Dune Encyclopedia

Dune

by Willis Everett McNelly

Eight years in the making, the work of painstakung scholarship and research, containing thousands of entries and cross-references...

Futurist, journalist, bestselling author, world-maker Frank Herbert's magnificent future history, The Dune Chronicles, has proven itself the most popular and enduring work of speculative fiction of our age—not only for the grandeur of its epic sweep, but for the complexity and intricacy of its world. Now, for the first time, Dune is revealed in panoramic detail—the people, the desert planet, the ecology, the history, the entire universe of the visionary masterpiece!

- The legendary history of Paul Atreides, the Kwisatz Haderach
- Salusa Secundus: The prison planet
- Fremen Desert survival techniques
- Duncan Idaho (10158-10191): Swordmaster of the Ginaz
- A complete guide to the heraldry of the major house of Harkonnen
- "How Muad'Dib got his name": a folktale from the Oral history
- The Dune tarot; or the Golden Path
- The assassin's handbook: a complete guide to professional Chaumurky

Genres: Science Fiction, Reference, Fiction, Fantasy, Space Opera, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

Paperback

First published June 1, 1984

About the author

Willis Everett McNelly was a professor and writer best known for The Dune Encyclopedia, the 1984 companion to Frank Herbert's classic Dune series of science fiction novels.

The son of an avid science fiction reader of the same name, McNelly grew up immersed in science fiction, which he later preferred to call "speculative fiction". Securing a doctorate in English literature from Northwestern University, McNelly later edited the first university-level textbooks on science fiction as literature in the mid-1960s, in particular Above the Human Landscape and Mars, We Love You, co-edited with his fellow teacher, Jane Hipolito.

McNelly died of cancer on April 7, 2003, at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, California.

Wikipedia

Reviews

[Marlene Waldron · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hunted for this book for years and ended up just giving up ever reading it. Then one day, at a yard sale, I found it wedged between 2 Danielle Steel pieces of crap. I grabbed it and it was like pulling Excalibur from the stone, it shone in the light as I lifted it up above my head and laughed. It was in great condition and looked like it had never been opened in its 30 years. Secretly I smiled as I went to the owner with my precious and other items when she said, "Oh, just take whatever books you want. They're going in the trash if no one takes them by the end of the day."

JOY!!!! I got 'The Dune Encyclopedia' FOR FREE! After I stopped shaking in my car, I picked it up and became engrossed in the history and back story of one of my all time favorite novels, happily forgetting I was blocking someone in the parking lot until the horn honking pulled me back to reality.

Some of the people and places, events and actions are created by McNelly, but with the approval of Frank Herbert. I would much rather read The Encyclopedia than any of the tripe that Herbert Jr. and Anderson the hack spew out on a yearly basis. Speaking of Danielle Steele level of writing...

[Terence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fortunately, this work was compiled before Brian Herbert began that truly awful continuation of his father's masterpiece (overall, there were some pretty weak entries in Herbert pere's oeuvre, let's be honest).

It pretends to be a collection of select finds from the Rakis Hoard, discovered 2 millennia after Leto II's death, and there's a wealth of fascinating material that brings a richness and depth to the Corrino and Atreides Imperia. For example, there are biographical entries for all of the major characters of the series. Sometimes more than one - Paul gets three entries, one of which is the highly edited version produced under the God Emperor.

There are also entries that explain the Holtzman Effect, which produced both the personal shield and the means for FTL travel. There's a history of the Bene Gesserit that can be read as an accurate portrayal of a matriarchal cabal that has existed since the Neolithic or as the self-serving chronicle of an organization that can trace its origins to the Butlerian Jihad. There's an explanation of Imperial administration and the Great Convention that governed human affairs for 10 millennia; the origins of Mentats and Sardaukar; an exploration Fremen poetry; the role of the Missionaria Protectiva; a rundown of Duncan Idaho and the gholas who served the Atreides for 3,000+ years; and a furtive look at the vile Bene Tleilax and their face dancers.

