Brian Herbert

Brian Patrick Herbert (born June 29, 1947) is an American author who lives in Washington state.

He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert.

Brian Herbert's novels include Sidney's Comet, Prisoners of Arionn, Man of Two Worlds (written with his father), and Sudanna Sudanna.

Herbert is known for his collaborations with author Kevin J. Anderson, with whom he has written multiple prequels (and some sequels) to his father's landmark 1965 science fiction novel, Dune, all of which have made The New York Times Best Seller list.

These novels are claimed to be based on an outline and notes left behind by Frank Herbert after his 1986 death for what he referred to as Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the series.

However, they never provided any proof for that, which, together with multiple contradictions between their novels and the original Dune, created a strong backlash in the fan community.

The duo began with the trilogies Prelude to Dune (1999–2001) and Legends of Dune (2002–2004).

Furthermore, Brian, along with Kevin, has also written the Dune short stories (2001–2017).

Brian Herbert's Dune novels have received mixed reception in comparison to Frank Herbert's original novels, due to clear contradictions and questionable quality, especially due to the massive amount of published books in the Dune universe, created in much higher numbers than anything created by Frank Herbert.

(all with Kevin J. Anderson)

with Kevin J. Anderson

In 2003, Herbert wrote a biography of his father titled Dreamer of Dune: The Biography of Frank Herbert.

The younger Herbert has edited the Songs of Muad'dib and the Notebooks of Frank Herbert's Dune.

Herbert has also created a concordance for the Dune universe based on his father's notes, though, according to the younger Herbert, there are no immediate plans to publish it.

He has also written several comic books with Kevin J. Anderson based on Dune novels and short stories.

Brian and Anderson next published Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007), two sequels to Frank Herbert's original Dune series, which was left incomplete at the end of Frank's sixth Dune novel, Chapterhouse: Dune.

In 2008, Brian and Anderson began publishing Heroes of Dune, a series of four novels which take place between the first five novels of Frank Herbert's six original Dune series, but only two were published.

The inter prequels were set aside, first for the Great Schools of Dune trilogy (2012–2016), and later for the Caladan trilogy.