Leo Morales

March 25, 2020

Imaginary Lands
Catalina Milan

How Dune Inspired Other Works of Science Fiction

In the year 1965, the soon-to-be famous and world-renowned author, Frank Herbert released
his first novel from his highly recognized sci fi-fantasy series called Dune. Although at first the idea of
Dune was turned down by all the publishers that he attempted to pitch it to, it finally was published by
Chilton Books. It was understandable that it Frank Herbert had to go to more than twenty different
publishers just so he could find one that would publish his book. That was because he was doing
something new that had not been done before. The author of Dune, took his idea of a story and made it
take place many thousands of years into the future. He had to create what he believed the human race
would end up including religion, government, business and even aliens. He basically had to predict what
he believes will happen in the future of the human race. Dune would become one of the defining novels
that made science fiction what it is today. Frank Herbert’s Dune has been a major inspiration and
influence and countless other pieces of literature, many films, and even countless video games that are
would be considered in the genre of science fiction.

Dune is an action packed science fiction adventure that takes place in the year 10,191. At this
point, humans had advanced so much that they were capable of space travel and are now habited all
across the galaxy and have civilizations in many solar systems. However, the events of Dune all take
place completely on one planet called Arrakis. (https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dune/section1/)
Arrakis is a planet that is completely covered in sand and can be a very dangerous place. Arrakis is also
very important planet to the galaxy because it is home to the most important substance in the universe.
This substance is called Spice. Spice has become high in demand because it allows for people to get to
other parts of the galaxy really fast. As a result of the Spice a lot of people have tried come to Arrakis in
order to get their greedy hands on the spice. Dune also includes giant sand worms that lurk
underground in the endless deserts of Arrakis. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrakis)

Born October 8th, 1920, Frank Herbert was raised in Tacoma, Washington but moved to Oregon
sometime during his high school years. After high school he served as a photographer for the United
States of America Navy during World War Two. After the war was over, he went back home and began
writing for new papers and fictional stories for popular magazine companies such as Esquire or Modern
Romance Magazine. He decided to never finish his education because he had already learned what he
wanted to learn. Basically, the degree was not meaningful for him. Instead he continued writing fiction
and also became a journalist. That is when he first began becoming interested in science fiction after
reading the works of H. G. Wells and Robert A. Heinlein, and many other early science fiction writers.
These names would become huge influences on his science fiction writings including Dune.

Frank Herbert began writing Dune in the year 1959. The inspiration for the setting of Dune came
from the sand dunes of his home state Oregon. It took Frank Herbert 6 years to finally complete Dune.
He had to create a whole world full of characters, governments, hierarchy, religion, and history. Never
before had a science fiction author put this amount of time and thinking into their one of their stories
and a result of Herbert’s hard work, Dune became a commercial success. In fact, Dune won the Nebula
Award for the best novel in 1965 and the Hugo Award the following year. Dune would also continue to
impact and inspire many more authors to write science fiction novels and stories. Many other works of
science fiction have directly token inspiration from Dune.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert)

During the latter half of the 20th century, Television became a huge part of the lives of everyday
citizens, and with technology on the rise, people were curious and were entertained by films about the
future. Many science fiction shows and movies became very popular amongst a wide audience such as
Star Wars, Alien, Blade Runner, and countless others. All of these are believed to be inspired or partly
inspired by Dune. (https://vocal.media/futurism/sci-fi-movies-influenced-by-dune) Not to mention Dune
was also adapted into its own film version in 1984 by the famous film maker David Lynch. Dune not only
has a movie but it has a series of video games based on the entire book series released during the mid
1990s.

One of the major ideas that Frank Herbert used in Dune that has been seen in all types of fiction is the
sand worms. In fact, the sand worms are not exclusively for science fiction stories either. In the film Star
Wars the Return of the Jedi, there is a giant man eating worm like creature in the middle of the desert.
Many people believe this is a direct inspiration from the Dune novels. Also, in 1990, a film called
Tremors was released. Although Tremors is not a science fiction film, it went on to be considered a cult
classic. The whole premise of the film is about a group of people stuck in the desert who have to save
themselves from giant underground worms. Giant worms have even been seen in the Nickelodeon
television series, Spongebob Squarepants. In season 2 of Spongebob Squarepants, in the episode titled
Sandy, Spongebob, and the Worm, the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom are threatened by a Giant Alaskan
Bull Worm who keeps eating things around Bikini Bottom. So, Sandy Cheeks and Spongebob
Squarepants decide to go find the worm and end its reign of terror over their beloved city. In order to
find the worm, they travel to the middle of the desert where he finally reveals himself.
(https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Sandy,_SpongeBob,_and_the_Worm) The facts that these
three completely different works of fiction released in different decades were all inspired from Frank
Herbert’s novel, Dune.

Not only did the Star Wars franchise take the giant worm in the desert idea from Dune, but it is
believed that Dune was the direct inspiration for Star Wars. Star Wars is by far the most popular science
fiction franchise of all time. Since the film’s release in 1977, it has become a household name all around
the world. There have been more than 10 films, videogame adaptations and dozens of fan inspired
books and stories. Star Wars has also sold millions of toys and household decoration. Star Wars itself has
inspired millions of people to write more science fiction stories. The fact that Star Wars was inspired by
Dune, means that Dune indirectly inspired many more writers.

One of the things Star Wars borrowed from Dune was the Spacing Guild that has a monopoly on
the spice and other goods, much like how Star Wars has the Trade Federation works very similarly. Also,
both main character come from planets that are almost covered entirely by desert. Both stories also
feature a lot of hand to hand combat and people with super natural abilities to control objects and
people with their mind. The two stories also include boy and girl sets of twins, much of the technology is
similar, and they both even contain a very similar plot twist. It is incredible to see the amount of
similarities are in the two pieces of science fiction. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=8J4LYVs5Gg4&t=9s)
 Beyond film, Dune has also inspired Video Game creators to design new Science Fiction video
games. Many people believe Dune had a lot of inspiration on hit science fiction video games such as
Halo, Rage, Borderlands and Lost Souls. Lost Souls and Borderlands take place in the desert of a dry and
barren planet and share similar ideas about different companies who have monopolies on certain goods.
Many of these video games also include characters who super powers.

Since Dune was written, there has been countless works of fiction that show similarities to Dune
in direct ways and indirect ways. With out a doubt Dune has successfully been able to change the way
authors approach science fiction and has defiantly played a large role in what science fiction is today and
how we think of science fiction. Without great authors such as Frank Herbert, many people would not
be able to enjoy their favorite science fiction stories of today.
 Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxq2ztkE0eE'

https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/dune/section1/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J4LYVs5Gg4&t=9s

https://vocal.media/futur ism/sci-fi-movies-influenced-by-dune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrakis

https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Sandy,_SpongeBob,_and_the_Worm