Dune short stories

"The Road to Dune" is a short story written by Frank Herbert, originally published in 1985 in the short story collection Eye[1]

It takes the form of a guidebook for pilgrims to Arrakis, illustrated by Welsh artist Jim Burns. The work takes place after the fall of Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV and the ascension of Paul Atreides to the throne in the original novel Dune. The short story discusses the major sites in the capital city, Arrakeen, including the Grand Palace and Temple of Alia. It also features images (with descriptions) of some of the devices and characters seen in the novels, including Paul's personal ornithopter, an Ixian glowglobe, Princess Irulan, Duncan Idaho and Reverend Mother Mohiam.

"Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was published in 2001 in the short story collection Dogged Persistence, and re-released September 2005 in the collection The Road to Dune.

The story takes place during the Harkonnen attack on Arrakis during the course of the original Dune by Frank Herbert. It depicts a group of Atreides soldiers trapped in a cave in the Shield Wall outside Arrakeen. One of the soldiers, a master story teller, recounts tales of Caladan, the sea-covered ancestral homeworld of House Atreides. A group of Fremen warriors find the soldiers shortly after, and discover that the soldiers have all magically drowned — a fate that has never happened previously on the desert planet of Arrakis.

"Dune: Hunting Harkonnens", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was first released online in 2002 prior to the release of the first Legends of Dune novel, Dune: The Butlerian Jihad; it was later published in the 2005 collection The Road to Dune.

In the short story, Ulf and Katarina Harkonnen and their son Piers (the parents and brother of Xavier Harkonnen) are travelling to Salusa Secundus when they are attacked by thinking machines under the command of General Agamemnon, a cymek. The Harkonnen ship is severely damaged and the 20-year-old Piers is ejected in an escape pod. He lands on the planet Caladan and meets a band of primitives who assist him in taking vengeance against the cymeks.

"Dune: Whipping Mek", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, appeared online in 2003 prior to the release of the second Legends of Dune novel, Dune: The Machine Crusade; it was later published in the collection The Road to Dune.

In the story, young Vergyl Tantor is serving in the Army of the Jihad on Giedi Prime during the Butlerian Jihad when his mentor and adopted brother Xavier Harkonnen arrives for repairs to be done to his battered fleet of warships. Vergyl, eager to fight the Thinking Machines, is pleased to encounter a mercenary from Ginaz who uses a captured machine for training purposes.

"Dune: The Faces of a Martyr", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was first released online in 2004 prior to the release of the third Legends of Dune novel, Dune: The Battle of Corrin; it was re-published in the 2005 collection The Road to Dune.

By the time of this short story, Leaders Xavier Harkonnen, Iblis Ginjo and Serena Butler are dead, but the Butlerian Jihad continues. The Army of the Jihad attack the Tlulaxa homeworld as vengeance for their actions in The Machine Crusade; one scientist, however, escapes to thinking machine territory. There he offers his services to the evermind Omnius, and sets about creating a clone of Serena. Meanwhile, in the League of Nobles, Vorian Atreides attempts to combat the slurs on Xavier's name by confronting Ginjo's wife.

"Dune: Sea Child", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was published on May 16, 2006 in the tsunami benefit anthology Elemental; it was re-released in the paperback edition of The Road to Dune, and later in the 2011 Dune e-book short story collection Tales of Dune.[2]

It takes place during the events of Chapterhouse: Dune, and focuses on the Honored Matre invasion of the Bene Gesserit planet Buzzell, the only source of precious soostones. Corysta is a banished Reverend Mother, sent to Buzzell for the crime of loving her child and refusing to give it up to the Bene Gesserit's Breeding Mistresses. On Buzzell, and under Honored Matre oppression, Corysta comes across a Phibian baby outcast from the main group. Phibians have been brought to Buzzell by the Matres to harvest the soostones for them; as the Phibians are capable of breathing underwater as well as on land, they can dive deeper and farther from shore than any human can. After Corysta raises the child for months, the Matres find out and attempt to use Corysta's attachment to coerce her into revealing the location of the Bene Gesserit homeworld, Chapterhouse. Corysta refuses, and the Matres take the Phibian child away.

"Dune: Treasure in the Sand", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was published in August 2006 online at Jim Baen's Universe; its events take place between Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune. It was re-released on June 26, 2007 in the paperback edition of Hunters of Dune, and later in the June 12, 2011 Dune e-book short story collection Tales of Dune[2])

"Dune: Wedding Silk" is a pre-Dune story featuring Duncan Idaho and a young Paul Atreides exploring the jungles of the planet Ecaz.[3][4]

Written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, it was published June 12, 2011 in the Dune e-book short story collection Tales of Dune.[2] It was devised originally as part of their 2008 novel Paul of Dune, but edited out of the final version by the authors.[3]

"Dune: Red Plague", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was published on November 1, 2016 at the website Tor.com.[5]

It takes place immediately prior to the events of Navigators of Dune,[5] which was published on September 13, 2016.[6] In the story, industrialist Josef Venport is in a bitter feud with Butlerian leader Manford Torondo. The population of the planet Walgis, loyal to the Butlerian cause, is dying of a virulent disease called the Red Plague, and Dr. Rohan Zim of the Suk School attempts to persuade Venport to intervene, helping the physician to deliver a vaccine.

"Dune: The Waters of Kanly", by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, was published on October 17, 2017 in the short story collection Infinite Stars edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt.[7] [8]

Set during the events of Frank Herbert's novel Dune,[7][8] the story chronicles Gurney Halleck's plan of revenge against the Harkonnens for assassinating Duke Leto Atreides.

• Official Dune website