There's also a fascinating essay (supposedly one of the few writings that can be attributed to Paul Maud'dib) about the origins, purpose and influence of the Orange Catholic Bible.

Overall, a wonderful companion to the Dune series (though I wish it could have incorporated some of the material from the later books, particularly the Honored Matres).

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 - 4.5 stars

This book makes me both happy and sad. Happy because it is a truly excellent resource for the world of Dune which is itself, in my mind at least, a seminal work in the science fiction genre; sad because not only is this considered non-canon, but it throws into sharp relief the utter turpitude of the works that have instead become canon for this world: namely the crapulous products extruded by Herbert’s son and his accomplice Kevin Anderson in the never-ending string of sequels and prequels that clog the bookstore shelves. So be warned, you know where I stand and what axe I have to grind when I look at this book.

Presented as the product of scholars from within the fictional world of Dune itself millenia after the fall of Leto II and his ‘Golden Path’ for humanity, the varied entries present the reader with an informative and entertaining expansion of the universe as initially set up by Herbert père. In many ways this could be seen as a loving work of fan-fiction as compiled by a troupe of ardent admirers, though that makes the work sound like much less than I think it is. Whether it’s in the creation of figures like Harq al-Harba (the mysterious and much lauded ‘Shakespeare’ of the Atreides imperium), the explication of the history (or histories) and development of the Bene Gesserit Order, or the scientific explanation of the ubiquitous holtzman effect, a scientific discovery that ultimately made the imperium possible, this book is a fascinating and entertaining experience.

The encyclopedia is very much more than the sum of its parts and is not so much (or only) an explication of the canonical people, places, and events of Herbert’s Dune universe as it is a creative imagining of the various nooks, crannies, and corners of that universe as envisioned by people that were enamoured of it and who used the information they had available, as well as their own creative impulses, to create something remarkable. As we read the words attributed to fictional scholars from the very universe they are investigating we are presented with a uniquely thought-provoking amalgamation of fiction and nonfiction. It is a reference work that is also a story in its own right. I like to imagine that this is perhaps one of the many universes that Mua’Dib himself saw in one of his spice dreams even if it is not officially canon (though at the time of its publication it did receive the implicit approval of Frank Herbert). Indeed, it seems to me that it paints a far more interesting picture (and one I think more true to both the spirit and the letter of Frank Herbert’s original series) than anything currently stamped with the Herbert estate seal of approval.

One interesting element of the book is the fact that some of the entries seem to contradict each other (though usually only in small points or in off-handed ways) and I was a little bit thrown by this at first when I detected an apparent ‘error’ until I realized how much it added to the verisimilitude of the work overall and granted to its conceit of authorship (namely that that it was written by different scholars based primarily on newly unearthed material from the ‘Rakis Horde’ discovered millenia after the hey-day of Mua’dib and his jihad) a very deft mark of authenticity. I’d have to say that I now think of it as a feature, not a bug.

I was also intrigued by the way in which the encyclopedia points out the ambivalence inherent in the central heroes of Herbert’s series. It would seem a truism to a reader of these books that the Harkonnens are simply evil while the Atreides represent all that is just and good: a voice of resistance against the unjust forces arrayed against them, both noble and imperial. But we see through this book, and its supposed authors of post-Atreides scholars, an ultimate sense of ambivalence towards the Atreides’ place in human history. The book seems to go out of its way, through the supposed collective voice of subsequent scholars, to show how ultimately destructive were the Atreides, the supposed heroes of the story, not only to the human ecumene in general, but especially to the Fremen, for whom they were supposed to be literal saviours. In the end Leto II’s harsh path for humanity may have been necessary (though only to break them out of the trap his father had apparently put them in), but I’m not sure if it can be argued that in the end the Atreides did anything other than destroy the Fremen at the same time as they fulfilled their hopes…a powerful message in itself: be careful what you wish for, especially if it is a saviour. The Atreides may have been necessary for the ultimate survival of humanity in their universe, but if so they were perhaps a necessary evil.

