Dune
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Dune |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Frank Herbert |
| Date(s): | 1965 (first novel), 1984 (film), 2000 (first miniseries), 2021 (film) |
| Medium: | book, film, television |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, and the first novel in the Dune series. It was published in 1965 and won the Hugo Award in 1966, and with 12 million copies sold it is the best-selling science fiction novel in history.
The first novel was adapted into a film in 1984 written and directed by David Lynch. The Sci-fi Channel later adapted the first three books into the TV miniseries' Dune (2000) and Children of Dune (2003), which sparked a small online fandom. The filmmaker Denis Villeneuve adapted part of the first novel into a film that was released in 2021 with simultaneous theatrical and streaming availability, after a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic; Part One was successful enough that Part Two was approved.
There are five sequels: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. There are many other prequel and sequel additions to the franchise co-written by Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert, and author Kevin J. Anderson.
Summary
Summary: "The story takes place in the year 10,191. The universe is governed through a system of feudal rule, presided over by Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, who appears to take his marching orders from something that resembles a talking vagina. In the kingdom are two rival houses -- the House of Atreides and the House of Harkonnen. Each house is trying to gain dominion over the universe, but that dominion can only be gained by the house that controls the Spice, a special substance that permits the folding of time. The Spice is only available on the desert world of Arrakis, or Dune. The Emperor, tired of the feuding between the two houses, permits the Atreides to take over the Spice production on Dune, while secretly working with the Harkonnens to launch a sneak attack on the Atreides and destroy them. The leader of the Atreides is Duke Leto, who rules with the help of his concubine Jessicaand son Paul. The rival Harkonnens are headed by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and his two unsavory nephews, Rabban and Feyd. When his father is murdered by the Harkonnens, Paul escapes to Dune, where he is greeted by the Fremen (the desert dwellers on Dune who prepare the Spice) as the messiah foretold in Fremen legend. Paul assumes the mantle of messiah and leads the Fremen in a revolt that topples the balance of power in the universe."[1]
Fandom
Dune is widely recognized by sf fans, although transformational fandom including fanfic and other fanworks is small. As of June 2011, FanFiction.Net hosted a mere 160 Dune fanfics. Fandom saw a minor bump following the Sci-fi channel's original miniseries Dune in 2000 and its sequel Children of Dune in 2003, which lead to the first fanfic posted to FF.net and to the creation of fan communities on LiveJournal.
Even after the release of the 2021 movie, the transformational fandom is still small enough that fandom tags on AO3 for the book series or each specific movie are still under 1000 works.
Fanfiction
Dr. Willis E. McNelly wrote what's possibly the first fanwork: The Dune Encyclopedia, published in 1984 by the same publishers of the series and labeled "authorized" on the cover. Frank Herbert gave the Dune Encyclopedia his approval and wrote the foreword, but noted that it was not canon:
"I must confess I found it fascination to re-enter here some of the sources on which the Chronicles are built. As the first "Dune fan," I give this encyclopedia my delighted approval, although I hold my own counsel on some of the issues to be explored as the Chronicles unfold."[2]
The first Dune fanfic posted to FanFiction.Net was Dune: The Saga is Far from Over by Nurple on 2000 December 28, based on the Sci-fi Channel's miniseries.
Fan fiction novels are:
- Dune Revenant by William Mitchell (a copy can be found archived here)
- Dune 7: Advent by Marco van Leeuwen
- Elixir by Alan Sullivan
- Pearls of Poritrin by Alan Sullivan
- there is a parody of Dune in Space Happy
Music
- "Crystal Gayle Killed Frank Herbert" - parody of "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" by filk artist Tom Smith
- List of music inspired by Dune from the Dune fandom wiki.
Archives
- Dune @ FF.net
- All Dune-related fanworks @ AO3
- Dune series (novels) @ AO3
- Dune (2000) @ AO3
- Children of Dune (2003) @ AO3
Communities
Dune fandom is extremely small and many of these communities have not been updated in months, or even years.
- DuneFans (all)
- SpiceTrance (all)
- The_Golden_Path (novels)
- Dune_icons
- ChildrenOfDune - Sci-fi Channel's miniseries Children of Dune
- DuneSlash (all)
- Our_Path - Leto/Ghanima (all), also James McAvoy/Jessica Brooks RPF
- Ru_Dune (Russian, all)
Possibly due to XMFC actor James McAvoy's presence in the Children of Dune adaptation, there was a little Dune activity on Tumblr in 2012.