Which books are considered canon when talking about Dune?

It seems logical that the six books written by Frank Herbert are considered canon, but what other works of his are part of the Dune canon?

Are the works done by his son considered part of the official canon?

What about the trilogy of books that complete book 7 (themselves largely based on Frank Herbert's own notes)?

Answer

Herbert Properties LLC owns the Dune copyright and all rights to Frank Herbert's work. From a legal perspective, they have the final word on what is officially "Dune". Their opinion is that Frank Herbert's original 6 novels, and all published & upcoming books by Brian Herbert & Kevin Anderson are canon.

However, Herbert Properties is chiefly ran by Brian Herbert. So Brian Herbert says Brian Herbert is canon.

Since Frank Herbert's notes have never been published, we cannot know how closely Brian Herbert's books follow Frank's original vision. We cannot even know if these notes are even real. Until the notes are someday released, I would recommend considering them separate canons. Brian's novels are legally Dune, but so is David Lynch's Dune.

Comments

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