THE DUNE TIMELINE

I finally figured out the Dune timeline.  It's quite involved.  Arthur C. Clarke has said, to paraphrase, there is nothing like it, except Lord of the Rings.   To me, the timeline is similar to Star Wars, in the sense that you have an Old Republic and a New Republic. We have the Original Series, then we have a prequel series based on the generation previous to the original generation, which I call Gen 1.

Then we have a series that deals with what I call the Dune 'pre-history' because its mentioned in the original series but Frank never wrote novels on it, such as the Butlerian Jihad, which was a war fought by humanity against AI machines that had enslaved mankind for several centuries.  Therefore, resulting in an anti-technology movement that swept through humanity.  By the time you get to the Originals most of humanity has very little technology besides spaceships.

I'm still figuring it out, since I haven't read all the novels, but from what I understand, in the Dune universe, humans got technologically advanced to colonize the galaxy and create AI machines which eventually gain sentience and enslave mankind, eventually resulting in the Jihad.

Then there are two books, which I'm reading now, which is the sequel to the pre-prequels.  They deal with the beginnings of the Imperium.  Since technology has been banned, many schools spring up to cultivate the mind and body of humans, thus resulting in the computer like mentats and Jedi like Bene Gesserit Sisterhood.  So far, they are pretty good.  I look forward to reading the prequels.

For the other books, there is a sequel  to the Original and there are 2 books to fill the Original series. Since the Original series covers such a long time span, Brian Herbert wrote a direct sequel to Dune and Dune Messiah.  I look forward to reading those and returning to Paul Muad'dip.

Check out the website here for more details on all the Dune Series novels.

Pre-Prequel Series

The Butlerian Jihad

The Machine Crusade

The Battle of Corrin

Sequal of the Pre-Prequel Series

Sisterhood of Dune

Mentats of Dune

Gen 1 Prequel Series

House Atreides

House Harkonnen

House Corrino

Original Series

Dune

-----> Paul of Dune

Dune Messiah

-----> Winds of Dune

Children of Dune

God Emperor of Dune

Heretics of Dune

ChapterHouse Dune

Sequal Series

Hunters of Dune

Sandworms of Dune

Dune Guide

Road to Dune