Untitled Forthcoming Short Story (Shadout Mapes Origin Story) The Winds of Dune (Part II, excluding Interlude) Control of Arrakis, its spice production, and the impact on humanity's development become the centerpoints of a millennia-long conflict that develops through the series. Melange is difficult to acquire, not only due to the harsh environment of Arrakis, but also the presence of giant sandworms that are drawn towards any rhythmic sounds on the sands of the desert.
In addition to life extension, melange enhances the mental capacity of humans: it enables humans known as Mentats to perform complex calculations without the aid of computers allows for the mutated Spacing Guild pilots to navigate folded space and travel the distances between planets and triggers some of the powers of the Bene Gesserit, a religious group that secretly seeks to control the direction humanity takes. A desert planet with nearly no precipitation, it is the only planet where a special life-extending drug, melange or "the spice", can be found. Of key interest is the planet Arrakis, known as "Dune". At the time of the first book's setting, humanity has formed a feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, run by several Great Houses that oversee various planets. Despite this prohibition, humanity continues to develop and advance other branches of technology, including ESP and instruments of war. Faster-than-light travel has been developed, and humans have colonized a vast number of worlds, but a great reaction against computers has resulted in a ban on any kind of “thinking machine”, with the creation or possession of such punishable by immediate death. The Dune saga is set thousands of years in humanity's future.
DUNE BOOK SERIES
Anderson published a number of prequel novels, as well as two sequels that complete the original Dune series ( Hunters of Dune in 2006 and Sandworms of Dune in 2007), partially based on Frank Herbert's notes discovered a decade after his death.
Beginning in 1999, his son Brian Herbert and science fiction author Kevin J. 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.įrank Herbert died in 1986. Dune has also inspired some traditional games and a series of video games.
Herbert wrote five sequels, the first two of which were adapted as a miniseries called Frank Herbert's Children of Dune in 2003. It won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1965 and the 1966 Hugo Award, and was later adapted into a 1984 film, a 2000 television miniseries, and a 2021 film. Dune is frequently described as the best selling science fiction novel in history. Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003)ĭune, also known as the Dune Chronicles, is a science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications.