Background of the Study
Since childhood, Tacoma-born Frank Herbert had been determined to become a published author. For years, he wrote fiction with limited success while working as a journalist. He was hounded by creditors as he struggled alongside his wife Beverly to support a family. But his 1965 science fiction novel Dune, considered by many to be the best science fiction novel ever written, won him the devotion of fans all over the world, launched a franchise that lasted for decades, and earned him millions, which he spent with gusto.
Literature Review
HERBERT, FRANK.
Dune, in Analog Magazine
FIRST APPEARANCE OF DUNE, preceding the first book edition. Complete in 8 issues of “Analog” magazine.
“Much of Herbert’s opus originally appeared in Analog, edited by the legendary John W. Campbell. Despite Campbell’s seal of approval, Dune—longer and far more ambitious than most science fiction of the time—was turned down by some twenty publishers. ‘It is just possible that we may be making the mistake of the decade in declining Dune by Frank Herbert,’ wrote Julian P. Muller, of Harcourt, Brace & World, in a typical response. In the end, an editor at Chilton, known for its line of car-repair manuals, offered to publish it after reading the serialized chapters” (The New Yorker).
“Published to almost immediate critical acclaim, Dune won the two most prestigious science fiction awards, the Nebula Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America in 1965 and the Hugo Award from the World Science Fiction Convention in 1966” (American National Biography). Popular success was soon to follow as Dune “was translated into 14 languages and sold some 12 million copies, more than any other science-fiction book in history” (Britannica).
“Dune World” and “The Prophet of Dune” were combined to form the first book edition, published in August of 1965.
Analog/Astounding is often considered the magazine where science fiction grew up. When editor John W. Campbell took over in 1938, he brought to Astounding an unprecedented insistence on placing equal emphasis on both words of “science fiction.” Gadgets and action were no longer sufficient; writers needed to try to think out how science and technology might really develop in the future – and, most importantly, how those changes would affect the lives of human beings. The new sophistication soon made Astounding the undisputed leader in the field, and the old title began to seem too “sensational” to reflect what the magazine was actually doing. Campbell chose “Analog” in part because he thought of each story as an “analog simulation” of a possible future, and in part because of the close analogy between the imagined science in the stories and the real science being done in laboratories around the world.
Turning to Science Fiction
Herbert’s first science fiction story, “Looking for Something,” appeared in the April 1952 issue of Startling Stories. That year, Herbert was between day jobs, his first wife had just successfully sued him for back child-support payments, and his former employers had discovered they had co-signed a car loan with Herbert on a vehicle which was now wrecked.
It seemed like a good time to leave town. Successful science fiction and fantasy author Jack Vance suggested the two writers and their families take a trip to Mexico for a while and collaborate on projects. The Herberts borrowed money from Beverly’s relatives and headed south. Herbert later said that while in Mexico, he unwittingly partook of both hashish-laden cookies and morning glory-seed tea. Drug experiences would form the basis for the fictional drug spice melange, a key element in the Dune series still to come. But his writing efforts alongside his friend and mentor Vance didn’t result in any literary sales.
been published in the magazine. Analog, however, said it would publish the rest of the three-part saga that was still unwritten. Herbert got to work and delivered the manuscript in November 1963, resigned to the idea that his trilogy would never be published in book form.
But in 1965, an unlikely book publisher contacted Herbert’s agent, and said he wanted to publish the Dune material that he had read in Analog. The Chilton company was known for its car repair manuals, grease-stained copies of which could be found on garage work benches all over the country. Chilton published the first Analog serial, Dune World, and the second one, Prophet of Dune in hardcover as one novel called Dune. Soon afterward, Ace Books bought the paperback rights.
Herbert kept his day job at the San Francisco Examiner and worked on other fiction projects. By 1969, the second Dune book, Dune Messiah, was published. The books were gaining a word-of-mouth following, especially among college students, and became identified with a new field of interest, ecology
Significance of the Study
Real science and technology have always been important in Analog, not only as the foundation of its fiction, but as the subject of articles about real research with big implications for the future. One story published during World War II described an atomic bomb so accurately – before Hiroshima – that FBI agents visited the office to find out where the leak was. (There was no leak – just attentive, forward-thinking writers!)
