Explain Like I'm Five

I’m going to get most of this wrong, but here’s the jist:

Ancient history

• Humans colonize the stars (probably a couple hundred years from us today). We use tehcnology not much different than us today: computers and rocket ships. It works, but it’s very slow when compared to the vastness of space.
• After about 2 thousand of years of slowly expanding our reach into the galaxy, there are thousands of colonized planets and Earth just doesn’t matter. It fades into lost history.
• Technology evolves and at some point AI computers try to take over the galaxy. Humans fight back and win. At this point, “thinking computers” are banned across the galaxy

Newer but still kind of ancient

• There are great Houses, or ruling families, that arose on different planets. Many claimed control over entire systems of planets.
• After the thinking machines were banished, one great House claimed the galaxy as its Empire. The rest of the great Houses formed a parliament of sorts, called the Lansarad. The Emporer and the Lansarad keep balance each other’s power
• There are literally hundreds of thousands of colonized planets at this point. Entire populations drift genetically. Everyone is still human, but entire populations will look very, very different from others.
• There are also many factions at play, other than the ruling houses. One notable faction is a women’s only order called the Beni Geserit. They acquire many abilities that are super human, like glimpsing the future, forcing people to speak only truth, and forcing weaker people to perform actions simply by speaking to them.
• some humans, called mentats, fill in the space left behind by thinking computers. They train on the ability to perform extreme calculations in their heads
• another faction that arises is the Spacing Guild. After old school technology receded, due to no thinking computers, they claimed the only way to perform interstellar travel. THEY ARE VERY NEUTRAL. They do not give a damn about two warring factions. You do not fuck with the spacing guild because they will ban your entire people from off world travel. If you are at war with the person next to you on your interstellar voyage, you set aside your differences during that trip.

“Now”

• it’s been 10 thousand years since thinking computers have been banished.
• there is a planet, named Dune…. Actually that’s the nick name. The real name is Arakis. But loaded of people call it dune because it’s just a giant planet of sand. …and Spice
• spice is only found on dune. And it’s the key ingredient for the spacing guild’s interstellar traveling.
• the emporer owns the planet, but assigns one of the great houses to run operations.
• side note, the spacing guild is so neutral, even the emporer doesn’t fuck with them. He owns Dune, but is more or less obligated to sell to the spacing guild less he lose his traveling permissions
• but the spice does lots of things. It grants some of the same special abilities the Beni Geserits have. I’m pretty sure they use the spice to gain their powers.

Dune, the story

• lots of factions with long term goals. And by long term, I mean plans that take thousands of years to achieve.
• each faction is essentially just boiling down to trying to control the universe, save for different ways of doing this. It usually boils down further to “if I can just control dune/the spice…”
• its messy, lots of back stabbing
• most of the story takes place on dune, the planet. But characters are all around the galaxy are acting in ways of great impact.