The Frank Herbert's Dune Universe - Dune book series, games, and movies

Sandworms of Dune - 2007

2007-12-27T19:49:00.000-08:00

Based directly on Frank Herbert's final outline, Chapterhouse Dune, which lay hidden in two safe-deposit boxes for a decade, Sandworms of Dune will answer the urgent questions Dune books series fans have been debating for two decades: the origin of the Honored Matres, the tantalizing future of the planet Arrakis, the final revelation of the Kwisatz Haderach, and the resolution to the war between Man and Machine. This breathtaking new novel in Frank Herbert's Dune series has enough surprises and plot twists to please even the most demanding reader. As Sandworms of Dune begins, the passengers of the no-ship Ithaca continue their search for a new home world for the Bene Gesserit, while Duncan Idaho evades the tachyon net of the old couple Daniel and Marty, now known to be thinking machine leaders Omnius and Erasmus. Among the inhabitants of the Ithaca are young gholas of Paul Atreides, Lady Jessica and others. Back in the Old Empire, Mother Commander Murbella of the New Sisterhood attempts to rally human kind for a last stand against the thinking machines. The new Face Dancers continue to infiltrate the main organizations of the Old Empire at all levels, having also sent their gholas of Paul Atreides (called Paolo) and the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen to the thinking machine capital, Synchrony. At the prompting of Face Dancer infiltrators, the Spacing Guild has begun replacing its Navigators with Ixian navigation devices and cutting off the Navigators' supply of melange. Navigator Edrik and his faction have commissioned Waff, the imperfectly-awakened ghola rescued by the Guild from the Bene Gesserit attack on Bandalong, to create "advanced" sandworms able to produce the melange they so desperately require. He accomplishes this by altering the DNA of the sandtrout stage and creating an aquatic form of the worms, which are then released into the oceans of Buzzell. Adapting to their new environment, these "seaworms" quickly flourish, eventually producing a highly-concentrated form of spice, dubbed "ultraspice." Meanwhile, Murbella commissions Ix to copy the destructive Honored Matre Obliterators for use on the fleet of warships she has ordered from the Guild. However, Ix is now secretly controlled by Face Dancer leader Krone; previously acting as a minion of Omnius, he continues his own plot for Face Dancer domination of the universe. Omnius' forces have begun striking world after world, releasing a deadly virus and then pressing on to the new string of inhabited worlds. The thinking machine plague arrives at Chapterhouse and cripples the Sisterhood, but they rally the allied planets into one last great stand. Aboard the Ithaca, Sheeana restarts the ghola project. Gholas of Serena Butler, Gurney Halleck and Xavier Harkonnen are about to be born when the axlotl tanks are poisoned, killing all three ghola babies and the tanks. Saboteurs are suspected, as many of the ship's systems have also been failing. Scytale, the last Tleilaxu Master, finally reawakens his own ghola's past memories, but only by dying in front of his younger self. The gholas of Wellington Yueh, Stilgar and Liet-Kynes regain their memories through various traumatic experiences. Desperate to replenish their supplies, the Ithaca lands on the planet Qelso, a world slowly being terraformed into a desert planet by the introduction of sandworms years before by the Bene Gesserit. Stilgar and Liet-Kynes decide to remain behind to help the natives slow the encroaching desert, and prepare them for the inevitable.

Dune - 1984

2007-12-27T08:16:00.000-08:00

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, including Sting, Jose Ferrer, Virginia Madsen, Linda Hunt, Patrick Stewart, Max von Sydow, and Jürgen Prochnow, among others. It was filmed at the Churubusco Studios in Mexico City and included a soundtrack by the band Toto. As in the novel, the central plot concerns a young man foretold in prophecy as the "Kwisatz Haderach" who will protect the titular desert planet from the malevolent House Harkonnen and save the universe from evil. After the success of the novel, attempts to adapt Dune for a film began as early as 1971. A lengthy process of what is known in the film industry as development hell followed throughout the 1970s, during which directors such as David Lean, Alejandro Jodorowsky, and Ridley Scott were considered. In 1981, David Lynch was hired as director by executive producer Dino De Laurentiis. The film was not well received by critics and performed poorly at the American box office at the time. Upon its release, director David Lynch distanced himself from the project, stating that pressure from both producers and financiers restrained his artistic control and denied him final cut. Fans of the Dune series are polarized by the movie, although in the years since its release, the film has become a cult favorite, and at least three different versions have been released worldwide. In some cuts of the film Lynch's name is replaced in the credits with the name of a fictional director Alan Smithee, a pseudonym used by directors who wish not to be associated with a film for which they would normally be credited.

