Just as interesting the original Dunes series.

Although this is a really neat book in that it adds a lot of supplementary material to the Dune mythos, it actually isn't as much of a reference book as I had hoped. Often times things I would expect to have a complete entry (i.e. Water of Life) will only be mentioned in other entries, and even then sometimes only briefly.

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.

Dune Encyclopedia Tr by Willis McNelly (1984)

Please, someone, reprint this fascinating book!

40 years ago, it was announced that avant-garde filmmaker David Lynch was making an adaptation of F. Herbert's "Dune". So, I read this authorized but independently written 1984 release. Extensive extra stories, including male homo-erotic ruling house boyfriends, which I quickly copied in two high school era-composed fan fiction stories. So, four decades later, I acquire the update on this 20th century publication, now that all things in the '20s are "Dune"-related. Way to go, Frank.

i think this book is rich of information

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).

One for the purists and good fun.

For a fan of Frank Herbert's Dune, this is a wonderful book. Note that it is written "in character", the author claiming to be a scholar with access to Leto II's archives found in the Rakis hoards. Long out of print, it's not easy to find, but it's well worth the effort.

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.

my most cherished book... ask me to tell you the story