How many Dune books are there? Who continued Frank Herbert series after his death, what happened to Dune 7

Dune: Part II has been released in cinemas worldwide, and is tipped to make $100 million globally over its opening weekend. The epic sci-fi sequel has received positive reviews across the board, and is expected to regenerate an ailing box office (no film has made more than $150 million over its entire release window so far this year).

There has been speculation about the possibility about a third Dune film to be directed by Denis Villeneuve which could adapt another of Frank Herbert's novels. The first two films represent just a fraction of the overall Dune story as they are both adapted from the first book, and Herbert and later writers created a huge fictional universe spanning thousands of years.

How many Dune books are there?

This is a surprisingly complicated question, but the simple answer is that there are six works in Frank Herbet’s Dune series (Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, and Chapterhouse: Dune. He wrote these between 1965 and 1985 - he planned to write a seventh and final novel in the series but died in 1986.

These six novels make up the main narrative which begins with Paul Atreides coming to Arrakis through to a major interplanetary war. However, Herbert’s son, Brian, and his co-author Kevin J. Anderson wrote two sequel novels - Hunters of Dune, and Sandworms of Dune, in 2006 and 2007. They are the last Dune novels chronologically.

Herbert and Anderson have also written many prequel novels together - the first set was the Prelude to Dune trilogy (Dune: House Atreides, Dune: House Harkonnen, and Dune: House Corrino) published between 1999 and 2001.

They published the Legends of Dune trilogy (The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, and The Battle of Corrin), set 10,000 years before Dune, between 2002 and 2004. 

The pair have written three of a planned four novels in the Heroes of Dune series, which overlaps with the first three of Herbert’s books. These are Paul of Dune (2008), The Winds of Dune (2009), and Princess of Dune (2023).

Herbert and Anderson wrote the Great Schools of Dune trilogy, which is itself a sequel to their Legends trilogy, between 2012 and 2016. The novels in this series are Sisterhood of Dune, Mentats of Dune, and Navigators of Dune.

The latest series the authors have completed is the The Caladan Trilogy, set after the final Prelude to Dune book. The three novels - The Duke of Caladan, The Lady of Caladan, and The Heir of Caladan were published in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

So the long answer is that there are 23 official Dune universe novels - six by Frank Herbert and the rest written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. But we’re still not done, because Frank also wrote one short story in 1985, and Brian and Anderon have written 12 Dune novellas so far, the latest of which was published in 2022.

What happened to Dune 7?

Dune 7 was the provisional title for Frank Herbert’s planned final instalment of his fantasy series, however, the author died before he could begin writing the book.

Herbert’s previous Dune novel, Chapterhouse: Dune, ended on a major cliffhanger, and with the author’s death the story was unresolved for decades, and Brian and Anderson chose to write prequels rather than creating their own ending to Frank’s sprawling series.

However, Brian and Anderson discovered two of Frank Herbert’s floppy disks labelled Dune 7 Notes and  Dune 7 Outline in 1997 - they contained a one-and-a-half page outline of the plan for the final Dune novel. 

The pair used these notes to write their version of Dune 7, which was published as the only Dune sequels written since Frank Herbert’s death - Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune.

Could more Dune films be made?

There is plenty of opportunity for more Dune movies to be made, and director Denis Villeneuve said that he is working on a script to adapt Herbet’s second novel, Dune: Messiah as a planned third and final film in his trilogy.

Additionally with six other sequel novels, as well as the many prequel series, it would be possible for an entire cinematic franchise to be built around the Dune universe. Only the first three Dune novels have ever been adapted - 2003 miniseries Children of Dune was adapted from books two and three.

Additionally HBO Max will release a series, Dune: Prophesy, this year, which is set 10,000 years before the first novel, and is expected to be based on the Legends of Dune trilogy.