Children of Dune (TV miniseries) - 2003

2007-12-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Frank Herbert's Children of Dune is the 2003 sequel to the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune produced by the United States Sci Fi channel. It was directed by Greg Yaitanes and adapted for television by John Harrison, with music by Brian Tyler. It was first broadcast in the USA on March 16, 2003. After production completed on the first miniseries (and before its broadcast), the Sci Fi Channel contracted writer/director Harrison to write a sequel. Harrison's idea for the next installment was to combine Frank Herbert's subsequent novels, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. He has said in interviews that he believed both novels to be two parts of the same story, which essentially concludes the story of House Atreides. [2] Also, Dune Messiah is a fairly short book, roughly a third the length of either Dune or Children of Dune. Thus, the name of the miniseries is somewhat of a misnomer, as the first part dramatizes Messiah and the second and third parts portray the events from Children. Just as the first chapter in this miniseries was generally considered more faithful to the novels than the 1984 David Lynch film that preceded it, Children of Dune worked to correct the mistakes of its own predecessor. Some fans had complaints about the color of the eyes of the Fremen, as they appeared to be almost fluorescent in the first Sci Fi miniseries, not the "blue within blue" described by Herbert. The eye color was toned down in the sequel to a more accurately representative deep but vibrant blue. This miniseries is also noted for its highly successful soundtrack, composed by Brian Tyler.

Dune (TV miniseries) - 2000

2007-12-27T08:10:00.000-08:00

Frank Herbert's Dune is a three-part sci fi miniseries based on the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. It was produced by New Amsterdam Entertainment in association with Blixa Film Produktion and Hallmark Entertainment Distribution, and broadcast by the Sci Fi Channel. Written and directed by John Harrison, the series was first broadcast in the USA on December 3, 2000 and was later released on DVD on 23 October 2001. A Special Edition Director's Cut was released on DVD on 11 June 2002; it contains scenes not included in the original televised version. Director John Harrison claims that his film adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel was a "faithful interpretation," in which any changes he made served to suggest what Herbert had explained subtly or not at all. The miniseries introduces elements not found in Herbert's novel, but as Harrison claims, it is usually to elaborate rather than to edit. Harrison's television adaptation and David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation both depart from the content of the novel, but Harrison's treatment of Herbert's thematic and philosophical content is usually compared favorably to the 1984 film. The miniseries preserved many elements of the 1984 film's visual feel in its costume, set and creature design.

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty - 1992

2007-12-27T08:05:00.000-08:00

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (retitled Dune II: Battle for Arrakis in Europe and for the Mega Drive/Genesis port) is a Dune computer game, released in 1992 by Westwood Studios. It is a loose sequel to the computer strategy game Dune (although it shares no storyline or gameplay). Both games were based upon David Lynch's 1984 movie Dune, which was in turn taken from Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name. A new house, House Ordos (not found in the novels or film), appears in this game even though it is mentioned only once in the non-canon Dune Encyclopedia. While not the first real-time strategy (RTS) game (The Ancient Art of War, Stonkers, and Herzog Zwei all preceded it), Dune II established a format that would be followed for years to come, and was the first to use the mouse to move units, allowing players to fluidly interact with their troops. As such, Dune II was the first modern real-time strategy game. Striking a balance between complexity and innovation, it was a huge success and laid the foundation for the coming Command & Conquer (which was nicknamed "Dune III" by some fans and detractors), the Warcraft series, and many other RTS games.

Dune 2000 - 1998

2007-12-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Dune 2000 is a Dune RTS game, released by Westwood Studios in 1998. A Playstation version was later released in 1999 with 3D graphics. It is based in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in Emperor: Battle for Dune. Using a game engine which resembles Westwood's Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Dune 2000 is a remake of Dune II. The story, told with animations and subtitles in the original Dune II, is now told with full motion video starring actors such as John Rhys-Davies.

Emperor: Battle for Dune - 2001

2007-12-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

Dune Emperor is the third RTS (real time strategy) game set in the Dune universe, following its predecessors, Dune II and Dune 2000. While Dune II was a totally distinct story to that of Dune, and Dune 2000 was a remake of Dune II, Emperor is a direct sequel to the previous games. In particular, it is a sequel to Dune 2000, carrying on from where it left off, with several of the characters and actors returning. Like Dune 2000 and many of the other Westwood games that came before it, Emperor features cut scenes filmed with live actors and produced with professional-class visual effects.

