The Quest for Epic Stories

Frank Herbert's DUNE is a book that could be compared with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings: both consist of very detailed fantasy-worlds. So detailed that it seems very realistic! The world of DUNE is set on a distant planet, 'Arrakis', and therefore you could call it Science Fiction, but its more like a blend between SF and Fantasy. Apart from the more 'usual' themes like friendship and the good against evil contradiction, there are also more unusual themes like destiny, prophecy, religion, heretage and politics. The DUNE series consists of six books. Its the first book that I have read several times allready now. The other five I read years ago and at that time I found them rather difficult. Maybe the time has come to have another go at them...

This is the story of Paul Atreides, and how he became leader of the native people of the planet Arakis, the Fremen. He was the "ultimate" plan of a group of women called Reverend Mothers of the order Bene Gesserit who could see into their past. He was to be their "Kwisatz Haderach", or male Reverend Mother. Paul (or Muad'dib as the Fremen called him) turned out to be more than what the Bene Gesserit had planned for... The story is also about the struggle for freedom against the rulers of Dune, the Harkonnen family.

And there's much, much more... I suggest you read it for yourself...!

Below are the covers and titles of the other books. They are mainly about Paul's future, and the future of his children and eventually the future of the whole human race...

Years after Frank Herbert's death, his son Brian, together with Kevin J. Anderson wrote the "Prelude to DUNE" trilogy. For me those books were exactly what I wanted: more DUNE! At that time, a softwarecompany called Westwood released DUNE strategy games for the PC, games that I have played with much pleasure. Playing these games made me want to read more about DUNE, and therefore I was pleasantly surprised when the "Prelude to DUNE" trilogy appeared!

Covering the decade when Emperor Shaddam wins his throne, the teenager Leto Atreides becomes the unexpected ruler of House Atreides, ecologist Pardot Kynes uncovers one of the planet Dune's greatest secrets, and a quasi-religious order of black-robed women move their secret breeding program one momentous step closer to creating the god-child they call the Kwisatz Haderach. House Atreides chooses a course of honor that will bring it to destruction at the hands of its mortal enemy, House Harkonnen, or take it to new heights of power...

At last Shaddam sits on the Golden Lion Throne, his precarious position as ruler of the Known Universe dependent on producing a male heir. But his leadership is further threatened by the ambitious Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, whose insatiable thirst for dominance leads him to plot against some of the most powerful forces in the Imperium, hoping to elevate his own ruthless House to unprecedented heights of power. The desert world Dune, the machine world Ix, and countless other conquered planets groan under the numbing slavery of cruel new masters determined to exploit their resources -- most notably the addictive spice melange found only on Dune. But small bands of renegades begin to fight back, lighting the spark of freedom against overwhelming odds...

Like the Bene Gesserit, Shaddam Corrino is also concerned with making a plan for the future, securing his legacy. Blinded by his need for power, the Emperor will launch a plot against Dune, the only natural source of true spice. If he succeeds, his madness will result in a cataclysmic tragedy not even he foresees: the end of space travel, the Imperium, and civilization itself. With Duke Leto and other renegades and revolutionaries fighting to stem the tide of darkness that threatens to engulf their universe, the stage is set for a showdown unlike any seen before...

And there's more! Currently, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are working on yet another Trilogy, "Legends of Dune" of which the first book is set during the period of the "Butlerian Jihad", a long time before the DUNE saga.

The first book in the trilogy is allready published: "The Butlerian Jihad". The next two episodes are set for. 9/2003 (part 2) and 9/2004 (part 3))!!