A great and immersive read that I'd recommend to any fans of the original series (and yes, I'm one of the weird ones that actually likes all six of the original books).

[Teggan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes I am a big enough dork to give the Dune Encyclopedia a fifth star. This is also the only book that I've ever stolen in my life. I stole it from my high school library. This is still the only thing that I've done that I feel deeply ashamed of. I know that I’m not a terribly good person so I believe that means that I have one seriously screwed up conscience.

[M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this book. The entries are fascinating and far better than the tripe that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson wrote to "add" to the Dune universe. As far as I am concerned, this and the 6 Dune books by Frank are the only Dune canon.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating addition to the original Dune series - (it was published long before the additional volumes were even thought about). As such its entries really only cover those books from Frank Herbert (Okay I know that the later books are taken from notes and ideas discovered years after his death but we can argue over those all night).

The book is presented like a true encyclopaedia which does mean at times it gets a little dry but once you start the usual hop-scotching through the various entries finding links from one subject to the next you can very quickly find yourself completely different world than you started (literally).

This really only appeals to the fans of the whole saga - if you dont really get Dune then this books is not for you and I guess that is one of its downfalls. The series though widely known and much praised is a huge world to break in to - yes that is part of its appeal that it is so precisely and carefully constructed but it also comes at a cost, you have to invest in this world. But if you do enjoy the worlds that the Spice created then this is a wonderful addition and sadly much missed in print.

[Sol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of sanctioned, academically themed Dune fanfiction, Dune's glossary on steroids. The adherence to the encyclopedia format, and the quality of the entries, varies, but I found only a few entries unreadably bad (G.E.'s "Truthsayer" and "Reverend Mother" being almost pure gibberish), but the majority were worth reading, plus it's an encyclopedia. You're not required to read everything. I read in whatever order I liked and didn't bother to read most of the Fremen technology entries. Can be read (for now) on the internet archive, and it's unlikely to be reprinted any time soon.

The entries have a wide variety, consisting of histories of the factions, biographies of major and minor characters, descriptions of various bits of technology, and more. It makes a perfect antidote to the contraction of the main series books, suggesting that there were in fact people and places away from and other than Arrakis. In particular I enjoyed the entries on the Bene Gesserit, which claim they have been in existence more or less since the dawn of civilization, and had a shadowy hand in several of the more major parts of galactic history, heightening the irony of their plan going so badly awry with Paul and Leto. There is also the story of I.V. Holtzman, a pre-Butlerian scientist who had his personality copied into a paranoid starship, and ended up divulging most of the discoveries that would enable the coming galactic empire over the course of several cometary orbits, only to be destroyed by the Butlerians before he could make his final unifying revelation.

There are detailed descriptions of the biology of both Face Dancers and sandworms, which funnily enough both contradict remarks by Leto II. He says that the Face Dancers are more like colonial organisms than human beings, while the Encyclopedia Face Dancers are merely highly modified humans, and speculates that the sandworms were moved to Arrakis from elsewhere, whereas the Encyclopedia claims they were naturally evolved from native worms when the planet was more Earth-like.

Some entries are parodic of historical research. The first entry for Paul Atreides is a document casting doubt on his claimed Atreides-Harkonnen-B.G. ancestry, instead suggesting he was a native Fremen who later concocted a false ancestry to build his legend and legitimacy. An entry on a complicated calendrical system to harmonize month names across the Corrino empire, ends with the punchline that the calendar was never widely implemented, and even where it was, corruption of the names rendered it useless for its original purpose. The entry for the "Crompton Ruins" describes what is clearly the Ixian settlement outside Leto's empire, which became the source of a serious belief they were the work of an alien intelligence. Almost every entry ends with a "further references" section citing in-universe historical documents, which are compiled in a several pages long bibliography at the end. Bafflingly, there is no index.

