Direct Descent

Direct Descent
Author	Frank Herbert
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Ace Books
Publication date	1980
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	186
ISBN	0-441-14897-2
OCLC	7051228
Dewey Decimal	813/.54 19
LC Class	PS3558.E63 D5

Last updated September 13, 2025

Direct Descent is a 1980 science fiction novella by American writer Frank Herbert.^[1] It was based on his short story "Pack Rat Planet" published in 1954 in Astounding Science Fiction and was marketed as an illustrated story, with over 60 pages of illustrations to compliment the narrative.

Plot summary

Set in the far future, it consists of two stories about how the peaceful Archivists of the library planet Earth have to deal with warmongers arriving and trying to exploit knowledge for power.

References

↑ Commire, Anne. Something About the Author. Vol. 37. p. 70. ISBN 0810300699.

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[1] Commire, Anne. Something About the Author. Vol. 37. p. 70. ISBN 0810300699.

[1]

v t e Frank Herbert
Bibliography
Dune	Dune (1965) Dune Messiah (1969) Children of Dune (1976) God Emperor of Dune (1981) Heretics of Dune (1984) Chapterhouse: Dune (1985) "The Road to Dune" (1985) Songs of Muad'Dib (1992) The Road to Dune (2005)
ConSentiency	"A Matter of Traces" (1958) "The Tactful Saboteur" (1964) Whipping Star (1970) The Dosadi Experiment (1977)
The Pandora Sequence	Destination: Void (1966) The Jesus Incident (1979) The Lazarus Effect (1983) The Ascension Factor (1988)
Standalone novels	The Dragon in the Sea (1956) The Green Brain (1966) The Eyes of Heisenberg (1966) The Heaven Makers (1968) The Santaroga Barrier (1968) Soul Catcher (1972) The Godmakers (1972) Hellstrom's Hive (1973) The Dosadi Experiment (1977) Direct Descent (1980) The White Plague (1982) Man of Two Worlds (1986) High-Opp (2012) Angels' Fall (2013) A Game of Authors (2013) A Thorn in the Bush (2014)
Short story collections	The Worlds of Frank Herbert (1970) The Book of Frank Herbert (1973) The Best of Frank Herbert (1975) The Priests of Psi (1980) Eye (1985) The Collected Stories of Frank Herbert (2014)