Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #23

      This is the LAST ENTRY for Chapterhouse: Dune!!! And also for Frank Herbert as the last two books were written by his son.  The book ended with a lot of action and little to pull out quote-wise.

     The reader though is not disappointed by the plans within plans so typical of Frank Herbert.  Mother Superior Odrade's vision is finally revealed - the union of the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres.  The action, however, was not as compelling as other action scenes, although some descriptions were so technical that it was almost distracting.  There was a quote about battle that I thought worth including here.  It was Teg's thought but came to him from a conversation with Idaho: "If your weapons cost only a small fraction of the energy your enemy spent, you had a potent lever that could prevail against seemingly overwhelming odds." (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 365)

     The power with which Murbella takes on the mantel of both Mother Superior and Great Honored Matre is impressive.  At the same time, Sheeana has something cooking aside from escape with the no-ship that is much more difficult to follow.  However, Bellonda's comment about the "marriage" of Bene Gesserit and Honored Matre is telling: "The only crisis I'd care to compare with this one is the advent of the Tyrant."  (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 414)

     The book ends with an odd scene of the old couple Duncan has seen several times.  They appear to be independent face dancers and the conversation they have with each other is meant to provide foreboding of what is to come.  I can't imagine a reader truly understanding where Herbert was taking this story from the few clues provided here.  Thank goodness that his son found a full outline of the final chapter to this story and then gave them to us in the last two books: Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune.