books:

	• Dune Encyclopedia Willis McNelly Putnam Adult, 1984 - 526 pages average customer review:based on 37 reviews
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highly recommended

I can't blame those of you who are clamoring for a copy, because it must seem like a very exciting idea for a book. However, the articles in the Encyclopedia vary widely in quality, as they were written by a motley collective of people at the Prof's university. Their enthusiasm is fun, but their ideas don't seem to quite gel with Herbert's work in some cases. In other words, a lot of the writing doesn't feel quite 'Dune' and the illustrations are mediocre (you're better off with your imagination or Lynch's baroque artistic vision). At times, it reminded me a little of -- and this isn't praise -- fanfic.

Still, Herbert was apparently delighted by the enterprise and agreed to its publication, which (as someone has pointed out) is more than can be said for the 'prequels.' However, keep in mind that the Encyclopedia only covers material for the first four books- the puzzles of the last two get no Herbert-approved elucidation (rats!).

It would be nice if they'd reprint the Encyclopedia for the curious (although I don't see it happening, now that the prequels are offering a lucrative competitive vision of the past), but it'd be nicer if they'd just print Herbert's notes in their rawest form so that we could just deduce for ourselves what the hell was supposed to happen next.

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Encyclopedia Fantastica

I found this book at my local library three years ago, just after I first started reading the Dune series, and it has proven to be an invaluable tool for filling in background information, details on certain subjects, and overall reference use. The intricacy of the compendium is phenomenal, and (I believe) everything fits together seamlessly! My only regret is that it doesn't contain more information; if it did, it would have to be an entire series of encyclopedias, though. It is almost never checked out by anyone, and, since I also work at the library, I am going to be the first person after this book should we decide to purge it from our collections!

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Far Superior to the Prequels

The authors of the three Dune prequels (House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Corrino) have repudiated The Dune Encyclopedia and it is very unlikely to be reprinted because parts are inconsistent with the prequels. Having read both, I believe that The Dune Encyclopedia is closer to Frank Herbert's vision than the prequels. For example, in the prequels the planet Ix, source of technology for the Empire, is ruled by one of the Great Houses. In Frank Herbert's books no mention is made of Ix being affiliated with the nobility, and The Dune Encyclopedia follows Frank Herbert in making it an exception to the general system. This book also fills an important place because Frank Herbert enjoyed introducing concepts such as the Orange Bible or the Bulterian Jihad without much explanation. The conclusions reached here seem plausible given the structure of the Dune books written by Frank Herbert. If you can find this book at a used book sale, buy it.

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