Sandworms of Dune - Entry #3

     Biological warfare was a successful tactic for Omnius 15,000 years ago and it is only logical that Erasmus would have spend part of the time fine tuning a virus that was more effective at eradicating humankind than the one used during the Butlerian Jihad.  One of Murbella's advisors understands the thinking machine's strategy:

Accadia struggled to sit up in the chair.  "Mother Commander, don't be so focused on the epidemic that you fail to see its consequences."  She began coughing.  Blotches had appeared all over her skin, the advanced stages of the disease.  "This plague is a mere foray, a test attack.  On many planets it is sufficient, but the Enemy must know the Sisterhood well enough by now to be sure we can fight this, at least to a point.  After they soften us up, they'll attack by other means."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 205)

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #2

     Since I have only read this particular Dune book once before, I can't remember how I felt about it the first time around as that is some time ago now.  I remember being enthralled with the ending but it takes some time to put all the pieces in place.  One of the pieces is "Paulo", Omnius' attempt to have his own Kwisatz Haderach.  Omnius decides to have the Baron and Paulo brought to Synchrony, the evermind's city, to complete the process of awakening his memories and winning the war.  The Baron, although twisted and evil, is no dummy and can have great insight as is clear in this quote:

The Baron found it amusing how the thinking machines viewed everything as an absolute.  After fifteen thousand years, they should know better.

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 155)

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #1

     As I begin Sandworms of Dune, I can't believe that I am soon ending this journey and that it has been over a month since my last entry!  What will I write about after this?  Will I miss blogging?  I feel like I will be dragging my feet a little to finish this up.

     But on to the matter at hand.  So Omnius has launched a vast fleet to eradicate the humans.

     For centuries Omnius had been building his invincible force.  Using traditional but supremely efficient lightspeed engines, the millions and millions of machine vessels now swept forward and spread out, conquering one start system at a time.  The evermind could have made use of the surrogate mathematical navigation systems, which his Face Dancers had "given" to the Spacing Guild, but one element of the Holtzman technology simply remained too incomprehensible.  Something indefinably human was required to travel through foldspace, an intangible "leap of faith." The evermind would never admit that the bizarre technology actually made him ... nervous.

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 10)

     The fact that the machine fleet will not fold space to travel buys some time for the humans to get their act together.

Hunters of Dune - Entry #14

     This is my last entry for Hunters of Dune.  Then on to Sandworms of Dune and Kralizec and the end of our collective journey.

     There is one last hint about the Outside Enemy before the secrets of the Outside Enemy and the Oracle of Time are revealed.  The no-ship had come across a promising looking planet, perhaps one that some of the Ithaca passengers could settle on. The rabbi, Sheeana, ghola Miles Teg, and ghola Thufir Hawat, went down to the planet to inspect.  They found that the habitants were "Handlers" who had created Futars to hunt Honored Matres.  Thinking that if they share the same enemy, they must be friends, they cautiously accepted the Handlers hospitality.  But things just didn't seem right.  And here is the hint ... at one point Teg recognized that the trees in the forest "had been laid out in a precise order, carefully staged to present an appearance of "geometrical naturalness"". (Hunters of Dune, p. 448)  He then came to a Mentat projection: "although the original planters of this seeping forest had strived to create the appearance of wildness, they had not been able to get past their innate sense of order". (Hunters of Dune, p. 448)

     Then come the revelations in the climax of this book.

     The old man nodded in satisfaction.  "The incursion will proceed with greater vigor now.  Once we begin to engage in direct battles, I will not allow you to waste time, energy, or imagination on such stage shows." 

     The old woman flicker her fingers as if to knock away an insect.  "My amusements cost little, and I have never lost sight of our overall goal.  Everything we see and do contains an element of illusion, in one form or another.  We simply choose which layers to unveil."  She shrugged.  "But if you continue to nag me about it, I would be happy for us to revert to our original forms whenever you like." 

     In a blink, all of the realistic images were gone and the two found themselves standing in the midst of the immense kaleidoscopic metropolis. 

     "We have waited fifteen thousand years for this," the old man said. 

     "Yes, we have.  But that isn't really very long fur us, is it?" 

(Hunters of Dune, p. 513)

     And then in the very next chapter, the Oracle of Time is searching for the no-ship and its precious cargo.

     Trillions of humans over tens of thousands of years had exhibited a latent racial prescient ability.  In myths and legends, the same prediction kept cropping up -- the End Times, titanic battles that signaled epic changes in history and society.  The Butlerian Jihad had been one such battle.  She had been there, too, fighting against the terrific antagonist that threatened to obliterate humanity.  

     Now, that ancient Enemy was returning, an all-powerful foe that the Oracle of Time had sworn to destroy back when she was a mere human named Norma Cenva. 

(Hunters of Dune, p. 515)

     There you have it.  The ancient Enemy ... two characters ... Omnius and Erasmus.  The Oracle of Time ... the humble visionary Norma Cenva.

