The adventures of Paul Atreides, heir to a political dynasty, began in the year 10191. In the midst of an ongoing power struggle among the Great Royal Houses, the Emperor Shaddam IV sent House Atreides to the desert planet Arrakis (also known as Dune) to oversee the production of Spice. Spice is the most precious substance in the universe because it makes possible interstellar space travel; extends life; and enables people to see into the future. Soon after the Atreides' arrival on Arrakis, Paul's father, Duke Leto Atreides, was assassinated by rivals from House Harkonnen. Paul and his mother, Lady Jessica, a mystical "Bene Gesserit" witch with powers of mind control, were forced to escape into the desert. Rescued by the Fremen, a fierce desert people who believed the young Atreides to be the Mah'di — the messiah of their legends — Paul began to recognize his power to shape the future. Under his mother's tutelage, he honed his own considerable Bene Gesserit talents and began to see into the future.

Eventually, Paul accepted the mantle of his fate. Marshalling the Fremen "desert power," Paul — now known as Muad'Dib — led the Fremen in a successful revolt against his enemies, the corrupt House Harkonnen. He seized control of all Spice production on Arrakis and forced the emperor and other Great Royal Houses to accept him as their new ruler. Muad'Dib preserved peace and united the ruling houses by marrying the Emperor's daughter, Princess Irulan. But it was a marriage in name only, because Muad'dib's heart belongs to his concubine, Chani, the future mother of his heir.