The pages of Astounding/Analog have been home to many of science fiction’s foremost writers and stories. Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Ben Bova, David Brin, Lois McMaster Bujold, Michael F. Flynn, Robert A. Heinlein, Geoffrey Landis, George R.R. Martin, Spider Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, Charles Sheffield, Michael Swanwick, Harry Turtledove, and Timothy Zahn are just a few of the prominent names that have appeared in our pages, and we have a long tradition of discovering and cultivating new talent. Our stories have also won many Hugo and Nebula Awards, and such classics as Asimov’s Foundation, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight first appeared in Analog.
Some people who haven’t read Analog assume it has a much narrower emphasis on “nuts and bolts” than it actually has. It’s true that we care very much about making our speculations plausible, because we think there’s something extra special about stories that are not only fantastic, but might actually happen. But it’s just as true that we’re very concerned about people (Earthly or otherwise) and how future changes will affect the way they live. If you haven’t tried Analog, we hope you will. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by each issue’s mix of fascinating stories about real people in potentially real futures (some terrifying, some exhilarating, some both), fact articles and columns about real trends in science and society, reviews of new books, and an ongoing dialog with our readers in the letter column. No matter the era, our underlying philosophy remains the same: solidly entertaining stories exploring solidly thought-out speculative ideas. But the ideas, and consequently the stories, are always new.
Analog/Astounding is often considered the magazine where science fiction grew up. When editor John W. Campbell took over in 1938, he brought to Astounding an unprecedented insistence on placing equal emphasis on both words of “science fiction.” Gadgets and action were no longer sufficient; writers needed to try to think out how science and technology might really develop in the future – and, most importantly, how those changes would affect the lives of human beings. The new sophistication soon made Astounding the undisputed leader in the field, and the old title began to seem too “sensational” to reflect what the magazine was actually doing. Campbell chose “Analog” in part because he thought of each story as an “analog simulation” of a possible future, and in part because of the close analogy between the imagined science in the stories and the real science being done in laboratories around the world.
Real science and technology have always been important in Analog, not only as the foundation of its fiction, but as the subject of articles about real research with big implications for the future. One story published during World War II described an atomic bomb so accurately – before Hiroshima – that FBI agents visited the office to find out where the leak was. (There was no leak – just attentive, forward-thinking writers!)
The pages of Astounding/Analog have been home to many of science fiction’s foremost writers and stories. Isaac Asimov, Poul Anderson, Greg Bear, Ben Bova, David Brin, Lois McMaster Bujold, Michael F. Flynn, Robert A. Heinlein, Geoffrey Landis, George R.R. Martin, Spider Robinson, Robert J. Sawyer, Charles Sheffield, Michael Swanwick, Harry Turtledove, and Timothy Zahn are just a few of the prominent names that have appeared in our pages, and we have a long tradition of discovering and cultivating new talent. Our stories have also won many Hugo and Nebula Awards, and such classics as Asimov’s Foundation, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight first appeared in Analog.
Some people who haven’t read Analog assume it has a much narrower emphasis on “nuts and bolts” than it actually has. It’s true that we care very much about making our speculations plausible, because we think there’s something extra special about stories that are not only fantastic, but might actually happen. But it’s just as true that we’re very concerned about people (Earthly or otherwise) and how future changes will affect the way they live. If you haven’t tried Analog, we hope you will. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by each issue’s mix of fascinating stories about real people in potentially real futures (some terrifying, some exhilarating, some both), fact articles and columns about real trends in science and society, reviews of new books, and an ongoing dialog with our readers in the letter column. No matter the era, our underlying philosophy remains the same: solidly entertaining stories exploring solidly thought-out speculative ideas. But the ideas, and consequently the stories, are always new.
Dune Catches On
The popularity of Dune continued to grow. It was featured in Stewart Brand’s countercultural Whole Earth Catalog, and Apollo astronauts named a crater on the moon Dune in Herbert’s honor. Young people were reading it and rereading it. By 1971, Herbert had quit his final newspaper job. He taught a course called “Utopia/Dystopia” at the University of Washington and wrote other novels before starting another Dune book. They included Soul Catcher, about revenge and culture clash featuring Pacific Northwest Indians; The God-Makers, with a human god created by psychic energy; and Whipping Star, about big government, a particular concern of Herbert’s. Eventually, he would publish more than two dozen novels and many short stories.