Discovering Dune

Frank Herbert's Dune ranks among the most recognized science fiction novels ever written, and critics often mention it alongside Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Unlike Tolkien's epic, however, Dune has drawn remarkably little scholarly attention. This volume sets out to fill that gap.

Fourteen newly written essays examine all six of Herbert's Dune novels from a range of academic fields, including philosophy, political science, disability studies, Islamic theology, environmental studies, and Byzantine history. The editor's central claim is that reading the books through several disciplines at once can yield insights that a single approach would miss.

The collection opens with an introduction by Tim O'Reilly, who published one of the earliest critical assessments of Herbert's writing in 1981. It closes with a thorough bibliography of key primary and secondary sources for readers who want to continue their own study.