The Big Picture

• The original Dune series by Frank Herbert consists of six novels, while subsequent books were written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
• The prequel trilogies, including Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune, explore the history of Dune's characters and the wars against thinking machines.
• The Caladan Trilogy focuses on the events preceding Dune and centers around the Atreides family on their homeworld.

Fellow sci-fi scribe, Arthur C. Clarke, once said of Frank Herbert’s Dune, “I know of nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings.” J.R.R. Tolkien may have recoiled at this remark if he ever heard it, but the two works have certainly had comparable impacts on their respective genres (even if Lord of the Rings penetrated further into the wider culture). They are similarly epic in scope, both authors died before completing the final expansion of their worlds, and both had sons who took up the mantle.

The first part of Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation was received exceptionally well by both audiences and critics, indicating that Dune may have finally achieved a breakthrough in pop culture to match Tolkien. This was helped by a star-studded and devoted cast made up of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isacc, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, and many more, and its success is expected to carry on with the release of Dune: Part Two. The second installment includes the addition of actors like Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan, Austin Butler as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Christopher Walken as Shaddam IV, and more. But new fans coming to the books by way of Villeneuve's films may struggle to find the proper starting place. There are many more Dune novels than there are for Middle-earth, stretching in two directions in time from the original Dune book of 1965. Different books cover different conflicts, each with some relation to one another, and then there are all those strange names and terminology to keep straight.

We can’t promise you aid in memorizing all those names, but we can help you know where to start your reading. Below, you’ll find a full list of Dune novels in chronological order, and a breakdown of the different eras for the books as authorship passed from Frank Herbert to the team of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Note: the short stories set in the world of Dune across various publications are not included here.

Dune Books in Order of Release

• Dune (1965)
• Dune Messiah (1969)
• Children of Dune (1976)
• God Emperor of Dune (1981)
• Heretics of Dune (1984)
• Chapterhouse: Dune (1985)
• House Atreides (1999)
• House Harkonnen (2000)
• House Corrino (2001)
• The Butlerian Jihad (2002)
• The Machine Crusade (2003)
• The Battle of Corrin (2004)
• Hunters of Dune (2006)
• Sandworms of Dune (2007)
• Paul of Dune (2008)
• The Winds of Dune (2009)
• Sisterhood of Dune (2011)
• Mentats of Dune (2014)
• Navigators of Dune (2016)
• The Duke of Caladan (2020)
• The Lady of Caladan (2021)
• The Heir of Caladan (2022)

Dune Books In Chronological Order

• The Butlerian Jihad (2002)
• The Machine Crusade (2003)
• The Battle of Corrin (2004)
• Sisterhood of Dune (2011)
• Mentats of Dune (2014)
• Navigators of Dune (2016)
• House Atreides (1999)
• House Harkonnen (2000)
• House Corrino (2001)
• The Duke of Caladan (2020)
• The Lady of Caladan (2021)
• The Heir of Caladan (2022)
• Dune (1965)
• Paul of Dune (2008)
• Dune Messiah (1969)
• The Winds of Dune (2009)
• Children of Dune (1976)
• God Emperor of Dune (1981)
• Heretics of Dune (1984)
• Chapterhouse: Dune (1985)
• Hunters of Dune (2006)
• Sandworms of Dune (2007)

Dune: The Original Series

The core of Dune remains the original series started by Frank Herbert in 1965. Herbert wrote six novels before his death in 1986: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. The first book establishes the competing factions of the intergalactic conflict, set thousands of years in the future, over the priceless spice mélange on the planet Arrakis. It is also the story of the rise of Paul Atreides (played in the films by Chalamet) to the imperial throne. Paul struggles with his power in Dune Messiah, ultimately bequeathing it to his twin heirs. The pair of them, particularly Leto II Atreides, come into their own in Children of Dune. Before fan pressure convinced Herbert otherwise, this was the intended end of the series.

With God Emperor of Dune, the story jumps thousands of years ahead, as Leto II’s plan to prevent the extinction of humanity reaches its pivotal moment. The result is the Scattering: humanity’s forced spread across the universe. More millennia pass until Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune, which tell of tensions that arise among the keepers of Arrakis after waves of refugees return from the Scattering, fleeing from a great enemy.

Chapterhouse: Dune, published just one year before Herbert’s death, ended on a cliffhanger. However, Herbert had begun outlining the seventh volume of his story, and the notes were used by his son, Brian, and Anderson in writing Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune. These final novels reveal the great enemy to be an empire of “thinking machines” (Herbert’s term for A.I.), and many of the prominent characters of past novels are revived for humanity’s final confrontation with this threat.

Prelude to Dune Prequel Trilogy

Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune may have concluded the original story, but they weren’t the first toes Brian Herbert and Anderson dipped into those literary waters. That would be the Prelude to Dune trilogy, consisting of House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Corrino. These books are set in the decades immediately before the first Dune and expand on the histories of many of Dune’s older supporting characters. House Atreides is primarily concerned with the coming-of-age of Leto I, Paul’s father. Leto’s growth continues in House Harkonnen, which also goes deeper into the sordid pleasures and betrayals of his great rival, Vladimir Harkonnen. House Corrino is the most direct set-up to the original Dune, as Leto’s concubine, Jessica, becomes pregnant with Paul.

Legends of Dune Prequel Trilogy

Dune is regarded as a seminal work of soft science-fiction – that is, science-fiction that stresses its human elements over concerns about scientific accuracy or plausibility. In the future imagined in the original Dune, interstellar travel doesn’t even involve computers. Herbert and Anderson’s second prequel trilogy, Legends of Dune, explores why that is. The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and the Battle of Corrin chronicle events set 10,000 years before Dune, when humanity was under the thumb of thinking machines. The jihad of the first title encompasses all three books, culminating in a decisive victory for humanity. The Thinking Machines escape total annihilation, however, allowing them to return as the final great enemy of the original series.

Heroes of Dune

So that’s an original storyline, largely written by the father, and two prequel trilogies written by the son and his partner: easy enough to keep straight. We hope you enjoyed that clarity because it goes out the window with Heroes of Dune, the two-book series follow-up by Herbert and Anderson. Paul of Dune bounces between events taking place between Dune and Dune Messiah and episodes from Paul’s youth. The Winds of Dune concerns Paul’s mother, Jessica, during the time between Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.

The Great Schools of Dune Prequel Trilogy

Herbert and Anderson couldn’t resist another set of prequels. After The Winds of Dune, they looked to the aftermath of Legends of Dune for their next trilogy. The “Great Schools” of the trilogy’s title refers to various organizations from the original Dune who have just begun to find their feet after the Butlerian Jihad. While they're all featured in each installment of the trilogy, the titles of the three books refer to three different factions: the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood in Sisterhood of Dune, the Mentats (human “computers” developed to replace thinking machines) in Mentats of Dune, and the Spacing Guild in Navigators of Dune.

The Caladan Trilogy

Most recently, Herbert and Anderson expanded on the events immediately preceding Dune again. Their focus is on the immediate family unit of Paul, Leto I, and Jessica on the Atreides homeworld of Caladan. The Duke of Caladan is for Leto, The Lady of Caladan for Jessica, and The Heir to Caladan, the most recently published Dune novel, is for Paul.

Dune: Part Two is available to watch in theaters in the U.S. beginning March 1.

GET TICKETS