Hunters of Dune - 2006

2007-12-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

Hunters of Dune and the concluding volume, Sandworms of Dune, bring together the great story lines and beloved characters in Frank Herbert's classic Dune universe, ranging from the time of the Butlerian Jihad to the original Dune series and beyond. Based directly on Frank Herbert's final outline, Capterhouse Dune, which lay hidden in a safe-deposit box for a decade, these two volumes will finally answer the urgent questions Dune fans have been debating for two decades. At the end of Chapterhouse: Dune -- Frank Herbert's final novel -- a ship carrying the ghola of Duncan Idaho, Sheeana (a young woman who can control sandworms), and a crew of various refugees escapes into the uncharted galaxy, fleeing from the monstrous Honored Matres, dark counterparts to the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood. The nearly invincible Honored Matres have swarmed into the known universe, driven from their home by a terrifying, mysterious Enemy. The first main plotline follows the adventures of the passengers of this no-ship. The second plot involves Murbella's attempts to unite the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres, while conquering rebellious factions of Honored Matres on various planets and attempting to prepare for a confrontation with an Ancient Enemy. This unknown enemy was responsible for driving the Honored Matres back into the Old Empire. For several years, the no-ship (named the Ithaca by its passengers) has been in an alternate universe, carrying the gholas of Duncan Idaho and the famous military commander Miles Teg as well as the Bene Gesserit Sheeana, who has the mysterious power to control sandworms. Other passengers include the last Bene Tleilax Master Scytale, some Bene Gesserits, a group of Jews saved from Honored Matre oppression on the planet Gammu, and seven small sandworms that can produce spice. Finally, there are four captive Futars, fierce half-man/half-cat creatures bred to hunt Honored Matres. The mysterious Oracle of Time speaks to Duncan and brings the no-ship back into the 'regular' universe. However, it is soon discovered by the "old man" and "old woman" Daniel and Marty, first mentioned at the end of Chapterhouse Dune, who have unknown designs on the Ithaca and its passengers. The no-ship is nearly caught in their tachyon net, but escapes using the space-folding Holtzman engines. Meanwhile, Murbella is trying to prevent civil war on Chapterhouse, the only known source of melange ('the spice') left in the universe (other than the sandworms on the no-ship). She meets an emissary sent by the Spacing Guild, which is desperate for spice. Murbella refuses their requests due to the help the Guild gave to the Honored Matres, and demands the Guild's future loyalty, threatening to cut them off completely. Unbeknownst to the Guild delegation and the rest of the universe, the sandworms on Chapterhouse are not yet producing much melange; the Bene Gesserit are making it seem so, using their own stockpiles. Later, Murbella stops a brutal fight between some polarized Bene Gesserits and Honored Matres. Though the Honored Matres had destroyed all Bene Tleilax worlds, their descendents (the Lost Tleilaxu) have returned from The Scattering. Supposedly under their complete control are their improved Face Dancers, creatures who can mimic other humans exactly and go undetected by all known means. It is soon revealed that the Face Dancers have their own will and motives, as they kill the Tleilaxu Elder Burah and replace him with their own duplicate. They have now replaced all the Lost Tleilaxu Elders, as well as countless humans on various planets in the Old Empire. Their leader Khrone sends the scribe Uxtal (presumably the highest-ranking, if only, Lost Teliaxu left alive) to serve the renegade Honored Matre leader Hellica, who has proclaimed herself Matre Superior and now rules the conquered Bene Tleilax homeworld, Tleilax.

The Battle of Corrin (Book 3) - 2004

2007-12-27T07:40:00.000-08:00

The events of the novel take place a full century after the beginning of the Butlerian Jihad, and are divided into two parts, the first beginning in the year 108 B.G. (before Guild) and detailing a biological war waged by the thinking machines on the humans. The second part of the novel begins in 88 B.G. and covers the events after the Great Purge, leading up to the fateful Battle of Corrin. At the conclusion of the Legends of Dune series, several story lines started in the previous two novels lead to the political and social climate that is well established in Frank Herbert’s original Dune series. The Machine Scourge The evermind Omnius is continuing with his plans to eradicate all humans in the universe. After first being suggested by the traitor Yorek Thurr, a RNA retrovirus is designed by the captured Tlulaxa Rekur Van and the independent robot Erasmus. Omnius then launches capsules containing the retrovirus to infect the planets inhabited by the hapless humans. With a 43% direct-mortality rate, the virus succeeds in effectively crippling the League of Nobles, leaving them vulnerable to attack. It is discovered that consumption of the spice melange has the effect of both bolstering immunity to the retrovirus and stopping its progression in some of those already infected. Omnius, unaware that the virus has been effectively stopped, prepares for the second phase of his attack. Gathering the bulk of the machine armies stationed at the different synchronized planets, the evermind launches the massive fleet towards the League capital Salusa Secundus. The Great Purge After learning of the imminent destruction headed their way in the form of the machine fleet, Vorian Atreides formulates a plan whereby the humans can launch pulse-atomic attacks on all of the undefended Synchronized Worlds, ridding the universe of Omnius altogether. However, this plan called for the use of the still unreliable space-folding technology in order to carry out the attacks before the machines have a chance to recall the fleet en route to Salusa. The Great Purge is successful in destroying Omnius on all but one planet, albeit with an appalling cost in human lives. Each time the human armies fold space to a new location there is a 10% attrition rate due to the undependable space-folders. In addition, the use of atomics kills all human captives on the Synchronized Worlds, amounting to billions of lives lost. The humans are also unable to destroy Omnius on the primary synchronized world, Corrin. While the other Evermind incarnations are being attacked, the cogitor Vidad travels to Corrin and warns Omnius Prime of the human counter-offensive. The machine fleet is recalled to defend their last remaining stronghold. Despite this, Serena Butler’s Jihad is declared over.