There are a handful of serious holes, however. Planets are severely neglected, with places like Caladan, Giedi Prime, and Kaitain receiving no direct description, while others like Arrakis and Ecaz do. Muad'dib's Qizarate has no entry. An apparent aversion to repetition between entries (understandable) leads to information being awkwardly split. Despite the claimed reference at the end of the "Great Houses" entry, there is no "Corinno, House" entry, and the history of the Corrinos is distributed among the "Sardaukar", "Atreides, House", "Corrin, Battle of" and various entries about the empire. Irulan's entry is almost entirely about her writings, totally neglecting her role in the assassination attempt on Paul or Chani's poisoning. While there was a clear editorial effort to keep the story straight and minimize direct contradictions between entries, the level of certainty about events is less strictly controlled. For example, Ghanima's entry holds it as fact that Irulan tried to seduce Ghanima's oldest son, while Irulan's entry records it as a mere slanderous rumour.

The situation of Earth isn't too clear. It was apparently inhabited and under imperial control into the time of the Corrino empire, as the original Zensunni were taken from there as an imperial levy, but it has no entry, nor does the "First Empire", which is the retroactively conceived government existing from the time of Alexander the Great (rendered "Aleksandr" (missed opportunity to use the Arabic reanalysis "al-Iskandr")) until the first unreliable FTL travel. The "Family Atomics" entry seriously garbles the history of the period, projecting the feudal structure of the Corrino empire to Earth circa WWII, and misrepresenting people as Houses (Washington, "Steel", Zedong, de Gaulle), but also the amusingly apropos Windsor and Abraham, while the "Harkonnen, House" entry correctly notes Nicholai II as the last tsar of Russia.

There is at least a useful timeline at the beginning, from which we can say that the solar system was colonized between our AD 2100-2600 (taking 14255 BG = AD 1945), outnumbering Earth's population 20 to 1, a planetoid struck earth in 2798, after which Ceres became the centre of civilization, and Earth was reseeded with life and set aside as a park in 2840. In 3196 the secret of FTL travel was discovered, with 10 worlds in the empire by 4000, a thousand by 5000, but Ceres was destroyed by rebellion in 5095. From then to 8638 a dark age reigned, when Holtzman waves allowed FTL communication. By 11178 the galaxy had been reunified into a new empire. The Butlerian Jihad ends in 16092, and the Corrino empire's year 0 corresponds to our AD 16200 (there is a year 0 listed, but isn't clear if BG/AG calendar actually includes one, who cares we love off by one errors). Dune then starts in AD 26390, and Leto II dies in AD 29924, with the Encyclopedia being published in 31740.

The back of the book identifies the 43 contributors to the Encyclopedia, spelling out the initials that are appended to most entries. Confusingly, the Dr. Willis E. McNelly of the cover is NOT the W.E.M. of the credits, but W.M., with W.E.M. being one Walter E. Myers (who appears to also be a professor). Most entries have an initial credit at the bottom, but not all. At first I thought that signified that they had been written by whatever the next initial was (i.e. if 1 is credited to A, 2 and 3 are uncredited, and 4 is credited to B then B wrote 2, 3 and 4), but I'm pretty sure I found at least one case where two successive entries were both credited to the same person, so who the hell knows. None of the credits look like authors known to me, though my suspicion that "Victoria Lustbader" must be married to Eric Van Lustbader turned out to be right.

Finally, it is claimed the Fremen can nut without jizzing. Thank you Dune Encyclopedia.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the nerdiest book I've ever reviewed for Goodreads, despite all the RPG books I've reviewed since I started using this website.

The Dune Encyclopedia is, as the name might imply, a chronicle of the events, places, people, and things in the Dune series, from Dune through to God Emperor of Dune, the latest novel in the series at the point it was published, though Heretics of Dune came out later that same year. That would make it interesting enough for someone who loves world-building as much as I do, but the real payoff comes in the presentation: it's an in-world encyclopedia, presented as a complication of historical records cached by the God-Emperor and discovered by later archeologists, and then edited together by a team of scholars. So not only is it a comprehensive encyclopedia, it's a comprehensive in-world encyclopedia set into the fiction of that world.

