How long did the Atreides hold Arrakis?

[Chris OFarrell]

Well it took an absurd amount of effort and a crapload of years for IX to produce computers capable of doing the same things as navigators.

Of course there might be a significant difference between sentient AI's capable of it in the pre Jihad days and later IX machines that can do it without being aware.

[Lord Woodlouse]

I think they had FTL, it was just a LOT slower (folding space is instantaneous, afterall). Of course this is from the piss-poor Prelude books by KJA. I guess it's not beyond belief that this form of FTL became forgotten knowledge, because otherwise inconveniently slow travel is hardly a reason for the Spacing Guild to become arguably the most powerful organisation in the galaxy.

It makes more sense that they used slow ships before, I reckon.

[kinnison]

The Atreides held Arrakis for several millennia. Leto the God-Emperor was an Atreides, was he not?

[Setzer]

I meant House Atreides, before the Harkonnen/Sardaukar attack.

[Kristoff]

folding space is instantaneous, afterall

I don't know what is canon level of "The Dune Encyclopedia" but it says that the heighliners (primary interstellar vessels of the Guild) had top FTL speed somewhere around 150,000c and about 60% of that during normal operation.

[Lord Woodlouse]

folding space is instantaneous, afterall

I don't know what is canon level of "The Dune Encyclopedia" but it says that the heighliners (primary interstellar vessels of the Guild) had top FTL speed somewhere around 150,000c and about 60% of that during normal operation.

While I love the Encyclopaedia to death, and consider it an infinitely better and more informative work than the KJA prequels, I don't think it holds any level of canon. Frank Herbert more or less writes at the beginning that he considers it all entertaining speculation, but not official in any sense.