The Machine Crusade (Book 2) - 2003

2007-12-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

Dune: The Machine Crusade moves forward into the center of the Butlerian Jihad, described in the first book of the trilogy, Dune: The Butlerian Jihad. Leading the movement is the ex-slave and ex-machine trustee Grand Patriarch Iblis Ginjo. However, Iblis appears more interested in politics and his own personal legacy than in the Jihad. Vorian Atreides, despite the long life given to him by his father, the Titan Agamemnon, begins to show the vestiges of wanting to settle down after visiting the planet Caladan, and meeting the woman, Leronica Tergiet, who is to become his long-term concubine. Xavier Harkonnen manages to free Ix from the thinking machines and must eventually make the ultimate sacrifice that will tarnish his name. The robot Erasmus continues with his enlightening human experimentation, and makes a curious bet with the Omnius entity on Corrin, where he claims he can raise a human being to be orderly and civilised like a machine. This child is Gilbertus Albans, the first true Mentat. Omnius himself suffers badly from a computer virus created by Vorian Atreides and spread unwittingly by his old companion Seurat. On Ginaz, the aging Zon Noret is killed in a training accident by a mek called Chirox, a captured and reprogrammed fighting machine. Though Noret did not live to pass on his skills to the other Ginaz mercenaries, Chirox remained to train them into the greatest of all mercenaries, the Swordmasters, who will be the ultimate fighting force against the thinking machines. On the planet of Poritrin, Norma Cenva leaves the world just in time to avoid a slave uprising during which a slave, unaware of the consequences, intentionally fires a lasgun into a Holtzman personal shield. The resulting explosion wipes out Tio Holtzman's labs; the slave revolt is eventually brutally crushed. Meanwhile Norma, due to her heritage as daughter of the main Sorceress of Rossak Zufa Cenva, finally taps into her latent powers under great pressure (precipitated by her capture and subsequent torture by the Titan Xerxes) to become the spearhead of humanity. She envisions a future in which massive ships transport goods and humans instantaneously across the universe, using the Holtzman effect to fold space. Norma's ships are the first of what will later be known as heighliners, and her family uses their monopoly on such travel to found the Spacing Guild. As for the slaves on Poritrin, a small band of Zensunnis steal the first space-folding ship and flee to a lonely desert planet called Arrakis, where they will join the followers of Selim, and become the Free Men of Arrakis. Finally, the remaining Titans take their chance becoming independent from their machine master Omnius on the planet of Bela Tegeuse.

The Butlerian Jihad (Book 1) - 2002

2007-12-27T07:35:00.000-08:00

The Butlerian Jihad introduces a generation of characters whose families will later become the most significant in the universe: the Atreides, the Corrinos and the Harkonnens. Serena Butler, daughter of the viceroy of the League of Nobles, is a strong voice for the human rebellion. Her paramour Xavier Harkonnen leads the military force on the current League capital world of Salusa Secundus. As the story begins, Xavier is repelling an attack on the planet by Omnius' army of cymeks. The cymeks are former humans whose brains have been implanted in preservation canisters, which in turn can be installed into a variety of fearsome mechanical bodies, to extend their lives indefinitely and make them nearly unstoppable. The original twenty cymeks (calling themselves the Titans) had conquered the complacent universe by exploiting humanity's reliance and dependency on machines, yet the Titans were later overthrown themselves by Omnius, an artificial intelligence of their design. Seeking to replace human chaos with machine order, Omnius thus ignited the war between machine and humanity. Vorian Atreides is, ironically, the son and subordinate of the leading cymek Titan Agamemnon (whose last name, Atreides, originates with House Atreus, from the ancient Greek epic the Iliad). Meanwhile, the Sorceresses of Rossak, a matriarchal order, are perfecting their destructive psychic powers for use against the machines, and maintaining a breeding program to create more powerful telepaths. Pharmaceutical magnate Aurelius Venport is about to discover an interesting new substance, the spice melange, and the famous inventor Tio Holtzman accepts the dimunitive genius Norma Cenva into his employ. Serena is captured by the Titan Barbarossa and put under the watch of Erasmus, an independent robot who seeks to understand humans completely so that the thinking machines may be truly superior. Unfortunately, his methods of study often entail human vivisection and torture in his slave pens. Erasmus takes a liking to Serena, as does the young Vorian Atreides. Serena realizes she is pregnant with Xavier's child, and later gives birth to a baby boy whom she names Manion (after her father). Erasmus finds this distraction inconvenient, and not only removes Serena's uterus but kills her young son in front of her. This single event incites the entire Jihad, and young Manion is soon labelled the first martyr, Manion the Innocent. Vorian, witnessing the murder and realizing the lie he lives as a machine trustee, betrays his machine masters and flees with Serena. They are joined by another trustee, Iblis Ginjo, a slave leader who masterminds the rebellion on Synchronized Earth. The first human victory of the so-called Butlerian Jihad is the destruction of Earth and the Earth Omnius using atomics. Iblis (now Grand Patriarch of the Holy Jihad) and Serena (Priestess of the Jihad) are the religious leaders of the human rebellion, and Xavier and Vorian its two generals. The brutal Titans are desperate to break free of their machine masters and wage their own techno-misanthropic war, and Omnius and Erasmus are determined to conquer and destroy all of mankind once and for all. And on a lonely desert planet known as Arrakis, the seeds of legend are sown with Selim Wormrider, an outcast from his tribe, who sees the future of Shai-Hulud and makes it his mission to save his God from those who would wish to take the spice.