This is totally fantastic. The in-world nature gives it a much more interesting format than the various "authorized guides to [blah]," and it's constantly referring to books, poems, plays, the work of other scholars in archeological or historical journals, and other material in the Dune universe that doesn't show up in any of the actual books but would logically exist. The multiple scholars that compiled it, who sign the entries they're responsible for, mean that not every entry is written from the same perspective or to the same ends. The entry for Duke Leto Atreides is a relatively straightforward catalog of the Red Duke's accomplishments and biography, for example, whereas the entry for Lady Jessica Atreides--written by a different scholar--contains a short section about her life and then paragraph after paragraph of mystical speculation about her embodiment of the Mother, the Hetaira, the Amazon, and the Medial at different moments in her life and how that reflected on her relations with others.

There's a huge variety of information here. The melange entry has the chemical structure of the spice and the exact effects on the metabolism. There's one entry--the "Al-Harba Question"--that's devoted entirely to a parody of the Shakespeare authorship question. If you've ever wondered why it is that the Fremen speak essentially comprehensible Arabic, you can look into the Fremen language entry and learn the answer: because of the Reverend Mothers' ancestral memories and respect for tradition. There's also an entry for Galach, and while it's not as developed as any of Tolkien's languages, there's at least a pronunciation and conjugation guide for the main language of the Imperium.

Are you curious about a list of every single emperor of the known universe from the time of the Butlerian Jihad through the ages to the God-Emperor? You can find it! Fremen poetry? It's in here, with examples! An explanation of how shields work, why they blow up when shot with a lasgun, and how the same principle that makes shields work makes interstellar travel and communications possible? Yep! The reason that Dune has a breathable atmosphere despite barely having any vegetation at all couched in an explanation of sandworm biology? You got it! The specifics of the Bene Gesserit training program? The way Fremen dress in their sietches? The number of votes each House Major has in the Landsraad? That's all there, along with pretty much any other question you might ask.

One thing I love is the way that the scholars compiling the historical documents filter everything through their own socio-political understanding. At that point, the vast majority of human history has been a feudal imperium under the single rule of an emperor balanced by a council of noble houses, and that view gets extended backward even to times when it's not appropriate. For example, in the Atomics entry, there's a reference to the first use of atomics in war being during a "provincial dispute" between House Washington and House Nippon back during the semi-legendary days of the First Empire. Elsewhere, there are notes about that conflict being the impetus for House Washington seizing the imperial throne from House Windsor.

Another bit that I found great is the history of the Butlerian Jihad. In Dune, there's not really much explanation about it except the idea that thinking machines were limiting humanity's potential and only by divesting themselves of their crutches could humanity really determine their destiny, which makes sense because applying that to messianism and prescience is one of the major themes of the Dune series. The Dune Encyclopedia's more expanded version doesn't go into too much detail, but it does have some suggestions of a machine conspiracy to perform a breeding program to make humanity into a sub-sapient race of slaves, though it's possible this was only occurring on a single planet. Then religious revulsion for what the Butlerians found there turned what was originally a small rebellion into a full-fledged jihad that swept the known universe.

There's also some evidence that the child Butler was going to have was going to be the Kwisatz Haderach, but was scheduled for an unnecessary abortion by the machines to keep humanity under their thumb. Robo-thumb. Cyberthumb? Whatever. I'm not as much a fan of this, but it would be just like the Bene Gesserit to attribute every major historical event to their influence. The entry about them has data on them going to back to Terran history and groups of Bene Gesserit manipulating everyone from pre-history through the colonization, the Jihad, the Imperium, and beyond.

This is apparently non-canonical now, but since the canon is really stupid, with telekinetic sorceresses and thinking machines being evil because what is love and basically none of the themes of Herbert's original works, The Dune Encyclopedia will forever be my canon. Though admittedly, even in Herbert's published works there are some differences--see above about this being published the same year as Heretics of Dune.

