Dune Reading Order: Reading Frank Herbert's Sci-Fi series

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It’s a classic and a franchise. Written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965, Dune is a science-fiction epic set in a distant future where the one who controls the “spice” controls the universe – it’s the over-simplistic way to introduce the story. Dune takes us to a feudal interstellar society in which noble houses controlling individual planets had pledged allegiance to the Padishah Emperor.

The story of the Dune saga begins with young Paul Atreides whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis where you can find the only source of the “spice” melange. Politics, religion, ecology, and technology collide when forces of the empire plot against each other to seize control of Arrakis.

Reading Dune Books in Order

That’s the one-million-dollar question, what is the Dune Reading Order? For some, there’s nothing good after the original Dune, but if you are here, you probably want more than that. So, here is a possible book order for the Dune series. It’s not a chronological one, because I think that the best way to start is with the first book published.

Dune – The first and only entry point that makes sense. This is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family-and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.
Dune Messiah – Paul Atreides, prince turned revolutionary leader and messiah of a fanatical religious sisterhood, is to be brought low by the very forces that created him. Yet foreseeing the plans of his enemies, he determines to drive on towards his own, shockingly different, vision of the future.
Children of Dune – The sand-blasted world of Arrakis has become green, watered, and fertile. Old Paul Atreides, who led the desert Fremen to political and religious domination of the galaxy, is gone. But for the children of Dune, the very blossoming of their land contains the seeds of its own destruction.

Frank Herbert’s Dune Saga 6-Book Boxed Set: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune

At that point, you can stop. Well, if you want more, I prefer to continue with Frank Herbert’s work. That said, here’s what’s known as Heroes of Dune: Paul of Dune, The Winds of Dune, and Princess of Dune. Half of the story of Paul of Dune takes place between the first Dune and Dune Messiah Well, it’s more complicated. Idem with The Winds of Dune; and Princess of Dune is set two years before Dune. I refer you to the chronological reading order, it’s easier for me.

God Emperor of Dune – Centuries have passed on Dune, and the planet is green with life. Leto, the son of Dune’s savior, is still alive but far from human, and the fate of all humanity hangs on his own sacrifice.
Heretics of Dune – The Lost Ones are returning home from the far reaches of space. The great sandworms are dying. And the children of Dune’s children awaken from empire as from a dream, wielding the new power of a heresy called love.
Chapterhouse: Dune – The desert planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. Now, the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune’s power, have colonized a green world–and are turning it into a desert.

Chapterhouse: Dune ends with a cliffhanger. With Frank Herbert’s death in 1986, there was no conclusion in sight, until Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson published two sequels based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert:

Hunters of Dune – The exotic odyssey of Duncan’s no-ship as it is forced to elude the diabolical traps set by the ferocious, unknown Enemy. To strengthen their forces, the fugitives have used genetic technology from Scytale, the last Tleilaxu Master, to revive key figures from Dune’s past.
Sandworms of Dune – The end with a lot of answers about the origin of the Honored Matres, the tantalizing future of the planet Arrakis, the final revelation of the Kwisatz Haderach, and the resolution to the war between Man and Machine.

Another possible ending for this Dune Reading Order. Now, if you really are into going further into the story, you can go back in time with the prequels.

The Dune prequel series in order

This trilogy is known as Prelude to Dune, the story leads to the first Dune novel.

House Atreides – As Emperor Elrood’s son plots a regicide, young Leto Atreides leaves for a year’s education on the mechanized world of Ix; a planetologist seeks the secrets of Arrakis, and the eight-year-old slave Duncan Idaho is hunted by his cruel masters in a terrifying game from which he vows escape and vengeance.
House Harkonnen – As Shaddam sits at last on the Golden Lion Throne, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen plots against the new Emperor and House Atreides – and against the mysterious Sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit.
House Corrino – The blood feud between Duke Leto of Caladon and Baron Vladimir Harkonnen reaches its climax, as the emperor Shaddam – leader of House Corrino – is finally forced to curb the powerful Harkonnens or risk losing his own throne.

This trilogy is known as Legends of Dune, the story takes place over 10,000 years before the events of the first Dune novel.

The Butlerian Jihad – The tyrants translated their brains into mobile mechanical bodies and created a new race, the immortal man-machine hybrids called cymeks. Impatient with human beings’ endless disobedience and the cymeks’ continual plotting to regain their power, the world-controlling planetary computers has decided that it no longer needs them. Only victory can save the human race from extermination.
The Machine Crusade – Earth is a radioactive ruin. But the initial campaign of the Butlerian Jihad has given new hope to mankind. Serena Butler, whose murdered child has become a symbol for oppressed humanity, inspires a war against the thinking computers led by Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides.
The Battle of Corrin – The universal computer mind Omnius has retreated to its last stronghold, where it plots a devastating new strategy that could undo the victories of the Butlerian Jihad. The surviving Titans are creating new lieutenants to do their will when at last they return to attack the human beings they once ruled.

This trilogy is known as Great Schools of Dune, this story is a sequel to the Legends of Dune trilogy and takes place nearly a century after the events of Dune: The Battle of Corrin.

Sisterhood of Dune – It is eighty-three years after the last of the thinking machines were destroyed in the Battle of Corrin, after Faykan Butler took the name of Corrino and established himself as the first Emperor of a new Imperium. Great changes are brewing that will shape and twist all of humankind.
Mentats of Dune – The Mentats, the Navigators, and the Sisterhood all strive to improve the human race, but each group knows that as Butlerian fanaticism grows stronger, the battle will be to choose the path of humanity’s future―whether to embrace civilization or to plunge into an endless dark age.
Navigators of Dune – The storyline tells the origins of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood and its breeding program, the human-computer Mentats, and the Navigators, as well as a crucial battle for the future of the human race, in which reason faces off against fanaticism.

The Caladan Trilogy in Order

To go with the new Dune adaptation, Brian Herbert wrote with Kevin J. Anderson a new trilogy. It’s called The Caladan Trilogy and it focuses on Duke Leto, Lady Jessica, and Paul, leading directly to the events in Dune.

Dune: The Duke of Caladan – Leto Atreides, Duke of Caladan and father of the Muad’Dib. While all know of his fall and the rise of his son, little is known about the quiet ruler of Caladan and his partner Jessica. Or how a Duke of an inconsequential planet earned an emperor’s favor, the ire of House Harkonnen, and set himself on a collision course with his own death. This is the story.
Dune: The Lady of Caladan – Lady Jessica, mother of Paul, and consort to Leto Atreides. The choices she made shaped an empire, but first the Lady of Caladan must reckon with her own betrayal of the Bene Gesserit. She has already betrayed her ancient order, but now she must decide if her loyalty to the Sisterhood is more important than the love of her own family.
Dune: The Heir of Caladan – The story that began with Duke Leto Atreides’s rise to power, then continued with the consequences of Lady Jessica’s betrayal, will now conclude with Paul becoming the leader that he needs to be on the way to his pivotal role as Muad’Dib.

If after all that, you still want more, there are short stories and novellas. You can find most of them in the next two following books, and I put them in chronological reading order.

Tales of Dune – A collection of short stories set in the world of Dune featuring: “Hunting Harkonnens,” “Whipping Mek,” “The Faces of a Martyr,” “Red Plague,” “Wedding Silk,” “A Whisper of Caladan Seas,” “Sea Child,” and “Treasure in the Sand.”
Sands of Dune – A collection of novellas set in the world of Dune featuring: “Imperial Court,” “Edge of a Crysknife,” “Blood of the Sardukar,” and “The Waters of Kanly.”