House Corrino (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 3) - 2001

2007-12-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

Duke Leto Atreides sponsors an assault on Ix to reclaim the planet for House Vernius, while his concubine Jessica is pregnant with his son. Emperor Shaddam IV commences his Great Spice War to create a dependency on his soon-to-be-released synthetic melange, ajidamal. The Bene Gesserit eagerly await the birth of the Kwisatz Haderach's mother by Jessica; little do they know that things aren't going to turn out exactly how they want.

House Harkonnen (Dune: House Trilogy, Book 2) - 2000

2007-12-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

Shaddam Corrino IV finally sits upon the Golden Lion Throne, enjoying his position as Padishah Emperor of the Known Universe. However, his rule as Emperor is precarious at best, as his wife, Anirul, has been instructed by her Bene Gesserit sisterhood to bear him only daughters. His authority is also challenged by the powerful House Harkonnen, whose illegal stock-piling of the spice melange is of great concern to the Emperor. In order to monopolize the spice, Shaddam and his trusted advisor and friend, Hasimir Fenring, plan to synthesize the substance with the help of Hidar Fen Ajidica, a Tleilaxu Master Researcher. Ajidica sets up laboratories to accomplish this purpose on the newly conquered planet of Ix, formerly the home of House Vernius. By the end of the novel, Ajidica tells Fenring that the manufacture of synthetic spice has been a success, although the validity of his claim is highly dubious. Meanwhile, on Caladan, Duke Leto Atreides bids Duncan Idaho farewell. Duncan is headed for Ginaz, where he will study to become a swordmaster. Leto and his friends, Kailea and Rhombur Vernius, are still struggling to liberate the siblings' former homeworld, but they have made little progress so far. Kailea becomes Leto's concubine, though he refuses to marry her for obvious political reasons. Rhombur seeks out a companion from the Bene Gesserit order and is matched with a young woman named Tessia who gives him a new sense of drive and purpose. After receiving a plea for help from C'tair Pilru, an Ixian rebel, Rhombur begins supplying the Ixian resistance with limited aid, though his attempts are greatly hindered by the Emperor's Sardaukar. Kailea soon gives birth to Leto's son, Victor. After the child's birth, she becomes increasingly dissatisfied with her role as Leto's concubine, wanting the Duke to marry her so that their son can succeed his father someday. Kailea's lady-in-waiting, Chiara, is actually a Harkonnen agent sent to poison Kailea's mind against Leto.

House Atreides (House Trilogy, Book 1) - 1999

2007-12-27T07:20:00.000-08:00

The novel begins on the planet of Arrakis, 35 years before the events of the original Dune. The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen has just taken over the governorship of Arrakis (also called Dune) from his younger brother Abulurd, who has allowed spice production to decrease heavily. The Baron sees an opportunity for large profits and begins to store up illegal spice hoards. On the Imperial Capital planet Kaitain, the young planetologist Pardot Kynes has just arrived from his homeworld of Salusa Secundus for an audience with the Padishah Emperor, his majesty Elrood Corrino IX. The old Emperor is giving Kynes the mission of going to the only known source of melange, Arrakis, in order to find out how the precious substance is produced. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince Shaddam and his minion Hasimir Fenring are plotting against Elrood. Shaddam is not getting any younger, and it seems that the already 157-year-old Emperor could rule for another 50 years. Shaddam decides to poison his father in order to speed up his succession to the throne. Duke Paulus Atreides in the duchy of Caladan is planning on sending his young son and heir Leto to the court of Earl Dominic Vernius on Ix in order to study politics with the Earl's son Rhombur. Leto's mother, the Lady Helena, does not like the idea. Not only is she a very religious woman, but her father is also the Count Richese, who is the main rival of the Earl Vernius. The Bene Gesserit are getting closer to their quest to breed the Kwisatz Haderach; only three generations remain. The next step is to send the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam to Giedi Prime, the Harkonnen home world, in order to conceive a child with the Baron Vladimir. This child would in turn be married to Leto Atreides to produce the eventual mother of the Kwisatz Haderach. The Baron is initially not interested, but after being blackmailed with the secret of his spice hoards, he has sex with Mohiam and a daughter is conceived. Meanwhile, the young Harkonnen slave boy no. 11368, Duncan Idaho, is trying to escape the forests of Giedi Prime, where the na-baron Glossu Rabban is trying to kill him as a part of a game he and his friends are playing. Duncan finally manages to escape the planet, boarding a heighliner en route to Caladan.

