Dune

Dune is an epic science fiction novel by the American author Frank Herbert, published in 1965 after being serialised as two separate stories in Analog magazine. In 1966 it took the first Nebula Award for Best Novel, and its Hugo Award for Best Novel came as a tie; it is the first instalment of the Dune Chronicles. The novel is set in a feudal interstellar society of noble houses that control planetary fiefs.

The planet is Arrakis, a desert world where water is scarce and where the main export is the spice melange, a substance that extends life, sharpens minds and makes interstellar travel possible. Duke Leto Atreides is given stewardship of the planet and arrives with his concubine Jessica, their son Paul and a household that knows it is walking into a trap laid by the Harkonnens and the Emperor behind them.

Paul has been raised for politics and survival, and the desert gives him harder lessons than either. He and Jessica find shelter with the Fremen, the desert people whose plans for Arrakis run on a timescale measured in generations.

The Dune Chronicles continue across several further novels by Herbert and, later, by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The first book establishes Arrakis, the spice, House Atreides and House Harkonnen.