greets a Spacing Guild Navigator in David Lynch's Dune (1984)

The Emperors of House Corrino rule the Known Universe for millennia, controlling the brutally efficient military force known as the Imperial Sardaukar. Although none of the other Houses Major or Minor individually approaches the power of House Corrino, and the great houses are in constant competition for fiefdoms, political power, and Imperial favor, they are collectively represented in an assembly known as the Landsraad, which can balance the power of the Emperor and enforce the Great Convention's ban on the use of atomics against human targets. The Great Houses and the Emperor also grapple for financial power in the omnipresent CHOAM Company, a directorship in which brings vast economic gains. The mutated Navigators of the Spacing Guild use the spice drug melange to gain limited prescient abilities, which enable them to successfully navigate "folded space" and thus safely guide enormous heighliner starships from planet to planet instantaneously.[15] As Guild navigational methods are kept strictly secret, the Guild has a complete monopoly on interstellar transport and banking, which it regularly employs to its advantage in its dealings.[14]

Reverend Mother Mohiam and other Bene Gesserit, from David Lynch's Dune (1984)

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, the Bene Gesserit ordered to produce a daughter who would breed with the appropriate male to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, instead bears a son — producing the Kwisatz Haderach a generation early.[15]

"Human computers" known as Mentats are developed 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. The patriarchal Tleilaxu, or Bene Tleilax, hide an ancient totalitarian theocracy and selective breeding program of their own behind the guise of amoral merchants trafficking in biological and genetically engineered products such as artificial eyes, "twisted" mentats, and gholas, clones made from the cells of deceased individuals and possessing their memories in a dormant form which can be awakened by appropriate stimuli. 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.[15]

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.[16]

[edit] The ascension of the Atreides

During the events of 1965's Dune, conflicts between the major powers eventuate a violent eruption in the long-simmering battle between House Atreides and House Harkonnen centering on control of the planet Arrakis, known as Dune. A desert planet almost devoid of water and unsuited for human colonization, Arrakis is the only natural source of the all-important spice melange, which 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 most valuable commodity in the known universe, melange can only be mined from the dangerous desert surface of Arrakis, a dangerous undertaking thanks to the treacherous environment and constant threat of the giant sandworms that produce the spice. 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 water. 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 the 81st Padishah Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV and becomes ruler of the Known Universe.[15] With a bloody jihad subsequently unleashed across the universe in Paul's name but out of his control, the Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxu and House Corrino plot to dethrone him in Dune Messiah (1969).[17] The Atreides Empire continues to devolve in Children of Dune (1976) as the religion built around Paul falters and his heirs rise to power.[18]

[edit] The reign and fall of the God Emperor

Leto II as God Emperor, from the cover of God Emperor of Dune (1981)

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. The sandworms are gone, except for the sandtrout (a larval stage) with whom Leto forged a symbiosis, transforming him into something like 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 a total control of its use). Personal violence of any kind is banned, as is nearly all space travel. This creates a pent-up demand for freedom and travel. Leto also conducts his own selective breeding program among the descendants of House Atreides (the descendants of his twin sister, Ghanima), finally arriving at Siona, daughter of Moneo, whose actions are hidden from prescient vision.[19]

After Leto's assassination (which he himself engineers), there is rebellion and revolt, but also an explosion in travel and colonization known as the Scattering. This diaspora, combined with the invisibility of House Atreides and its descendants to prescient vision, ensures that humanity will never again be threatened with total extinction.[20] The death of Leto's body also produces new sandtrout, which will eventually lead to a new cycle of spice production.

[edit] The return from the Scattering

At the time of Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985), the turmoil caused by the fall of the God Emperor and the scattering of trillions of humans into the freedom of unknown space is settling into a new pattern. Now 1500 years after Leto's death, the balance of power in the Old Empire rests between the Ixians, the Tleilaxu, and the Bene Gesserit. The Spacing Guild has been forever weakened by the development of machines capable of navigation in foldspace, practically replacing Guild Navigators. The Tleilaxu have also discovered how to synthetically produce melange, which means that no one can hold a monopoly just by controlling the sandworms and their planet. However, this balance of power is shattered by a large influx of people from the Scattering, fleeing persecution by an as-yet unknown enemy. Among the returning people, the Bene Gesserit finds its match in a violent matriarchal society known as the Honored Matres, which is probably originally a branch of the Bene Gesserit from the Scattering that has become violent and corrupt in the intervening span of time. It soon becomes clear that joining the two organizations into a single New Sisterhood with shared abilities is their best chance to fight the approaching enemy.[20][21]

[edit] Artistic works

See also: Category:Dune universe media

[edit] The original series

Frank Herbert wrote six novels in the Dune series before his death in 1986.

[edit] Prelude to Dune

The prequel trilogy Prelude to Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is set in the years leading up to the events in 1965's Dune.

[edit] Legends of Dune

Brian Herbert and Anderson followed with a second prequel trilogy called the Legends of Dune. This series is set at an earlier time in the history of the Dune universe, when humans and sentient machines waged war with one another.

