Dune series

The Dune series is a science fiction future history begun by Frank Herbert and continued by his son Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Herbert wrote six books, his son and Anderson have written an additional ten. All center around the arid desert planet, Dune. There is also the inevitable parody, Doon which concerns a dessert planet.

Most of the Herbert-Anderson books are prequels to the elder Herbert's works, and provide explanations for aspects of the complex culture that are only mentioned in passing. One of the themes, "thou shalt make no machine in the image of a man", forbids intelligent computers, so the society has turned to various forms of systematic extension of human abilities. Extension involves both selective breeding and intense training.