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Title : SF&F Question: are the non-Frank Herbert DUNE novels canon?
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SF&F Question: are the non-Frank Herbert DUNE novels canon?

The Basics

Dune is a 1965 science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert (1920-86). It is the biggest-selling science fiction novel of all time, having sold over 20 million copies. Before his death in 1986, Frank Herbert wrote an additional five novels in the Dune saga: Dune Messiah (1969), Children of Dune (1976), God Emperor of the Dune (1981), Heretics of Dune (1984) and Chapterhouse: Dune (1986), as well as a number of essays and short stories in the same setting. In 1984 a feature film version of Dune directed by David Lynch, with Herbert serving as a creative consultant, was released.
After Herbert's death, the family estate spearheaded by his son Brian took over as literary executor. They authorised a series of video games based on the series (beginning with Dune in 1992) and two TV mini-series based on the first three books, which aired on SyFy in 2000 and 2003. Most significantly - and controversially - Brian Herbert co-wrote (with prolific tie-in author Kevin J. Anderson) a series of prequel and sequel novels to his father's series, beginning with House Atreides in 1999. To date they have released thirteen novels in the Dune universe and have frequently claimed to be expanding the "Dune canon." However, these books have met with both critical derision and criticism, particularly for the early claim that the books were based on Frank Herbert's notes and background material for the series, only to later confirm that these notes were very brief and marginal and did not contain in-depth outlines for the new books.

This leads to the question, then, if these latter Dune novels can be considered canon?

Definition of Canon

"Canon" is a debatable fan when applied to fictional universes, but generally it is accepted that the "canon" is the events that "happened" in the fictional universe which all other additions to that universe are expected to acknowledge or take into consideration when being written. Some fictional universes consist of multiverses with numerous different canons and continuities taking place within them, most famously the Marvel and DC comic universes but also the Transformers media franchise, which from day one separated the comic books and cartoon series into separate canons.

There is also a distinction involved when stories are adapted into new forms. For example, although the television series Game of Thrones is based on the George R.R. Martin novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, it forms a distinct and different canon by itself and nothing that happens in one medium is automatically assumed to happen in the other.

Canon should not be confused with "official," that is material released or authorised by the legally appropriate entity, or "fanon," (sometimes "head-canon") which is material deemed to be acceptable by individual fans and can incorporate any combination or mixture of canonical, official, non-canonical, outright apocryphal or fanfiction material.

Who determines what is canon?

It is generally accepted that one person or role - a "keeper of the mythos" or "gatekeeper" - is responsible for determining what is canonical or not. In most cases this is the creator of the original version of the story or the first instalment of a series. For material like TV shows, movie series or comic books this becomes more complicated, as these stories are often created and put together by teams of people rather than individual, and the individual creator does not own the properties and loses control of them if they chose to leave or move on to other projects. For example, the British science fiction TV series Doctor Who famously has no hard-and-fast canon because it was created by a committee of several different writers and producers over half a century ago (most of whom are no longer with us) and has evolved through dozens of writers, actors and showrunners since then. Fortunately, the premise (which allows the rewriting of time, the cancelling-out of events and constant retconning) means this is not a major problem.

In rare cases, control of canon is deliberately handed over from one individual to another. George Lucas, for example, was the primary arbiter of Star Wars canon from the release of the first movie in 1977 until 2012, when he chose to sell the Star Wars franchise in its entirety to Disney. Disney appointed, at George's urging, Kathleen Kennedy as the head of Lucasfilm and she is now the primary arbiter of what is Star Wars canon, working alongside a steering committee (known as the Star Wars Story Group) of long-established writers and fans.

In a similar vein, before his premature death in 2015, Terry Pratchett granted his daughter Rhianna permission to expand the Discworld universe after his death, although she later confirmed she has no plans to do so (beyond working on the adaptations that her father had authorised before his passing, such as the long-gestating City Watch television series). Robert Jordan also authorised his wife and editor Harriet to find another author to conclude his Wheel of Time novel series after he was diagnosed with a fatal blood condition and wrote copious notes to this end, which were subsequently used by Brandon Sanderson to complete the series in 2009-13.