Oh, there's also a nice exploration of the imperial feudal system, and how it actually takes a lot of effort to maintain space nobles and a space empire, it's not just a natural state that governments fall into. And there's even a bibliography of all the fictional books used by the fictional scholars at the end.

Basically, I wish that every universe that I really like had one of these to go with it. World-building is one of my favorite parts of reading about invented universes, and The Dune Encyclopedia brings that in spades. It's a niche product, but in that niche it's unparalleled. Highly recommended.

[Phillip Lozano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and mostly rewarding set of articles, stories and extrapolations based on Frank Herbert's first four (five?) 'Dune' novels. This really needs a reprint, as it completely blows away anything that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have crapped out in the guise of prequels and sequels in intelligence, imagination, skill and taste.

[Simon Mcleish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally published on my blog here in March 1999.

If you look at the back cover, The Dune Encyclopedia may seem to have been the ultimate accessory for the fan of Frank Herbert's Dune series. What is written there makes it sound as though it contains systematically ordered material from the archive of Herbert's own background notes to the series. It lists specific items, which are mostly exaggerated descriptions of articles in the encyclopedia itself ("complete guide to the art of kanly", for example, just means a description of a few of the more common methods of assassination). It is endorsed by Herbert, so it can nevertheless, so it can lay some claim to being authoritative. (He explicitly reserves the right to change the ideas in any later books written in the series, and certainly did so: both Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune contradict the Encyclopedia.)

The Encyclopedia is not, however, a systematic collection of Herbert's background materials. I am sure that these existed (given the complexity of Herbert's imagined setting for these novels), and they may well have been used to produce much of the material here. The individual articles vary wildly in interest (the one on the geology of Arrakis is particularly yawn inducing) and quality. There is little consistency in coverage; for example, the biographical studies of the major characters are too variable in type and depth to be permitted in a real encyclopedia (which this pretends to be; it uses the conceit that it is a reference work of the far future). The one to avoid is the account of Jessica, mother of Paul Atreides, as the fulfilment of each of Jung's list of human archetypes - male as well as female - and particularly what it has to say about the archetype of "Mother".

Characters are invented for no apparent reason - a playwright, who is basically Shakespeare, right down to the details of the authorship controversy, for example. Some of the articles are distinctly ill advised - whoever wrote the Imperial Poetry account and included quotations from the best poetry of the period must have a very high opinion of their own writing.

There are interesting articles among them; these are mainly the ones to do with people from before the date of the first book, such as the early emperors, the founders of the Spacing Guild and so on.

The conclusion is that this book could certainly have done with a firmer editorial hand.

[D.A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

After many years of reading and re-reading the Dune series (through God Emperor) I've concluded this: the Dune Encyclopedia is the best reason to have read these novels which, while variously awesome, excellent, and interesting, are never quite as magnificent and fun as this.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not canon, but interesting as all get out. Works best if the reader "picks and chooses" what they consider canon out of it. Some of the entries you'll like, others you'll think "that's not how I picture the universe working."

[zed · Rating 4 out of 5]

One for the purists and good fun.

[nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parallel with this work, I read (and at the time of writing this review I am still reading) an amazing book on the World of Ice and Fire, and how sad it is sometimes that the equally interesting world of Frank Herbert does not have such encyclopaedia.

Do not think, here you can also find a new things, including absolute theories, not confirmed by anything, curious, but still this is just a drop in the ocean.

A very simple book, for real fans, there are always few lovers and a desire to know everything to the smallest detail.

The main advantage of this encyclopedia is the approval of the author himself, albeit with publicity that much should not be taken for truth.

Herbert's son calls this book a fanfiction, which sounds ridiculous, it's funny that he himself, together with a co-author, has been writing those same fanfiction for years, squeezing all the juice out of Dune. I guess how many notes Herbert had to leave before his death so that his son would not starve :)

Eh, I can only dream of a chic illustrated edition of the Dune encyclopedia, and be content with the crumbs available.