Hunters of Dune - Entry #13

Chapter starter:

     Even a great tower has its weak point. The accomplished warrior finds and exploits the smallest flaws to bring about complete ruin.

-- MATRE SUPERIOR HELLICA,

Internal Directive 67B-1138

(Hunters of Dune, p. 400)

     Murbella's need to delve in to her past to understand the Honored Matres as she prepares to go in to battle against them finally leads to full disclosure in a spice trance.  It is worth including some lengthy passages here so I can look back at this in the blog to recall the details.

     Yes, during the Famine Times, a splinter group of rogue Bene Gesserits, a few untrained wild Reverend Mothers, and fugitive Fish Speakers had indeed escaped in the turmoil after the Tyrant's death.  Yet that was only a small part of the answer. 

     In their flight, those women had also encountered isolated and insular Tleilaxu worlds.  For more than ten thousand years, the fanatical Bene Tleilax had used their females only as breeding machines and axlotl tanks.  In a closely guarded secret, they kept their women immobilized, comatose, and uneducated, no more than wombs on tables.  No Bene Gesserit, no outsider, had ever seen a Tleilaxu female. 

     When those rogue Bene Gesserits and militant Fish Speakers discovered the horrific truth, their reaction was swift and unforgiving: they left not a single Tleilaxu male alive on those outlying worlds.  Liberating the breeding tanks, they took the Tleilaxu females with them on their journey, tending them, trying to bring them back. 

     ... 

     The renegade Reverend Mothers, militaristic Fish Speakers, and recovered Tleilaxu females had united to form the Honored Matres.  Lost out in the Scattering for more than a dozen centuries, they had no access to melange, could no longer undergo the Spice Agony, and were unable to find an alternative that would allow them access to Other Memories.  Over time, interbreeding with males from populations they encountered, then dominated on other worlds, those women had become something else entirely. 

     And now Murbella knew why her chain of predecessors ended in dark emptiness.  She traveled back, generation to generation, all the way to a Tleilaxu female who had been a comatose breeding tank, a mindless womb.  

     Gathering her courage and focusing her rage, Murbella pushed harder and became the paralyzed tank that Tleilaxu female had once been.  She shuddered as the dim and helpless sensations and memories seeped into her.  She had been that young girl raised in captivity, understanding little of the world beyond her pitiful confinement, unable to read, barely able to speak.  In the month of her first menstruation, she had been dragged away, strapped to a table, and turned into a flesh vat.  No longer conscious, the nameless woman had no idea how many offspring her body produced. Then she had been awakened and liberated. 

(Hunters of Dune, pp. 438 - 439)

     Pretty easy to see why they behave so fiercely, why they demand respect of all and show no respect to men.

Hunters of Dune - Entry #12

     So we have been led to believe that there is or will be a Kwisatz Haderach on the no-ship, Ithaca.  The awesome powers of the characters on the no-ship is mind-boggling.  There is Duncan with his many lifetimes, unique character, and ability to somehow span his mind across space to see the far-removed old man and woman as well as the tachyon net.  There is Sheeana, an Atreides, who I recently devoted a whole entry to and why can't a Kwisatz Haderach be a woman?  And finally, there is Miles Teg, also an Atreides with special abilites, especially to be able to see through no-fields.

     Duncan lets Miles guide the ship through a foldspace jump to a place where he sees what no one else can see ... a planet hidden by a planet-wide no-field.  Duncan and Sheeana witness this and Duncan is awed.  Sheeana's repsonse is "The Bashar has Atreides genes, Duncan.  You should know by now not to underestimate them." (Hunters of Dune, pp. 356)

     Sheeana and Garimi go to investigate the planet that has no living humans on it but has much evidence of a civilization that was wiped out relatively recently.  They learned from the planet something they had already suspected, humans out in the Scattering, including the Honored Matres, have been under attack by devastating biological warfare.

     "That's unheard of! No disease could possibly be so --"
     "This one was.  The proof is here."  Sheeana shook her head.  "Even the horrific plagues from the Butlerian Jihad were not so efficient, and that epidemic spread everywhere and nearly brought an end to human civilization."

(Hunters of Dune, pp. 362)

Do I need to remind you who was behind that efficient epidemic?

Hunters of Dune - Entry #11

     Meanwhile, Khrone is at work on Ix and Dan (Caladan).  The infiltration of Face Dancers in to the Ixian industry is widespread.  The Face Dancers made it seem like the Ixians had figured out a way to navigate foldspace without a melange-addicted and mutated Guild Navigator.  "Even the Chief Fabricator assumed that the recent breakthroughs were based on real Ixian knowledge and ingenuity, not brought in from the Outside Enemy." (Hunters of Dune, p. 295)

     There is growing underlying suspicion, but no evidence and no desire by most to dig deeper.  In a meeting with Uxtal of the Lost Tleilaxu, Hellica of the Honored Matres, and a Guild Navigator concerning spice production using axlotl tanks, the Navigator senses the paradox of the Lost Tleilaxu.