The status of a series when the author dies unexpectedly is more debatable: J.R.R. Tolkien had given his son Christopher permission to edit and release The Silmarillion if he passed away before finishing it, which proved to be the case. However, Roger Zelazny's death with several Chronicles of Amber books planned but unwritten was relatively unexpected, and a later series of tie-in prequels written by John Gregory Betancourt was, although "official" (authorised by Zelazny's estate), deemed non-canonical because it was not based on any Zelazny-originated material.

Creators versus popularisers of canon

This is not immediately relevant to the Dune saga, but a relatively new phenomenon that has emerged is when an originating author creates a story but it falls to someone else (sometimes working in a different medium) to take the story to a new level of popularity and success.

One example of this is the 1994 SF movie Stargate, written and directed by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich. The movie was a modest success and inspired a spin-off television series, which Devlin and Emmerich declined to be involved in. The TV show, Stargate SG-1, was a worldwide smash hit and spawned three spin-off shows (Stargate Atlantis, Stargate Infinity and Stargate Universe). In total, more than 382 TV episodes were released over 18 television seasons across 14 years, with a worldwide audience of tens of millions and an estimated profit of $1-$2 billion for the franchise owners, MGM. Despite this enormous success, Devlin and Emmerich have consistently said they do not consider the TV shows to be canon and will ignore them if they ever make a sequel or reboot movie. This led to a substantial fan backlash and widespread anger; MGM's latest Stargate project, the web series Stargate Origins, is a prequel deliberately designed to avoid the issue by being set prior to both the film and the TV series.

In another example, the Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski has created and written eight novels in the Witcher world, which he originated in short stories in the late 1980s. The Witcher novels have been successful, selling just over 5 million copies worldwide. This success led the company CD Projekt Red to option the books for a video game, released in 2007. Sapkowski declined to be involved in the making of the games (although he did advise on the creation of a map). Subsequently, CD Projekt Red have released three games set in the Witcher universe. These games have been hugely critically acclaimed, have sold almost 30 million copies, outselling the novels 6-to-1, and are much better-known than the books, particularly in the West. This has led to controversy over the upcoming Netflix TV version of the story, with many fans expecting a faithful adaptation of the books that ignores the video games and many more expecting a show that has demanded an adherence to the visual style of the games whilst being free to adapt the books or not as they choose. It may be in this case that the TV series instigates a third version or canon of the story which borrows elements from both prior versions (as far as their licences and copyrights allows) but forges its own path.

So, are the Dune prequel and sequel novels canon?

Based on existing definitions, it is clear that the final arbiter of the Dune book canon is Frank Herbert, who is no longer in a position to confirm or deny canonicity to new works by virtue of Author Existence Failure. Indeed, during his lifetime Herbert exercised his right to be the final determiner of Dune canon, allowing Willis E. McNelly to write The Dune Encyclopedia on the understanding that it would not be canon and Herbert reserved the right to contradict it at will.
At the same time, Frank Herbert was also open to alternative interpretations of his work in other mediums, authorising two Dune board games and of course David Lynch's movie version (even creating the "weirding modules" when Lynch requested a new weapon for the story). Herbert seemed to enjoy letting others play with his creation, but only with his direct involvement and consultation, and with him setting the rules.

Frank Herbert did leave behind some notes for "Dune 7", but these notes were limited in scope and detail and did not provide enough information to act as a basis for thirteen additional novels in the universe. For example, they did not even disclose the identity of the "Great Enemy" the Honoured Matres were fleeing in Chapterhouse: Dune, and Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's determination that this enemy was the return of the thinking machines is only a theory, one widely derided in the fanbase (who cite numerous examples from Herbert's books setting up the Tleilaxu as the primary enemy instead).

On this basis:

Answer: The Dune sequel and prequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are not part of the primary Dune canon, as that canon can only be determined by Frank Herbert who is no longer with us. However, the prequel and spin-off novels are certainly "official" (being authorised publications of the Herbert Estate) and can be considered to be part of a Marvel-style "Ultimate Universe," a parallel and alternative universe not related to the primary canon.

The primary Dune canon consists solely of the novels Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune, as well as Frank Herbert's short stories in the same universe, and due to his passing this can never now be changed.

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