[edit] Completion of the original series (A.K.A. Dune 7)

Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune complete the chronological progression of the series and wrap up storylines that began with Frank Herbert's Heretics of Dune. The two novels are based on a two-and-a-half page outline written by Frank Herbert[22] prior to his death, the working title of which was Dune 7.

[edit] Heroes of Dune

In the foreword to Hunters of Dune (2006), Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson wrote that they plan to continue writing Dune novels after completing the Dune 7 project: "The saga of Dune is far from over!" They announced on the official Dune website in 2007 that they would release an interquel series of novels called Heroes of Dune after Sandworms of Dune[23] (the series had originally been announced as Paul of Dune in 2006).[24][25] Heroes of Dune will focus on the time periods between Frank Herbert's original novels;[24][26][27][28] the first book, Paul of Dune, was released on September 16, 2008.[29]

Working titles for the novels are:

[edit] Short stories and other works

Frank Herbert wrote an illustrated short work set sometime between the events of Dune and Dune Messiah.

Brian Herbert and Anderson have written several Dune short stories, most of them accompanying their Dune novels.

Brian Herbert and Anderson have also released a book entitled The Road to Dune (2005), containing 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.

[edit] Other artistic works based in the Dune universe

[edit] Music

[edit] Chronology

Chronology of Dune Written Works[33]
Short Stories Novels
"Dune: Hunting Harkonnens"
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
"Dune: Whipping Mek"
Dune: The Machine Crusade
"Dune: The Faces of a Martyr"
Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Corrino
Paul of Dune (Parts II, IV & VI)
"Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas" Dune
Paul of Dune (Parts I, III, V & VI)
"The Road to Dune"
Dune Messiah
Children of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
"Dune: Sea Child" Chapterhouse: Dune
Hunters of Dune
"Dune: Treasure in the Sand"
Sandworms of Dune

