Dune Books in Order: Frank Herbert's Novels and Every Expanded Series

Frank Herbert wrote six Dune novels between 1965 and 1985, and they were published in story order, so the core reading order is simple: Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune. From 1999 his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson added seventeen more, mostly prequels, which came out in a jumble of eras. The expanded books are labelled as such below, and the series lists match the Dune timeline. (Dune; Chapterhouse: Dune; Dune: House Atreides)

Release (publication) order#

Frank Herbert's six come first. The rest are expanded books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

1. Dune (1965). Paul Atreides goes to Arrakis, loses his father and rises with the Fremen. (Dune)
2. Dune Messiah (1969). Twelve years into Paul's reign, a conspiracy closes in. (Dune Messiah)
3. Children of Dune (1976). Paul's twins Leto and Ghanima grow up under Alia's regency. (Children of Dune)
4. God Emperor of Dune (1981). Leto II, part sandworm, near the end of his 3,500-year reign. (God Emperor of Dune)
5. Heretics of Dune (1984). The Bene Gesserit face the Honored Matres, returning from the Scattering. (Heretics of Dune)
6. Chapterhouse: Dune (1985). The Sisterhood fights for survival. Frank Herbert's last novel. (Chapterhouse: Dune)
7. Expanded: Dune: House Atreides (1999). (Dune: House Atreides)
8. Expanded: Dune: House Harkonnen (2000). (Dune: House Harkonnen)
9. Expanded: Dune: House Corrino (2001). (Dune: House Corrino)
10. Expanded: Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (2002). (Dune: The Butlerian Jihad)
11. Expanded: Dune: The Machine Crusade (2003). (Dune: The Machine Crusade)
12. Expanded: Dune: The Battle of Corrin (2004). (Dune: The Battle of Corrin)
13. Expanded: Hunters of Dune (2006). (Hunters of Dune)
14. Expanded: Sandworms of Dune (2007). (Sandworms of Dune)
15. Expanded: Paul of Dune (2008). (Paul of Dune)
16. Expanded: The Winds of Dune (2009). (The Winds of Dune)
17. Expanded: Sisterhood of Dune (2012). (Sisterhood of Dune)
18. Expanded: Mentats of Dune (2014). (Mentats of Dune)
19. Expanded: Navigators of Dune (2016). (Navigators of Dune)
20. Expanded: Dune: The Duke of Caladan (2020). (Dune: The Duke of Caladan)
21. Expanded: Dune: The Lady of Caladan (2021). (Dune: The Lady of Caladan)
22. Expanded: Dune: The Heir of Caladan (2022). (Dune: The Heir of Caladan)
23. Expanded: Princess of Dune (2023). (Princess of Dune)

Story (chronological) order#

This merges every novel into one sequence. The placements come from the timeline. Each expanded series is read in its own order.

1. Expanded: Legends of Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade and The Battle of Corrin, set during the Butlerian Jihad, more than 10,000 years before Dune. (Dune: The Butlerian Jihad; Dune: The Machine Crusade; Dune: The Battle of Corrin)
2. Expanded: Great Schools of Dune: Sisterhood of Dune, Mentats of Dune and Navigators of Dune, from about 80 years after the Battle of Corrin up to the founding of the Spacing Guild. (Sisterhood of Dune; Mentats of Dune; Navigators of Dune)
3. Expanded: Prelude to Dune: House Atreides, House Harkonnen and House Corrino, from about 35 years before Dune to Paul's birth in 10175 AG. (Dune: House Atreides; Dune: House Harkonnen; Dune: House Corrino)
4. Expanded: Princess of Dune, set two years before Dune. (Princess of Dune)
5. Expanded: The Caladan Trilogy: The Duke of Caladan, The Lady of Caladan and The Heir of Caladan, set in 10190 AG, the year before Dune opens. (Dune: The Duke of Caladan; Dune: The Lady of Caladan; Dune: The Heir of Caladan)
6. Dune, 10191 to 10193 AG. (Dune)
7. Expanded: Paul of Dune, between Dune and Dune Messiah, with flashbacks to Paul's boyhood. (Paul of Dune)
8. Dune Messiah, twelve years after Dune. (Dune Messiah)
9. Expanded: The Winds of Dune, between Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. (The Winds of Dune)
10. Children of Dune. (Children of Dune)
11. God Emperor of Dune, about 3,500 years later, ending in 13728 AG. (God Emperor of Dune)
12. Heretics of Dune, about 1,500 years after that. (Heretics of Dune)
13. Chapterhouse: Dune, ending around 15240 AG. (Chapterhouse: Dune)
14. Expanded: Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune, which finish the story through Kralizec, around 15264 AG. (Hunters of Dune; Sandworms of Dune)

Where to start#

Start with Dune. Everything else either follows on from it or leans on it, and the first novel stands alone. Dune Messiah is short and worth reading straight after, because it turns the first book's ending on its head. (Dune; Dune Messiah)

Children of Dune finishes Paul's story. God Emperor of Dune is stranger and slower, and it's where a lot of readers stop. Heretics and Chapterhouse jump thousands of years and shift to the Bene Gesserit, and Chapterhouse ends on an open thread Frank Herbert didn't live to close. If you read all six, you've read the whole of his Dune. (Children of Dune; God Emperor of Dune; Chapterhouse: Dune)

The expanded books are a matter of taste. Don't read them in chronological order as a first-timer, since the prequels assume you already know who Leto, Jessica and the Harkonnens become. Read them after Frank Herbert's six, series by series, and read Hunters and Sandworms only once you've finished Chapterhouse. (Dune: House Atreides; Hunters of Dune)

Spin-offs, adaptations and extras#

None of these are part of the reading order. They retell or add to the books.

• Dune (1984): David Lynch's film of the first novel, with big changes to the ending. (Dune (1984 film))
• Frank Herbert's Dune (2000): a Sci Fi Channel miniseries of the first novel. (Frank Herbert's Dune)
• Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (2003): a Sci Fi Channel miniseries covering Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. (Frank Herbert's Children of Dune)
• Dune: Part One (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024): Denis Villeneuve's two films, which together adapt the first novel. (Dune: Part One; Dune: Part Two)
• Dune: Prophecy (2024): HBO's series about the early Bene Gesserit, set about 10,000 years before Paul. It draws on the Great Schools of Dune books, but much of it was made for television. (Dune: Prophecy)