Science Fiction · EpicThe Atreides family takes stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the drug melange
Dune
Noble houses, a desert planet and a drug that makes space travel possible
Analog serialized the story as two separate works, Dune World (December 1963 to February 1964) and The Prophet of Dune (January to May 1965), and Chilton Books published the expanded novel in 1965. It is set in the distant future, in a feudal interstellar society where noble houses control planetary fiefs. It follows the Atreides family, who take on the stewardship of the desert planet Arrakis, the only source of the drug melange, or spice. Paul Atreides, Leto Atreides, Lady Jessica, Duncan Idaho and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen are among its characters.
More about this book
Who
Paul Atreides, Leto Atreides, Lady Jessica, Stilgar, Chani and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.
World
A feudal interstellar society, centered on the desert planet Arrakis.
What makes it different
It tied for the 1966 Hugo with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal and won the first Nebula Award for Best Novel. Herbert said he meant the title to echo the sound of "doom", and he dedicated the book to dry-land ecologists.
Feel
Grand and slow-building.
Page count and cover shown for: Selected edition
Further reading
- DuneWikipedia