Frequently Asked Questions


THE DUNE NOVELS		FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Why do the new prequels sometimes contradict the history set forth in THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA compiled by
Dr. Willis E. McNelly?

"THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA reflects an alternate "DUNE universe" which did not necessarily represent the "canon" created by Frank Herbert. Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert, writing with Kevin J. Anderson, IS continuing to establish the canon of the DUNE universe. This is being done with the full approval of the owner of the DUNE copyright, the Herbert Limited Partnership.

"While Frank Herbert himself considered THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA interesting and entertaining, he did not refer to Dr. McNelly's derivative work while writing any of his DUNE novels. Likewise, in writing their DUNE novels (beginning with DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES), Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have exclusively used, and will continue to use, Frank Herbert's original notes as well as their own imaginations, and not THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

"We hope that the millions of DUNE fans will continue to enjoy all of the works written in Frank Herbert's marvelous universe."

A letter written by
Dr. Willis McNelly,
Brian Herbert, and
Kevin J. Anderson

Frank Herbert left a detailed and expansive outline for "Dune 7," which wraps up many storylines introduced in the original six Dune Chronicles, plus the story will finish numerous loose ends from the six prequels written by Brian and Kevin. In breaking down the outline to begin writing, Brian and Kevin realized the novel would be close to 1500 pages long; therefore, they have divided the story into two volumes, HUNTERS OF DUNE and SANDWORMS OF DUNE (titles suggested by Frank Herbert).

HUNTERS OF DUNE was released in 2006 and
SANDWORMS is due out in fall 2007.

What is the progress on Dune 7?

Detailed questions (with spoilers)

If Piter deVries dies in HOUSE CORRINO was the de Vries in DUNE a ghola? How did he have memories?		Yes, he was a ghola in DUNE. The Tleilaxu have serial Mentats waiting for use. The ghola de Vries in DUNE never regains his memories from the time of the House books, but after fifteen years of working for the Baron he has accumulated plenty of memories, and the Baron has given him full access to the details of his predecessors; in fact, he considers them all identical.

The Leto/Jessica meeting scene in HOUSE HARKONNEN was actually written by Frank Herbert himself and found in his notes. The events shown in HOUSE HARKONNEN are consistent with the original notes.		In the preludes Jessica is almost forced on Duke Leto. Yet in the DUNE classic, we read that the Duke actually sent buyers to purchase her.

In the DUNE classic, Jessica tells Yueh that they have known each other for six years. How can this be when she meets him in HOUSE CORRINO?

Also in the DUNE classic, Yueh wonders why Wandra never gave him children. In the prequels we are told that she lost her womb in an industrial accident.

There is more to the story (fifteen years between HOUSE CORRINO and DUNE), and we will fill in the answers in a planned later volume. While Jessica met Yueh briefly when he was tending Rhombur, the doctor did not come to be a part of the Atreides household‹and close to Jessica -- until six years before DUNE. Yueh later learns that Wandra¹s injury did not, in fact, make her incapable of bearing children -- but the Sisterhood had commanded her not to conceive.

More than fifteen years have passed. Gurney met Liet then on a different planet, when he was using a false name, and his appearance was different. It¹s not surprising he would not recognize Dr. Kynes.		In HOUSE HARKONNEN Gurney Halleck meets Liet Kynes, yet in DUNE Gurney and Liet appear not to recognize each other.

In the prequels when Rabban kills a worm it disintegrates completely, but in the DUNE classic, Kynes says that every worm segment has a life of its own and that, barring atomics, no explosive can destroy a worm completely.		The original novels establish that when an ancient worm is close to death it prepares to fission and disintegrate. Rabban's worm was very old and near its reproductive-death stage. It broke apart into separate ring segments, according to the worms' reproductive cycle, as established by Frank Herbert.

Norma herself has certain untapped powers of prescient manipulation -- she's not even aware of them yet in THE BUTLERIAN JIHAD. In all other instances, lasgun and shield both explode.		In THE BUTLERIAN JIHAD, when Holtzman and Norma are testing the las-gun/shield interaction for the first time, only the shield generator explodes. In previous books both las-gun and shield were destroyed. Can you explain this?

How are ships powered in the Butlerian Jihad timeframe? Are they using faster-than-light travel? How can a galactic empire hold together if it takes a month for messages to be sent from world to world?		The League ships are faster-than-light, but still vastly slower than the near-instantaneous foldspace ships later used by the Guild. Travel between star systems still takes weeks or months. It's the comparative difference between crossing the Atlantic in a sailing ship or on the Concorde. However, historical vast empires -- such as the Roman Empire and the British Empire -- operated successfully even under such constraints.

That is revealed in the DUNE 7 novels.		What are the Honored Matres running from in CHAPTERHOUSE?

The HOUSE CORRINO story says that Paul was born on Kaitain but in the classic DUNE novel it says that he was "born" on Caladan.		Paul was born on Kaitain, but his naming ceremony was on Caladan. He was taken to Caladan very soon after his birth and this has always been considered his birthplace.

No plans. The rights for DUNE games are currently tied up.		Are there any plans to have the classic Avalon Hill or Parker DUNE board games re-released?

Are there any plans to produce the DUNE RPG?		Unfortunately the rights are no longer available and are now controlled by the producers of the DUNE and CHILDREN OF DUNE miniseries.

THE DUNE NOVELS