Paul of Dune

Paul of Dune, a 2008 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, takes place in the Dune universe originated by Frank Herbert. Released on September 16, 2008, it is the first installment of the Heroes of Dune series. The story covers two time periods: the gap between Frank Herbert's original Dune (1965) and its sequel Dune Messiah (1969), and the period between Dune and the 2001 prequel Dune: House Corrino.

After the events of Dune, Paul Atreides controls Arrakis and thus the entire universe. The former Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV, now deposed and exiled, schemes to reclaim his throne. The Fremen jihad fought in Paul's name rages across the galaxy, while Paul himself oversees the accuracy of the chronicle of his life being written by his consort, Princess Irulan. Paul also recalls his memories of the War of Assassins that occurred during his youth, before his family moved to Arrakis.

The novel is split into seven sections, alternating between Paul's early life before Dune and the early phase of his Fremen jihad after Dune.

In his youth, twelve-year-old Paul lives on Caladan with his father, Duke Leto Atreides, and his Bene Gesserit mother, Lady Jessica. Houses Ecaz and Moritani are locked in a long-standing feud. An alliance between House Atreides and House Ecaz is to be sealed by Leto's marriage to Archduke Armand Ecaz's daughter, Illesa. At the wedding, an assassination attempt fails to kill Leto and his family, but Armand is wounded and Illesa dies. Leto and Armand retaliate by attacking Grumman, unaware that House Harkonnen troops have reinforced the Moritani forces. The Padishah Emperor's Sardaukar arrive to stop a full-scale war. Viscount Hundro Moritani orchestrated the attack to lure the Ecazi, Atreides, and Imperial forces together and destroy them with a doomsday device, but his Swordmaster Hiih Resser disables the weapon.

During the jihad, after Shaddam IV's fall and Paul's rise to power, Paul's Fremen forces fight on many fronts against Houses that reject Atreides rule. They capture Kaitain, the former Imperial capital and home of House Corrino. Paul razes Shaddam's fortress, intending it as a warning to other dissident Houses. He recruits Whitmore Bludd, a former Swordmaster of House Ecaz and friend of Paul's late mentor Duncan Idaho, to build the grandest citadel in the universe on Arrakis.