Kwisatz Your Own Haderach: the Sweeping Ambition of the Dune RPG

Dune is, it’s fair to say, a fairly troubled franchise. In terms of the novels, the original book is a landmark of science fiction by any measure, but its sequels are a bit of a bumpy ride, incorporating thoughtful and welcome elaborations of the original story’s themes (Dune Messiah, and less successfully Children of Dune), bizarre left turns, (God-Emperor of Dune), intriguing developments of Frank Herbert’s personal philosophy (Chapterhouse: Dune), and in one infamous incident Herbert just plain going horny on main (Heretics of Dune). Then, of course, there’s the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson cash-in novels that they’ve cranked out at an absurd rate since Frank Herbert died. Say what you like about old Frank, but at least you could never describe what he was up to with the books as being generic or unambitious, terms which are widely applied to the post-Frank books. Then there’s the onscreen manifestations of the saga. Jodorowsky’s attempt to shoot the thing went down in flames,…