Leo Morales

Catalina Milan

March 25, 2020

Imaginary Lands

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 humanity would end up including religion, government,

business and even aliens. He basically had to predict what he believes will happen in the future

of humanity. 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 across the galaxy and have civilizations in many solar systems. However, the

events of Dune all take place completely on one planet called Arrakis (Sparknotes). 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 fast. Because of the Spice a lot of people have tried

come to Arrakis to get their greedy hands on the spice. Dune also includes giant sand worms

that lurk underground in the endless deserts of Arrakis. (Wikipedia, “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 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 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. (Wikipedia, “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. These

are believed to be inspired or partly inspired by Dune (Reese, “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 must 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. To find the worm, they travel to

the middle of the desert where he finally reveals himself (Fandom, “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 fans 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 (YouTube, “Everything Star Wars Stole from Dune”).

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 could 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

“Arrakis.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Mar. 2020,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrakis.

“Dune.” SparkNotes, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/dune/section1/.

“Everything Star Wars Stole From Dune.” Youtube, 2 Feb. 2018,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J4LYVs5Gg4&t=11s.

“Frank Herbert.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Mar. 2020,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herbert.

Reese, Riley Raul. “Sci-Fi Movies Influenced by 'Dune'.” Futurism, Vocal, 2017,
vocal.media/futurism/sci-fi-movies-influenced-by-dune.

“Sandy, SpongeBob, and the Worm.” Encyclopedia SpongeBobia, Fandom,

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