Dune (franchise)
Dune is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert[a] and has continued to add new publications. Dune is frequently described as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.[1][2] It won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Hugo Award in 1966 and was later adapted into a 1984 film, a 2000 television miniseries, and a two-part film series with the first film in 2021 and a sequel in 2024. Herbert wrote five sequels, the first two of which were concomitantly adapted as a 2003 miniseries. Dune has also inspired tabletop 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.
Dune
Herbert Properties
- The Illustrated Dune (1978)
- The Dune Encyclopedia (1984)
- The Making of Dune (1984)
- The Dune Storybook (1984)
- The Road to Dune (2005)
- Dune (1984)
- Dune (2021)
- Dune: Part Two (2024)
- Frank Herbert's Dune (2000)
- Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003)
- Dune: Prophecy (TBA)
- Dune (1979)
- Dune (1984)
- Dune (1997)
- Dune: Imperium (2020)
- Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium (2000)
- Dune: Adventures in the Imperium (2021)
- Dune (1992)
- Dune II (1992)
- Dune 2000 (1998)
- Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001)
- Frank Herbert's Dune (2001)
- Dune: Spice Wars (2022)
- Dune: Awakening (TBA)
- Dune (1984)
- Dune: Spice Opera (1992)
- Frank Herbert's Dune (2000)
- Emperor: Battle for Dune (2001)
- Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003)
- Dune (2021)
- Dune: Part Two (2024)
Frank Herbert died in 1986. Beginning in 1999, his son Brian Herbert and science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson published several collections 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.[3][4][5]
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 that has banned all "thinking machines", which include computers, robots, and artificial intelligence. In their place, civilization has developed advanced mental and physical disciplines as well as advanced technologies that adhere to the ban on computers. Vital to this empire is the harsh desert planet Arrakis, the only known source of the spice melange, the most valuable substance in the universe.
For the similarities between some of Herbert's terms and ideas and actual words and concepts in the Arabic language, as well as the series' "Islamic undertones" and themes, a Middle Eastern influence in Herbert's works has been widely noted.
Premise[edit]
The Dune saga is set thousands of years in humanity's future. Faster-than-light travel has been developed, and humans have colonized a vast number of worlds. However, a great reaction against computers has resulted in a ban on any "thinking machine", with the creation or possession of such punishable by immediate death. Despite this prohibition, humanity continues to develop and advance other branches of technology, including extrasensory perception (ESP) and instruments of war. 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. Of key interest is the planet Arrakis, known as "Dune". A desert planet with barely any precipitation, it is the only planet where a special life-extending drug, melange (or "the spice"), can be found. In addition to life extension, melange enhances the mental capacity of humans: it 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. Melange is challenging to acquire due to the harsh environment of Arrakis, and the presence of giant sandworms that are drawn towards any rhythmic sounds on the sands of the desert. 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.
Development and publication[edit]
Original series[edit]
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 Agriculture experiment using poverty grass to stabilize damaging sand dunes, which could "swallow whole cities, lakes, rivers, and highways."[30] Herbert spent the next five years researching, writing, and revising what would eventually become the novel Dune,[30] which was initially serialized in Analog magazine as two shorter works, Dune World (1963) and The Prophet of Dune (1965).[31] The serialized version was expanded and reworked—and rejected by more than 20 publishers—before being published by Chilton Books, a printing house best known for its auto repair manuals, in 1965.[32] Dune won the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966, and the 1966 Hugo Award.[33][34] The novel has been translated into dozens of languages, and has sold almost 20 million copies.[35] Dune has been regularly cited as one of the world's best-selling science fiction novels.[1][2]
A sequel, Dune Messiah, followed in 1969.[36] A third novel called Children of Dune was published in 1976, and was later nominated for a Hugo Award.[37] Children of Dune became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field.[38] Parts of these two first sequels were written before Dune was completed.[39]
