Questions tagged [frank-herbert]

Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels.

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Are the books written by Irulan in Paul of Dune meant to represent the books quoted in Frank Herbert’s 1965 version of Dune?

In the Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson works Princess Irulan writes The Life of Muad’Dib, Volume 1-3. Are these meant to be the original Frank Herbert trilogy - Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of ...
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Did the original Star Trek borrow from Dune?

In the past I claimed that Dune heavily influenced Star Trek but a friend pointed out that Dune and Star Trek were both made public in a similar time frame (less than one year apart). So maybe Star ...
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How did the Tleilaxu in Dune master the "Language of God"?

The Tleilaxu are arguably the most strange and intricate race in Dune's books. Bene Tleilax masters manage to build Axlotl tanks, face dancers, and even to genetically modify themselves into weird ...
Arc's user avatar
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Is there a faction using the Lasgun / Shield reaction?

Just rewatched the new Dune movie and had to explain to a friend why melee combat is a thing. I then started wondering: this could very well be used as an offensive weapon. Emphasis by me: Lasguns ...
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Why don't stillsuits protect/retain fluid from the wearer's eyes?

I saw the new Dune (2021) movie last night (astonishingly good BTW), and I noticed that the stillsuits don't typically cover the eyes or upper faces of the person wearing the suit. When the suit was ...
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What did Herbert think of David Lynch's Dune?

In a discussion thread on reddit, one post claimed that Frank Herbert liked David Lynch's adaptation of his novel (until then I was under the impression Herbert never lived to see it, but I digress)- ...
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What is the In- and Out of Universe meaning of Padishah Emperor

According to Wikipedia, Padishah means 'Master King': Padishah ('Master King'; from Persian: pād [or Old Persian: pati], 'master', and shāh, 'king'),sometimes rendered as Padeshah or Padshah (Persian:...
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How did Gurney know where and when to wait for Leto II?

I am in the middle of the 3rd Dune book, Children of Dune. I do not understand how Lady Jessica/Gurney knew that Leto II would go to the desert, the time and location. I may guess that the Lady ...
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What was Frank Herbert thinking about equality in his books?

In the "Dune Genesis" essay originally published in the July 1980 issue of Omni Magazine* Frank Herbert wrote: "I now believe that evolution, or deevolution[sic], never ends short of death, that ...
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What was Stilgar's 'Sietch name'?

Did Stilgar have a Sietch name? Was the fact he was a Naib mean he didn't need or use one? I don't recall other character being referred to with their Sietch name other than Muad'dib (Usul).
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Are the events from Frank Herbert's "Destination Void" and "Dune" meant to be in the same universe [duplicate]

It's a bit of a stretch, I know, but there are a few clues. First, the point of "Destination Void" is to create AI, which turns out to be AI has been outlawed in the "Dune" universe after the ...
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Where does the energy come from in the Dune ecosystem?

In Frank Herbert's Dune books, the planet Arrakis has an interesting and well thought-out alien ecology. As summarised in this answer, the sandworms eat sandplankton (which consists, at least in part, ...
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Why aren't the Fremen concerned about their long-term future due to taking melange?

I was wondering: why aren't the Fremen worried about getting "degenerated" by taking the melange drug so as to the point do they become like the guild of navigators? At least in the first book.
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Was Herbert Influenced by Eric Frank Russell for the Buddhislamic faith?

I have occasionally wondered whether Frank Herbert might have been influenced by Eric Frank Russell. In The Great Explosion, reference is made to followers of a crank named Kassim who tried to ...
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Did the Fremen ever reinstate mortal combat to become Naib after Muad'Dib became the Mahdi?

To become the Naib of a sietch a Fremen they must call out the current Naib via the tahaddi challenge and kill them in mortal combat. Muad'Dib refused to kill Stilgar, Naib of his steich, when asked ...
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Was Frank Herbert's use of Bene Gesserit in his plot ironic? [closed]

In Frank Herbert's Dune series what was the point of the Bene Gesserit in light of their motivations for existence and how their ultimate plans played out in the books? Does Herbert use their goals to ...
SeligkeitIstInGott's user avatar
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What was the inspiration for Frank Herbert's 'Litany Against Fear' in Dune?

