# Dune questions

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-questions/216688>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [December 3, 2003, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-questions/216688 "2003-12-03T09:26:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Wearia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Wearia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wearia)\
**Post date:** [December 4, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-questions/216688/41 "2003-12-04T23:35:49Z")

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Just for additional info,  
Earth (or Terra as it seems to be called it the timeline I read) was getting overpopulated and people moved off it, up till a point where the Earth population was outnumbered 20:1. Then some time passed and Earth was hit by an asteroid. It was wiped clean, terraformed and left as a undisturbed natural habitat. Over time they lost track of it and they stopped adding it to star charts because there was no need to go there. Eventually it was lost. At least thats what I’ve read.

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**Author:** ![MattTheCroc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@MattTheCroc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattTheCroc)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-questions/216688/42 "2003-12-05T10:24:52Z")

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Further example of Earth history: The “buddislamic” religion, and "zensunni"s.

> [@](#):
>
> BE WARNED: The newer Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson Dune\*\* books deviate severely from the officially canoniozed \*Dune Encyclopedia. A lot of old-time Dune fans are ticked off at them for breaking with the extablished backstory.

From here: [http://www.dunenovels.com/news/encyclopedia.html](http://www.dunenovels.com/news/encyclopedia.html)

> [@](#):
>
> _Originally Posted by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson_
> 
> "While Frank Herbert himself considered THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA interesting and entertaining, he did not refer to Dr. McNelly’s derivative work while writing any of his DUNE novels. Likewise, in writing their DUNE novels (beginning with DUNE: HOUSE ATREIDES), Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have exclusively used, and will continue to use, Frank Herbert’s original notes as well as their own imaginations, and not THE DUNE ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Also, above a quote about an intro by Frank himself stating something to the same effect.

I recall reading bits of the Dune encyclopedia, and found most of it to be, well, silly, to say the least. Like Dune taking place in some alternate history where Rome never fell.

I actually like the new novels. The Butlerian Jihad ones, especially, really put a neat spin on how you view everything (The typical “computers have taken over!!!” is complicated by the Titans). The Prelude were a little non Duneish, but since the Butlerian ones take place, IIRC, 10,000 years before Dune, things can be different then.

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**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\
**Post date:** [December 5, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dune-questions/216688/43 "2003-12-05T16:59:48Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by bagkitty \*  
> **To make his point [Frank Herbert] observes that a Guildsman can reproduce with a standard human, and though the offspring are physically different, they still are human**

This implies that Guild Navigators are the product of a breeding program that has caused them to deviate from the human norm, and that **this** (not the Spice _per se_) is the reason they look so funny.

Brian H. and Kevin J. Anderson contradict this in the _Dune: House_ series, where the Guild goes out and selects Navigator trainees from the general population.

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