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Evans, Clay (March 14, 2008). "Review: Exploring Frank Herbert's Duniverse". DailyCamera.com. http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/mar/14/exploring-duniverse-of-frank-herbert/. Retrieved on 2008-10-10. 
  2. ^ Frans Johansson (2004). The Medici effect: breakthrough insights at the intersection of ideas, concepts, and cultures. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press. pp. 78. ISBN 1-59139-186-5. 
  3. ^ a b Touponce, William F. (1988), Frank Herbert, Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers imprint, G. K. Hall & Co, pg. 119, ISBN 0-8057-7514-5. Locus ran a poll of readers on April 15, 1975 in which Dune "was voted the all-time best science-fiction novel...It has sold over ten million copies in numerous editions."
  4. ^ ""SCI FI Channel Auction to Benefit Reading Is Fundamental"". http://pnnonline.org/article.php?sid=4302. Retrieved on 2006-07-13. ""Since its debut in 1965, Frank Herbert’s Dune has sold over 12 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling science fiction novel of all time ... Frank Herbert's Dune saga is one of the greatest 20th Century contributions to literature."" 
  5. ^ The Hugo Award: 1966 - WorldCon.org
  6. ^ "Dune 7 blog: Conspiracy Theories." DuneNovels.com (December 16, 2005). Retrieved on November 12, 2008. "Frank Herbert wrote a detailed outline for Dune 7 and he left extensive Dune 7 notes, as well as stored boxes of his descriptions, epigraphs, chapters, character backgrounds, historical notes — over a thousand pages worth."
  7. ^ "Before Dune, After Frank Herbert." Amazon.com. Retrieved on November 12, 2008. "Brian was cleaning out his garage to make an office space and he found all these boxes that had "Dune Notes" on the side. And we used a lot of them for our House books."
  8. ^ "Interview with Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson." Arrakis.ru (2004). Retrieved on November 12, 2008. "We had already started work on House Atreides ... After we already had our general outline written and the proposal sent to publishers, then we found the outlines and notes. (This necessitated some changes, of course.)"
  9. ^ Ascher, Ian (2004). "Kevin J. Anderson Interview." DigitalWebbing.com. Retrieved on July 3, 2007 from the Internet Archive. "... we are ready to tackle the next major challenge — writing the grand climax of the saga that Frank Herbert left in his original notes sealed in a safe deposit box ... after we'd already decided what we wanted to write ... They opened up the safe deposit box and found inside the full and complete outline for Dune 7 ... Later, when Brian was cleaning out his garage, in the back he found ... over three thousand pages of Frank Herbert's other notes, background material, and character sketches."
  10. ^ Adams, John Joseph (August 9, 2006). "New Dune Books Resume Story." SciFi.com. Retrieved on November 12, 2008. "Anderson said that Frank Herbert's notes included a description of the story and a great deal of character background information. 'But having a roadmap of the U.S. and actually driving across the country are two different things,' he said. 'Brian and I had a lot to work with and a lot to expand...'"
  11. ^ Snider, John C. (August 2007). "Audiobook Review: Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson." SciFiDimensions.com. Retrieved on February 15, 2009.
  12. ^ a b Herbert, Frank (1965). "Terminology of the Imperium: JIHAD, BUTLERIAN". Dune. 
  13. ^ Herbert, Brian; Kevin J. Anderson (2002-2004). Legends of Dune. 
  14. ^ a b Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. "We've a three-point civilization: the Imperial Household balanced against the Federated Great Houses of the Landsraad, and between them, the Guild with its damnable monopoly on interstellar transport." 
  15. ^ a b c d e Herbert, Frank (1965). Dune. 
  16. ^ Herbert, Brian; Kevin J. Anderson (1999-2001). Prelude to Dune. 
  17. ^ Herbert, Frank (1969). Dune Messiah. 
  18. ^ Herbert, Frank (1976). Children of Dune. 
  19. ^ Herbert, Frank (1981). God Emperor of Dune. 
  20. ^ a b Herbert, Frank (1984). Heretics of Dune. 
  21. ^ Herbert, Frank (1985). Chapterhouse Dune. 
  22. ^ The outline's size was stated in an interview with Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson presented at the end of the Hunters of Dune audiobook. See Hunters of Dune audiobook review - SciFiDimensions.com
  23. ^ a b c Kevin J. Anderson, Sandworms of Dune blog, March 23, 2007.
  24. ^ a b Kevin J. Anderson, interview in Russian magazine Mir Fantastiki, 2004 (published Russian version)
  25. ^ Anderson, Kevin J. (August 5, 2006). "Dune 7 blog". DuneNovels.com. http://www.dunenovels.com/dune7blog/page95.html. Retrieved on March 4, 2009. 
  26. ^ a b c Anderson, Kevin J. (April 14, 2008). "Dune blog". DuneNovels.com. http://www.dunenovels.com/blog/page033.html. Retrieved on November 16, 2008. 
  27. ^ Kevin J. Anderson Interview ~ DigitalWebbing.com (2004) Internet Archive, July 3, 2007.
  28. ^ Adams, John Joseph. "New Dune Books Resume Story" - SciFi.com August 9, 2006.
  29. ^ Kevin J. Anderson, Dune blog: Paul of Dune, Retrieved April 19, 2008.
  30. ^ a b Anderson, Kevin J. (February 28, 2009). "Dune blog". DuneNovels.com. http://www.dunenovels.com/blog/page087.html. Retrieved on March 4, 2009. 
  31. ^ Songs of Muad'dib - FantasticFiction.co.uk Retrieved 11 August 2008.
  32. ^ "The Dune Novels Chronology". DuneNovels.com (Official site). http://www.dunenovels.com/chronology.html. Retrieved on January 21, 2009. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The extended Dune series of fictional works
Prelude to Dune
Legends of Dune
Dune sequels
Heroes of Dune
Paul of Dune  • The Winds of Dune  • The Throne of Dune  • Leto of Dune
Other
Film adaptations
Games
Board game  • Card game  • Video games  • Dune: Spice Opera (game soundtrack)  • Other games
Companion books
v • d • e
Dune universe
Great Houses
House Atreides  •  House Corrino  •  House Harkonnen  •  House Ordos (non-canon)  •  House Richese  •  House Vernius
Organizations
Bene Gesserit  •  Bene Tleilax  •  Face Dancers  •  Fish Speakers  •  Fremen  •  Honored Matres  •  Landsraad  •  Mentats  •  Padishah Emperors  •  Sardaukar  •  Spacing Guild  •  Suk School  •  Swordmasters of the Ginaz  •  Thinking machines  •  Titans
Characters
Original series: Alia  •  Chani  •  Daniel and Marty  •  De Vries  •  Duncan  •  Farad'n  •  Fenring  •  Feyd  •  Ghanima  •  Gurney  •  Baron Harkonnen  •  Hawat  •  Irulan  •  Jessica  •  Korba  •  Leto I  •  Leto II  •  Liet-Kynes  •  Lucilla  •  Margot  •  Miles  •  Mohiam  •  Murbella  •  Odrade  •  Paul  •  Rabban  •  Ramallo  •  Scytale  •  Shaddam  •  Sheeana  •  Stilgar  •  Waff  •  Wensicia  •  Yueh  •  Other Bene Gesserit  •  Other Fremen
Prequels/Sequels: Abulurd  •  Anirul  •  Erasmus  •  Ginjo  •  Norma  •  Omnius  •  Pardot  •  Serena  •  Seurat  •  Vorian  •  Xavier
Key planets
Arrakis  •  Caladan  •  Giedi Prime  •  Ix  •  Kaitain  •  Salusa Secundus  •  Wallach IX
Elements/Concepts
Abomination  •  Butlerian Jihad  •  CHOAM  •  Golden Path  •  Kwisatz Haderach  •  Languages  •  Melange  •  Old Empire  •  Sandworms  •  Spice agony  •  War of Assassins  •  Water of Life  •  Dune in popular culture
Technology and weapons
Atomics  •  Axlotl tank  •  Crysknife  •  Ghola  •  Gom jabbar  •  Heighliner  •  Holtzman effect  •  No-ship  •  Stillsuit  •  Vehicles
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