Does anyone know if there was some inspiration behind the 'Litany against Fear' in Dune? Perhaps some philosopher or ancient proverb? If there is no primary inspiration, were there any fundamental ...
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Who was Holtzmann?

Inventions acclaimed to Holtzmann pretty much makes the world go round in the Dune universe. Holtzmann engines allow space-folder ships to move through dimensions. The Holtzmann effect is somehow ...
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Are The Lazarus Effect and Dune in the same universe?

There are similar aspects between Dune, and the technology in The Lazarus Effect. Noticeable similarities: Lasguns - this weapon exists in both of the books, and has similar architecture in both ...
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Peerage and titles in Dune

In the Dune series, is there some method to the choice of ruler's titles on different planets, or is it random? For example, DUKE Atreides, BARON Harkonnen, VISCOUNT Moritani. Surely they all had the ...
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What is the origin of the term Melange in Dune?

The geriatric spice Melange has been a staple of the Dune saga from the beginning. Mr. Herbert is known to have used Hebrew terms and Islamic undertones as well. Also Prana Bindu sounds like a ...
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Dune: Appendix III Who/What controlled the higher dimensional plan?

Appendix III: Report on the Bene Gesserit Motives and Purposes On the surface it would seem that the Golden Path of Leto II was that plan and he was in charge, but he was not alive during the Arrakis ...
Athena Widget's user avatar
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How many characters in Dune are fictionalizations of real people?

In the appendices to Dune, Frank Herbert refers to a book by Pander Oulson, a transparent anagram of Poul Anderson. How many other characters, major, minor, or single appearance, are fictionalizations ...
William Ewing's user avatar
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Was the foresight from the spice in Dune series inspired by psychohistory in Foundation?

Foundation (by Isaac Asimov) was published in 1951, and primarily dealt with psychohistory, a branch of mathematics that laid down all the probable paths splitting off from a point and the percentage ...
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Does the Juice of Sapho do anything other than stain?

Mentat Masters regularly consume the Juice of Sapho, causing their lips to stain. According to the Dune Wiki, Sapho, or more commonly the Juice of Sapho, was a high-energy liquid extracted from ...
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Why did Ship preserve humans at all?

In the "Jesus Incident" series of books ("Destination: Void", "Jesus Incident", "Lazarus Effect" and "Ascension Factor"). I'm still not able to answer one question and I'm asking for help to find in-...
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What was the wordplay in the name Irulan?

Frank Herbert is well known for playing word games with character names in all of his works. ("Irulan" and "Noah Arkwright" are two of my favorite examples (from this Q) Noah Arkwright is kind of ...
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What exactly is an "abomination" in Frank Herbert's Dune Universe?

I'm reading Children of Dune, and I'm getting confused exactly what is meant by "an abomination" according to the Bene Gesserit. At this point in the story, Jessica is convinced Alia is abomination, ...
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How could Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam be the ((great)grand)mother of people with other/genetic memories, but nobody remembers hers?

In Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, Leto (the later God-emperor) tells Jessica¹: They know you’re a Harkonnen! It’ll be in their breeding records: Jessica out of Tanidia Nerus by the Baron Vladimir ...
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Does spice cause blue lips in Frank Herbert's Dune?

I saw a comment here that implied that consumption of the spice (in Dune by Frank Herbert) caused blue lips. Is there any evidence of that? I only remember the blue within blue eyes. Spice giving ...
amalgamate's user avatar
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Why does spice turn people's eyes blue?

Throughout the Dune series, 'blue within blue with blue' eyes (indicating both the pupils and whites of the eyes) are the mark of someone who consumes large quantities of spice. This cause and effect ...
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Was Dune originally a trilogy?

Was Dune meant to be a trilogy, which Children of Dune finished, before Frank Herbert decided to write more? The first three books are often grouped together, and have a similar time-frame and subject ...
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3 answers
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What does the Reverend Mother in Dune mean when she asks "And be damned to me?"

In fact, could someone explain to me what this passage is saying? "Don't you want to hear what the Reverend Mother can tell you about the Kwisatz Haderach?" Jessica asked. "She said those who ...
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Is "prophecy" a major theme throughout the entire original Dune series?

