''Navigators of Dune'' is a 2016

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by

Brian Herbert Brian Patrick Herbert (born June 29, 1947) is an American author who lives in Washington (state), Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert (who died in 1986). Brian Herbert's novels include ''Sidney's Comet' ...

and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the third book in their ''

Great Schools of Dune The ''Dune'' prequel series is a sequence of novel trilogies written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Set in the ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert, the novels take place in various time periods before and in between Herbert's or ...

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

, which itself is a

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

to their ''

Legends of Dune The ''Dune'' prequel series is a sequence of novel trilogies written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Set in the ''Dune'' universe created by Frank Herbert, the novels take place in various time periods before and in between Herbert's or ...

'' trilogy.

Background

Set nearly a century after the events of 2004's '' Dune: The Battle of Corrin'', the novel continues to chronicle the beginnings of the

Bene Gesserit The Bene Gesserit () refers to a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' universe. The group is an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of phys ...

Mentat Multiple organizations of the ''Dune'' universe dominate the political, religious, and social arena of the setting of Frank Herbert's Dune (franchise), ''Dune'' series of science fiction novels, and derivative works. Set tens of thousands of year ...

and Suk Schools, as well as the

Spacing Guild The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction ''Dune'' universe which possesses a monopoly on interstellar travel and banking. Guild Navigators (alternately Guildsmen or Steersmen) use the drug melange (also called "th ...

, all of which are threatened by the independent anti-technology forces gaining power in the aftermath of the

Butlerian Jihad ''Dune'', also known as the ''Dune Chronicles'', is an American science fiction media franchise that originated with the 1965 novel ''Dune'' by Frank Herbert and has continued to add new publications. ''Dune'' is frequently described as the best ...

. The ''Great Schools of Dune'' trilogy, first mentioned by Anderson in a 2010 blog post, chronicles the early years of these organizations, which figure prominently in the original ''Dune'' novels. In a 2009 interview Anderson stated that the third and final novel would be titled ''The Swordmasters of Dune'', but by 2014 it had been renamed ''Navigators of Dune''. On July 27, 2015, Anderson previewed the cover of ''Navigators of Dune'' on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and noted its 2016 release. The novel was published on September 13, 2016. A prequel short story called " Dune: Red Plague" was released on ''

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

'' on November 1, 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navigators of Dune 2016 American novels 2016 science fiction novels Dune (franchise) novels Novels by Kevin J. Anderson Novels by Brian Herbert Tor Books books