How many Dune books are there?

With the popular and epic science fiction movie Dune now streaming on Netflix, you may be going down a rabbit hole and found yourself a new fandom! I can tell you that’s what’s happened to me right now. If you’re in a similar boat and just watched the movie, based on a series of novels, for the first time now that it’s on the streamer, you may be wondering just how many books there are.

There’s a total of six main Dune books written by author Frank Herbert. However overall in the novel franchise, there’s actually 25 stories! The main six are Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. The first book was published in 1965. Our recommendation is to start with these first, before you dive into the expanded universe. You can buy the full set of originals on Amazon.

So what about the rest of the novels? There’s a bunch of prequels, spin-offs, and novellas that are all set in the universe. However, they weren’t written by Frank Herbert. The author passed away in 1996 at the age of 65 due to a pulmonary embolism. He was recovering from a surgery for pancreatic cancer.

His son, Brian Herbert, decided to take on the mantle and continue his father’s work with the help of science-fiction author Kevin J. Anderson. The two have written several books in the franchise together, including from notes and ideas Frank had for potentially expanding his stories. And we’ve provided a list of all them for you below!

List of all the Dune books and how to read them in order

Alright, buckle up and get ready because this is a long list! It might seem overwhelming, but that’s what we’re here for. To make it all easier for you! Following the main novels written by Frank, the co-authors teamed up decades later to bring to life a prequel trilogy. Those were followed by another trio of books known as the Legends of Dune.

Then we’ve got a two-book spin-off, the Dune Sequels; The Heroes of Dune spin-off that has another duo; The Great Schools of Dune trilogy, and finally The Caladan Trilogy. Plus, there’s three books that each serve as a collection of short stories written by Brian and Anderson.

If you’re wondering how to read them all in chronological order, the official Dune Novels website provided a handy dandy list of which order you should read the novels in. If you’re just interested in knowing the events connected to the films and show (more on that below), then you probably only need to read Dune, Dune Messiah, and Sisterhood of Dune. We’ve listed all the books for you below:

Main novels by Frank Herbert

• Dune
• Dune Messiah
• Children of Dune
• God Emperor of Dune
• Heretics of Dune
• Chapterhouse: Dune

Prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

• House Atreides
• House Harkonnen
• House Corrino

Legends of Dune trilogy

• The Butlerian Jihad
• The Machine Crusade
• The Battle of Corrin

Dune Sequels

•  Hunters of Dune
• Sandworms of Dune

Heroes of Dune

• Paul of Dune
• The Winds of Dune

The Great Schools of Dune

• Sisterhood of Dune
• Mentats of Dune
• Navigators of Dune

The Caladan Trilogy

• The Duke of Caladan
• The Lady of Caladan
• The Heir of Caladan

Novels featuring collection of short stories

• The Road to Dune
• Tales of Dune
• Sands of Dune

How many movies could there be?

With so much book material, it seems like the movie adaptation could go on forever! There’s definitely plenty of work director Denis Villeneuve can pull from. The first movie tells the story of the first half of the first book by Frank. Dune: Part Two, which will be released in theaters Friday, March 1, 2024, is adapting the second half. 

Initially, the Warner Bros. Pictures production was supposed to make its cinematic debut on Nov. 3, 2023. However following the actors strike by SAG-AFTRA, the company wanted to push the release date. That’s because during this time, the actors cannot promote any of their work. The guild and AMPTP, who represents the big studios, are in negotiations as of Oct. 5, 2023.

But back to the future of the film series, that’s going to be up to the director. He’s previously stated that he envisions a trilogy of movies, with the third one adapting the second book in the main novel series, Dune Messiah. Whether that changes in the future, we’ll see! But in the meantime, there’s also a Sisterhood of Dune adaptation coming to Max. Prequel series Dune: Prophecy, previously titled Dune: The Sisterhood, is set to release in late 2024.

The second installment in the film series stars Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides; Zendaya as Chani; Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica; Javier Bardem as Stilgar; among others. Some of the new cast members coming aboard are Austin Butler as the notorious Feyd Rautha; Christopher Walken as Emperor Shaddam IV; and Florence Pugh as Princess Irulan.

The first Dune movie is now streaming on Netflix.