Agreed, though the world of Tolkien is a way deeper rabbit hole than Dune's. It's more detailed, more thought of, the backstory actually exists written down and

Agreed, though the world of Tolkien is a way deeper rabbit hole than Dune's. It's more detailed, more thought of, the backstory actually exists written down and it goes back millenia, some of its constructed languages you can actually speak in, whereas most of the backstory of Dune is only hinted at. Forgetting the non-canon and widely repudiated attempts by Herbert's son, that is. Yet Lord of the Rings often tops the list of books (fiction) readers prefer! I think LotR used to be obscure as Dune is nowadays, or maybe even more, and at some point it sprung into the mainstream and it hasn't left since. Peter Jackson helped tremendously, but I think the surge in popularity happened even before that. Everybody knows about Elves (and the fact they are spelled "Elves" and not "Elfs") and Hobbits, but not as many people know about Arrakis, Fremen and Harkonnen.