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and detailed. I quite enjoyed this.

[Chris Musselman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reviews by Terence, Andrew and Teggan say much better than I can how great the Dune Encylopedia is. There are some factual errors that unfortunately have gained traction, and were perpetuated by Brian Herbert. [Simon's premise is wrong. The DE is obviously fan fiction, not a collection of Frank Herbert's notes and compiled into a 'source document.'] I also like that T, A and T recognize Brian Herbert's prequels and sequels as tripe. I would go further and say they are a betrayal of his father's work. He may, indeed, have found some of his father's notes after his death (or he may not have...), but that's where any similarity to the Dune universe ends. Brian has none of his father's depth of imagination. His stories are facile, contrived and trite. There are way too many examples to pick just one or two. In addition, he and his co-writer Anderson don't write very well, unlike Frank Herbert. The thing that bothers me the most, though, is that many people have read Brian's works and think they are canon. This is truly depressing. (Often, these same people believe David Lynch's Dune is a good adaptation of the book, but that is a question for another review.). The Dune Saga, Frank Herbert's six books, is one of the greatest literary feats of humankind. To think of Brian's works as part of the Dune accomplishment diminishes that greatness in ways that are hard to overstate. I only hope Denis Villanueve's screenplay follows the original Dune, in scope and underlying intent, as he has promised. I have some trepidation. It's an extremely difficult book to adapt. But I'll be there on opening day!

[McKenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth it if only for the list of Duncans, but contains so much more beside...

This material *could* have been the grounding for an epic continuation of the original books, but, instead, The Ungrateful Son and The Hack chose to make an ersatz, McDonald's version with water worms and ultraspice and stupid (*literally* stupid, as in unable-to-detect-blatant-clues) characters and Star Wars robots.

[Ericthehamster]

"A must for every Dune fanatic. Some great speculative back story for the Dune Universe. I was disappointed Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson didn't follow it more closely in their ""preludes"" to Dune. "

[Tim Clouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful background material that is consistent with Herbert's work. Brian Herbert's failure to use it is an tremendous blunder.

Glad I have kept it all these years. Looks to be a collector's item.

[Jennifer Lizcano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah you WISH you had a copy. Bwahahahaaa! My most prized book in my collection! Just try to find a hardcover copy, I dare you!

[Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information was written (and it is most certainly not canonical) before God Emperor was complete. I liked it well enough, but its rarity makes it worth owning.

[Brian Cary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like many have said, it preceeds the books by Brian Herbert and thus an argument about "is this cannon or are Brian Herbert's stories cannon?" begins with a desire to declare some sort of supremacy. Honestly it is a matter of what you are looking for in a story.
What this encyclopedia does is make the world of Dune come alive by giving us an understanding of Frank Herbert's universe. His son can write stories about the universe of Dune, but this Encyclopedia fills in all the little minute details that fans enjoy and obsess over. I had a very early copy and the illustrations alone were fantastic images that complimented my ideas of Dune as a young teenager.
Most of all I recommend buying it for the illustrations.

[Lawrence Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comprehensive companion to Frank Herbert's Dune novels is an invaluable resource for enthusiasts and scholars alike. I was fortunate to discover a copy at my local library.

Authored as an authentic in-universe encyclopedia, this meticulously crafted book took eight years to complete. It features thousands of detailed entries and cross-references, accompanied by hand-drawn illustrations. Readers can explore an extensive array of topics, including characters, organisations, planets, ecology, weapons, transportation, and the intricate history of the Dune universe.

[E.B. Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember checking this out at the library many, MANY times in my childhood. I probably read it as often as I read the Dune Chronicles!

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10

[Lori Upman]

OMG. That is all I have to say.

[jody smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun compendium to go with the dune Chronicles.

[श्रेया (Shreya) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intense.

[Fresno Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

so much better than the corpsefucking shite created by Brian Herbert

[Rodrigo Lanas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful companion, if often non-canon. Filled with a lot of enthusiastic writing that is sure to delight fans