In 1978, Putnam published The Illustrated Dune, an edition of Dune with 33 black-and-white sketch drawings and eight full color paintings by John Schoenherr, who had done the cover art for the first printing of Dune and had illustrated the Analog serializations of Dune and Children of Dune.[40] Herbert wrote in 1980 that though he had not spoken to Schoenherr prior to the artist creating the paintings, the author was surprised to find that the artwork appeared exactly as he had imagined its fictional subjects, including sandworms, Baron Harkonnen and the Sardaukar.[41]
In 1981, Herbert released God Emperor of Dune, which was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.[42] Heretics of Dune, the 1984 New York Times #13 hardcover fiction best seller,[43] was followed in quick succession by Chapterhouse: Dune in 1985.[44] Herbert died on February 11, 1986.[16]
By other authors[edit]
In 1984, Herbert's publisher Putnam released The Dune Encyclopedia.[66][67] 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.[68] Herbert's estate later confirmed its non-canonical status after Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson had begun publishing prequel novels that directly contradict The Dune Encyclopedia.[69] The 1984 Dune film spawned The Dune Storybook (September 1984, ISBN 0-399-12949-9), a novelization written by Joan D. Vinge,[67][70] and The Making of Dune (December 1984, ISBN 0-425-07376-9), a making-of book by Ed Naha.[67][71]
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.[67][72] 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.[73] In the 1999 gazetteer The Stars and Planets of Frank Herbert's Dune: A Gazetteer (1999), Joseph M. Daniels estimates the distance from Earth in light-years (ly) for many Dune planets, based on the real-life distances of the stars and planetary systems referenced by Frank Herbert when discussing these planets in the glossary of the novel Dune. Though Herbert used the names of actual stars and planetary systems in his work, there is no documentation supporting or disputing the assumption that he was, in fact, referring to these real-life stars or systems.[74]
The Science of Dune (2008) analyzes and deconstructs many of Herbert's concepts and fictional inventions.[75][76][77]
Legacy[edit]
The political, scientific, and social fictional setting of Herbert's novels and derivative works is known as the Dune universe or Duniverse.[77][122][123] Dune has been widely influential, inspiring numerous novels, music, films, television, games, and comic books.[124] It is considered one of the greatest and most influential science fiction novels of all time, with numerous modern science fiction works such as Star Wars owing their existence to Dune.[102] Dune has also been referenced in numerous other works of popular culture, such as Star Trek, The Chronicles of Riddick, The Kingkiller Chronicle, and Futurama.[125] Dune was cited as the prime inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki's manga, and later film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1982–1994).[126]
Jon Michaud noted in 2013 in The New Yorker, "what's curious about Dune's stature is that it has not penetrated popular culture in the way that The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars have."[22] He praised Herbert's "clever authorial decision" to excise robots and computers ("two staples of the genre") from his fictional universe, but suggested that this may be one explanation why Dune lacks "true fandom among science-fiction fans".[22]
Since 2009, the names of planets from the Dune novels have been adopted for the real-world nomenclature of plains (planitiae) and complexes of valleys (labyrinthi) on Saturn's moon Titan.[127][128][129] Planet names used to date include Arrakis, Caladan, Giedi Prime, Kaitain, Salusa Secundus, and Tleilax.[128][129] The Hagal dune field and other sites on Mars are informally named after planets mentioned in the Dune series.[130] The city of Tacoma, Washington, Herbert's birthplace, dedicated part of Point Defiance Park as the "Dune Peninsula" to honor the writer and the series.[131]
Merchandising[edit]
A line of Dune action figures from toy company LJN was released to lackluster sales in 1984. Styled after David Lynch's film, the collection featured figures of Paul Atreides, Baron Harkonnen, Feyd, Rabban, Stilgar, and a Sardaukar warrior, plus a poseable sandworm, several vehicles and weapons, and a set of View-Master stereoscope reels. Figures of Gurney and Lady Jessica previewed in LJN's catalog were never produced.[213][214] In 2006, SOTA Toys produced a Baron Harkonnen action figure for their "Now Playing Presents" line.[214] In October 2019, Funko announced a "Dune Classic" line of POP! vinyl figures, the first of which are Paul in a stillsuit and Feyd in a blue jumpsuit, styled after Lynch's film.[215][216] An alternate version of Feyd in his blue loincloth was released for the 2019 New York Comic Con.[217]
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.[218]