I really like the first Dune novel, but I can't decide if I should read the rest of Frank Herbert's series. Having a main character who knows exactly what's going to happen really took some of the fun ...
john_science's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
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What happens to the sandworm after its riders release it?

We know that sandworms are territorial and control an area up to 400 km2. Paul leaned forward, touched Kynes’ shoulder. “How big an area does each worm stake out?” Kynes frowned. The child kept ...
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What does the word "thumper" mean when used to measure distance?

There are several places in Dune where the word "Thumper" is used as a measure of distance: On the north polar map of Dune, there's an arrow pointing to the left with the caption: 20 Thumpers to ...
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Dune saga: In which order should I read prequels, books and sequels?

I'm really lucky, finally here in Spain all Frank Herbert's books will be published by the same editor in pocket edition! Unluckily all his works will be published in chronological order, and Dune has ...
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2 answers
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Is there a significant reason why people addicted to melange have blue eyes?

In the Dune series, people who are addicted to melange have entirely blue eyes. Is there a significant reason as to why Frank Herbert chose the colour blue over other eye colours?
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Leto II or III? Son of Paul who becomes GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE

In Herbert's first book of DUNE, the first child, a son of Paul and Chani né Leto II, is murdered as a toddler. Paul announces this presciently/psychically when the Sardaukar raid and kill a sietch ...
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Is "The Jesus Incident"'s generating chlorine gas from seawater feasible? [closed]

In an important scene in Frank Herbert's "The Jesus Incident", one of the characters generates chlorine gas by running a "high voltage" current through seawater. Is it possible to generate ...
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Where did the Sandworms/Sandtrout originally come from? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How did the sandworms/sandtrout appear on Arrakis? I'm going to ask a more pointed version of this question: How did the sandworms/sandtrout appear on Arrakis? Has anyone ...
SteveED's user avatar
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32 votes
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How do the Dune sandworms move?

The sandworms of Dune are huge and powerful. But how exactly do they move beneath all that sand? They don't necessarily skim above the surface as they apparently only raise smallish (relative to their ...
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7 votes
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Is there a reason Herbert used the name "Jesus Lewis"?

In the (lesser known, non-Dune) novel The Jesus Incident one of the character's name's is "Jesus Lewis". We learn in an important scene that it's normally pronounced in the Spanish style (i.e. "...
SteveED's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
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Original source of the term "Siaynoq"?

Re-reading the Dune novels, and I remembered an old question: What is the source of the term "Siaynoq" as found in God Emperor of Dune? Most of the non-english terms in the Dune universe come from ...
SteveED's user avatar
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55 votes
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Why does Count Fenring choose not to kill Paul Atreides at the end of Dune?

At the end of Dune when ordered by Shaddam IV to fight Paul Atreides, Count Fenring refuses to do so even though it is strongly implied that it is well within his capability to defeat him in combat. ...
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In Dune are specifics given as to what the "Suk Imperial conditioning" of Dr Yueh actually is?

I have read the first five Dune novels and after the first I do not recall any further mention of Imperial conditioning. In the novels written since Frank Herbert's death, were any further references ...
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Depictions of other aliens from Herbert's "Whipping Star" and "Dosadi Experiment"

Wayne Barlowe, in his classic art book "Guide to Extraterrestrials", depicted the frog-like Gowachin from Frank Herbert's books "Whipping Star" and "Dosadi Experiment". I've been trying to find ...
SteveED's user avatar
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9 votes
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Is there a canonical reference to the extent of the martial arts training that Bene Gesserit received?

This came up via discussion in another question. I do remember that Bene Gesserit get self defense training, but, basically I'd like to know any and all sources for the extent of the training, its ...
Nathan C. Tresch's user avatar
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2 answers
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Why did Leto II outlaw Mentats?

I didn't recall this detail from the books -- though I do recall the multiple Idaho gholas -- but this entry in the Dune Wiki indicates that the mentat order was outlawed during the reign of Leto II ...
Joseph Weissman's user avatar
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4 answers
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Are Jews in Chapterhouse: Dune the same cultural group as in our universe/timeline?

Religion features a huge role in Dune universe and there are many religions involved in the story line. These fictional religions are mostly ecumenical or syncretic combinations of existing ...
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