Chapterhouse Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 6) - 1985

2007-12-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

The situation is desperate for the Bene Gesserit as they find themselves the targets of the Honored Matres, whose conquest of the Old Empire is almost complete. The Matres are seeking to assimilate the technology and developed methods of the Bene Gesserit, their "last enemy in the million planets" (i.e. the Old Empire before The Scattering). Given the strength and record of the Matres, the Bene Gesserit need a plan. In charge of this plan is Mother Superior Darwi Odrade, successor of Taraza. Her prescient visions show an unknown axeman stalking her — an adequate analogy to the Bene Gesserit situation. The Bene Gesserit are also creating a new Dune on the planet Chapterhouse. Sheeana, in charge of the Worm project, expects a sandworm soon. The Honored Matres conquest destroyed the Bene Tleilax, who falsely assumed that their control of spice production guaranteed their protection. The Matres, we come to see, are surprisingly impulsive in their use of violence. A single Tleilaxu Master remains, albeit in Bene Gesserit captivity. He yields a secret of the Tleilaxu: ghola production. The technology compromises Bene Gesserit ethics; the Tleilaxu method requires a human womb — turning women into "tanks" fit for ghola production. The first ghola produced is that of Miles Teg, the great military commander introduced in Heretics of Dune. The Bene Gesserit have three important prisoners on Chapterhouse, held in a no-ship: Scytale, Duncan Idaho and Murbella (the Matre introduced in Heretics). The Bene Gesserit considers them valuable keys to the present predicament. This mode of thinking — that people are tools fit for a task — makes the prisoners uncooperative, despite the shared threat of the Matres. The Bene Gesserit intend to wring more secrets of the Tleilaxu from Scytale; namely, how to create spice from the axlotl tanks. Scytale bitterly regrets supplying the Bene Gesserit with ghola technology, but he must barter with them; he is their prisoner. Within Scytale's chest is a nullentropy tube, containing the cells of all Tleilaxu masters and various figures of the last few millennia, including Paul Atreides himself. Capable of recreating the Bene Tleilax, he retains his sense of destiny. Additionally, Scytale also wields the mind-controlling whistling language imprinted in all gholas; what ends could Duncan Idaho achieve for Scytale? Duncan Idaho and Murbella are living together. The bond created by their mutual imprinting in Heretics has made them somewhat reluctant lovers. The Bene Gesserit have accepted Murbella as a novice and are training her to be a Sister, despite their belief that she intends to steal their secrets and escape back to the Honored Matres. The Bene Gesserit wonder about Idaho's capabilities and potential; they suspect he remembers more than this ghola existence because they see signs of his being a Mentat, a talent not taught to him. They also wonder why Leto II consistently resurrected Duncan; was it his genetic potential? Indeed, he remembers his serial ghola lives, which mystifies him. His mentat awareness tells him that the Bene Tleilax could not have accomplished this, implying that his awareness is linked beyond genetics.

