All 23 Dune novels, laid out in chronological canon order

14. Dune (1965)*

We finally made it to the original Dune book written by Frank Herbert! Sometimes I thought it would never happen.

If you've seen the movies, you know more or less what happens. Paul Atreides travels to Arrakis with his family. Eventually, the Atreides are overthrown by the vile Harkonnens, and Paul's father Leto is killed. Paul flees into the desert with his mother Jessica where they live and train among the native Fremen people. Paul eventually becomes something of a religious leader among the Fremen. He gets revenge on the Harkonnens and then some, ending the book by deposing the emperor of the whole galaxy and taking his place.

Dune remains one of the most successful, potent works of science fiction ever created. As you now know, there's a lot that comes before it. There's a lot that comes after too.

15. Paul of Dune (2008)

The next official book in the Dune series is Dune Messiah, written again by Frank Herbert. However, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson also wrote Paul of Dune, which takes place between the end of Dune and the beginning of Dune Messiah.

And this is a pretty interesting period of time to fill in. Dune ends with Paul's Fremen followers on the cusp of carrying out a brutal, galaxy-wide genocide in the name of Paul Muad'dib, whether he wants them to or not. With his prescient vision, Paul sees that he is powerless to stop it. Dune Messiah opens after the genocide is already over. Paul of Dune takes place during the great galactic purge.

We see Paul become more callous as savage as his followers go beyond his orders and many in the Imperium come to hate his rule. We also get flashbacks to a turbulent period in Paul's youth on Caladan. It all effectively sets up the more muted tone of Dune Messiah.

16. Dune Messiah (1969)*

As mentioned, the first official sequel to Dune, written by original author Frank Herbert, picks up years after the end of the first book. Paul is established as the emperor of the galaxy, his Fremen have killed billions of people in his name across the stars, and he's adjusted to his unhappy life as a living legend. Various factions from across the Imperium still want to take him down, including his own wife Irulan.

Dune Messiah will form the basis of Dune: Part Three, which Villeneuve has said he wants to make. All in all it's a much more insular, downbeat story than the first Dune, which had some pretty grim aspects to start with.