God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4) - 1981

2007-12-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

God Emperor of Dune, places us in a universe vastly different from that of Children of Dune. Leto II still lives, having ruled the Empire for more than three thousand five hundred years. He owes his lifespan to a decision Leto makes in Herbert's previous novel to merge his human body with sandtrout. Leto continues to evolve into a worm, his only remaining human features being his face, tucked in a cowl of wormflesh, and his hands. Leto's legs are nothing more than useless flippers. Leto moves about on a giant mechanical cart equipped with both wheels and suspensors resembling a tank chassis. To the Imperium and to the reader of the book, Leto appears to have changed even more dramatically in ethics than he has in appearance. The third book in the series, Children of Dune, saw Leto II as a hero that would lead humanity along a shining golden path. Now, millennia later, Leto's rule appears to be nothing more than the most depraved despotism humanity has ever witnessed. The worm, as he's called, however, appears confident in the direction of his course despite everyone's inability to see how this could possibly be part of the Golden Path or good for humanity in any way. The book opens with a deadly chase: a band of rebel humans pursued by a pack of deadly, genetically modified wolves known as D-wolves. One by one, the wolves pick off the rebels who have successfully stolen some documents from Leto's keep. When we join the chase, only three rebels remain on their feet. The wolves immediately take down one of the rebels, compelling the penultimate runner, who is hampered by an injury, to make a brave stand to try and give the last runner a few more precious minutes. The last runner, a woman on her final reserves, makes the safety of the opposite bank of the Idaho River. From this safety, Siona, looking across at the baying wolves, curses the Emperor of Arrakis, a curse made all the more meaningful, because we learn that she, like Leto, is of the Atreides family line. Purportedly to ease the loneliness of the centuries, Leto commissions the Tleilaxu to produce one Duncan Idaho ghola at a time. Each Duncan serves Leto as a personal companion and as the leader of his female Fish Speaker army. During a heated discussion with a Duncan ghola, Leto, warned by the Spacing Guild, is aware that Duncan is armed with a lasgun purchased from an Ixian, and intends to assassinate Leto. Leto is not particularly shocked. The reader later discovers that most of the Duncan Idaho gholas eventually turn against Leto before being killed. Having been the loyal swordmaster to House Atreides, as well as Paul's teacher and close friend, Duncan struggles with internal conflict over his allegiance to the Atreides family in opposition with his moral deference to the people he sees as being oppressed by the God Emperor, all clouded by the uncertainty of feeling millennia out of his time. Moneo (Leto's canny majordomo; the name is a Latin verb whose root comes from mens or "mind" in the sense of reminding or admonishing[2]), who refers to the Duncan ghola during an altercation as being an "older model," considers Duncan's social mores and virtues to be outdated and at extreme odds with Leto's Golden Path. Duncan demonstrates his naïveté in some areas, during a discussion with Leto concerning the failures of aristocratic and ruling classes.

Heretics of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 5) - 1984

2007-12-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

Much has changed in the millennium and a half since the death of the God Emperor. True to his prophecies, sandworms have reappeared on Arrakis (now called Rakis) and created Dune anew, renewing the flow of spice to the galaxy. The Empire, meanwhile, has fallen into chaos and confusion; with Leto's death, a hugely complex economic system built on spice collapsed, and with it much of civilization. The famine caused by this resulted in millions upon millions leaving known space in a great Scattering. The planets of the old empire have now recovered, and a new civilization has risen. There is no longer one dominant power, but three - the Ixians (the builders of no-ships capable of piloting between the stars and invisible to outside detection), the Bene Tleilax (who have learned to manufacture spice in their axlotl tanks), and the Bene Gesserit (subtle political manipulators). Lesser powers are the Spacing Guild and the Fish Speaker council. However, circumstances are about to change, as new forces begin to make their presence felt in old worlds. People from the Scattering are returning with their own peculiar powers, secrets, and agendas. The most powerful of these forces are the Honored Matres, who are a kind of twisted Bene Gesserit, an order of women bred and trained for two purposes: combat and the sexual control of men. Things are brought to the boil by something new arising on Rakis. Another of the God Emperor's prophecies has come to pass. A girl called Sheeana has been discovered who can control the giant worms of Rakis. The priesthood on Rakis has accepted her as holy, and the Bene Gesserit watch her development with serious interest. The Bene Gesserit have long been waiting for this to occur. They have been buying Duncan Idaho gholas generation after generation from the Tleilaxu, in anticipation of the promised sandrider. The Sisterhood intends to use an Idaho ghola to gain control of this sandrider, and thus regain control of the religious forces of mankind. Unlike the multiple Idahos that the God Emperor used in his service, the Bene Gesserit have subtly been altering the gholas to bring their physical reflexes up to modern standards.

Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3) - 1976

2007-12-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

As Children of Dune begins, it is nine years since the Emperor Paul Muad'dib walked into the desert, blind. The ecological transformation of Dune continues apace and some of the Fremen are even living without stillsuits in the less arid climate. Fremen have started to move out of the Sietches and into the villages and cities. Millions of Fremen, thanks to the Jihad, have experience of life off planet or out of the desert, opening their minds to new possibilities yet also causing them to forget the old ways. It is a time of great social change and economic growth on the new capital planet of the Imperium, as more and more pilgrims arrive each day to experience the planet of Muad'dib and Alia. The members of the Imperial high council — Alia, Duncan Idaho, Princess Irulan (who, since the death of Paul, has taken the role of caregiver to the Atreides children) and Stilgar — meet and lament the fact that they have lost the initiative in the political arena. Paul Atreides had been powerless to control the Jihad and had left only the shadow of his religious mantle. Now Alia and her council are even less capable of controlling it. They are finding themselves tightening their grip on politics and ritual, yet losing more control. The two young children of Paul, Leto II and Ghanima, are not normal nine year old children. Like Alia, they were forced into consciousness before birth and thus possess Other Memory, access to the lives and memories of all their ancestors. The children are very troubled because they have come to the conclusion that Alia has succumbed to what the Bene Gesserit call "abomination" — possession by one of her ancestors — and fear that a similar fate awaits them. They (and Alia) also realize that the quickening terraforming of Dune will kill all the sandtrout and thus bring to an end the Giant Worms, and inevitably to the spice itself. Leto has an additional fear as well: he has started to have dreams which he is coming to believe are prophetic, like his father had when he was a similar age. He fears being locked into an early prescient vision as he suspects happened to his father before him. He also has the added pressure that Alia is pushing him to enter into an overdose-induced spice trance in order to unlock the door to prophetic visions. She feels the need for such visions in order to rule the empire, yet struggles to achieve them at all for herself. Things have reached a heightened note of tension because Lady Jessica is coming to Arrakis to visit her grandchildren from her self-imposed retreat on Caladan. Alia fears this because she has indeed become possessed by the persona of her grandfather, the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and is sure that her mother will notice despite Alia's erroneous belief that no one has yet recognised the change in her. The Baron is leading her far away from the Atreides way of doing things: she has taken a lover behind Duncan's back, a priest called Javid. Out in the desert, a new religious figure has arisen among the Fremen, who preaches against the injustices of the religious government and the changes among the Fremen. He is called 'The Preacher', and some even believe he is actually Paul Atreides. Meanwhile, on Salusa Secundus, fallen House Corrino is plotting again for power. Princess Wensicia, younger sister of Irulan, rules in the name of her son Farad'n. She has plans for her son to become Emperor and has hatched a plot to assassinate the twins.

Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles, Book 2) - 1969

2007-12-27T06:47:00.000-08:00

Twelve years after the events described in Dune, Paul Atreides rules as Emperor of the Known Universe, following a universal jihad he unleashed by accepting the role of Messiah to the Fremen. While Paul is the most powerful Emperor ever known, he is ironically powerless to stop the lethal religious excesses of the juggernaut he has created. Although sixty-one billion people have perished, Paul's prescient visions indicate that this is far from the worst possible outcome for humanity. Motivated by this knowledge, Paul hopes to set humanity on a course that will not inevitably lead to stagnation and destruction, while at the same time acting as ruler of the Empire and focal point of the Fremen religion. The situation is further complicated by the conspiracy of powerful interests who hope to reverse the events that brought House Atreides to the throne, including the remnants of the displaced House Corrino, the Bene Gesserit who have lost control of their Kwisatz Haderach, the Spacing Guild (now utterly beholden to Paul), and the Bene Tleilax. The Atreides dynasty is unstable because Paul has not produced an heir. Seeking to force Paul to sire a child with her, his consort the Princess Irulan has been secretly giving contraceptives to his beloved concubine, Chani. Paul is aware of this, but he has foreseen that the birth of his heir will bring Chani's death, and he does not want to lose her. Chani then conceives after switching to a traditional Fremen fertility diet, preventing Irulan from being able to tamper with her food. The conspirators, including Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam, Guild Navigator Edric, the Tleilaxu Face Dancer Scytale, and Princess Irulan, give Paul a gift he cannot resist: a Tleilaxu-grown ghola of Duncan Idaho, his childhood teacher and friend, now called "Hayt". The conspirators hope the presence of Hayt will undermine Paul's ability to rule by forcing Paul to question himself and the empire he has created. Furthermore, Paul's acceptance of the gift weakens his support among the Fremen, who see the Tleilaxu and their tools as unclean. Further complicating the situation is the physical maturity of Paul's powerful sister, Alia, who finds herself irresistibly attracted to Hayt/Duncan. Alia and Hayt investigate the appearance of a female corpse near the city; Hayt realizes that no-one having been reported missing implies a Tleilaxu plot in which the woman has been replaced by a Face Dancer. Hayt also takes this opportunity to steal a kiss from Alia. She is outraged, but Hayt just laughs that he took nothing more than she offered, a fact she admits to herself privately. "Brilliant . . . It is all that DUNE was, and maybe a little more." (Galaxy Magazine)

Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 1) - 1965

2007-12-27T06:05:00.001-08:00

Frank Herbert's Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels ever written, and deservedly so. The setting is elaborate and ornate, the plot labyrinthine, the adventures exciting. Five sequels follow in the original series. This Hugo and Nebula Award winner sci fi novel tells the sweeping tale of a desert planet called Arrakis, the focus of an intricate power struggle in a byzantine interstellar empire. Arrakis is the sole source of Melange, the "spice of spices." Melange is necessary for interstellar travel and grants psychic powers and longevity, so whoever controls it wields great influence.

The troubles begin when stewardship of Arrakis is transferred by the Emperor from the Harkonnen Noble House to House Atreides. The Harkonnens don't want to give up their privilege, though, and through sabotage and treachery they cast young Duke Paul Atreides out into the planet's harsh environment to die. There he falls in with the Fremen, a tribe of desert dwellers who become the basis of the army with which he will reclaim what's rightfully his. Paul Atreides, though, is far more than just a usurped duke. He might be the end product of a very long-term genetic experiment designed to breed a super human; he might be a messiah. His struggle is at the center of a nexus of powerful people and events, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the Imperium.