     "If your people are so ignorant, how did they create Face Dancers so superior to any previous ones?" the Navigator asked.  Uxtal shuddered, knowing -- now -- that his people had not, after all, created Khrone or his superior breed of shape-shifters.  Apparently, they had merely been found out in the Scattering.

(Hunters of Dune, pp. 342 - 343)

Hunters of Dune - Entry #10

     So here is some more "dialogue" concerning the unlikely prospect of Serena Butler being in Sheeana's other memory.  Sheeana had gone to be with the worms in the great hold of the no-ship when Serena's voice came to her again.

     Inside her head, the fascinating and ancient voice of Serena Butler once again bubbled up from deep within her Other Memories.  Sheeana carried on her conversation aloud.  "Tell me one thing: How can Serena Butler be among my ancestors?"
     If you dig deep enough, I am there.  Ancestor after ancestor, generation after generation ...
     Sheeana was not so easily convinced.  "But Serena Butler's only child was murdered by thinking machines.  That was the trigger of the Jihad.  You had no heirs, no other descendants.  How can you be in my Other Memories, regardless of how far back I go?"
     She looked up at the strange forms of the sandworms, as if the martyred woman's face might be there.
     Because, Serena said, I am.  The ancient voice said no more, and Sheeana knew she would get no better answer.

(Hunters of Dune, p. 283)

     I love Sheeana's character.  She is remarkable, almost god-like, strong physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Yet with all her power, she is humble.  When I read the scene copied below, I wrote to myself ... "So cool Sheeana does this.  She is AWESOME!"

     Sheeana sat cross-legged on the hard floor of the arboretum while the four Futars prowled around her.  She used Bene Gesserit skills to slow her heartbeat and respiration rate.  After the one called Hrrm watched her dance with the sandworms, the shared awe among the beast-men had kept her safe among them.  Although she controlled the scents that came from her body, she did not avert her gaze.
     Most of the time the Futars walked on two feet, but occasionally they reverted to a four-pawed pacing.  Restless, always restless.
     Sheeana had not moved for several minutes.  The Futars twitched each time she blinked, and then they went back to their restless prowling.  Hrrm came close to her and sniffed.  She lifted her chin and sniffed back.
     Despite the potential violence in these creatures, she knew it was important for her to be with them inside this large chamber.  After continued study, Sheeana was convinced the Futars could reveal much more, if only she could sift the information out of them.

(Hunters of Dune, p. 301)

Hunters of Dune - Entry #9

Every judgment teeters on the brink of error.  To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous.  Knowledge is an unending adventure on the edge of uncertainty.

-- LETO ATREIDES II

The God Emperor

(Hunters of Dune, p.238)

     Well put.

     I have to include the following short passage even though it doesn't relate to the chapter starter given above, but that would have made this a very short blog entry.  The passage shares with the reader Scytale's inner thoughts which show with great clarity and harshness exactly how Tleilaxu see women and their one useful role:

     They were just biological vessels to produce offspring, and a conscious brain was not necessary for that process.

(Hunters of Dune, p. 273)

Disgusting.  Despicable.  "Those dirty Tleilaxu", a clearly racist comment made throughout the epic story but I have to get on board with despising them as a race considering all the evidence against them.

Hunters of Dune - Entry #8

     The discovery on Dan (once called Caladan) of the one very famous knife is an amazing bit of threading a story line across many thousands of years, five to be exact.  Khrone brings Uxtal and their ghola of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen to Dan where a priestess explains the knife's significance to the Lost Tleilaxu Uxtal.

     "I am Ardath, formerly a Fish Speaker priestess, now servant of Sheeana.  Long ago, the evil Count Hasimir Fenring attempted to assassinate the blessed Muad'Dib with this dagger.  The weapon belonged to Emperor Shaddam IV, was given to Duke Leto Atreides as a gift, and then returned to Shaddam during his trial before the Landsraad.  Later, Emperor Shaddam offered the dagger to Feyd-Rautha for his duel with Muad'Dib."  Priestess Ardath seemed to be reciting often-rehearsed scripture.
     "Later, during Muad'Dib's jihad, an exiled Hasimir Fenring -- he himself a failed Kwisatz Haderach -- acquired the dagger.  In a vile plot, he stabbed Muad'Dib deeply in the back.  Some say he died that day from the wound, but that Heaven sent him back among the living, for his work was not yet done.  In a miracle he returned to us."

(Hunters of Dune , p. 218)

     Although Frank Herbert must have outlined this story line as the dagger plays an important role in Frank Herbert's Dune 7, only the part of the story with Feyd is in the original books.  Brian Herbert filled in the details in the prequel books and Paul of Dune.

Hunters of Dune - Entry #7

     The Van Gogh painting, Thatched Cottages at Cordeville, that Sheeana took from Odrade's quarters just before stealing away from Chapterhouse on the no-ship is periodically mentioned in Hunters of Dune.  The painting had apparently "survived the atomic destruction of Earth ages ago, the Butlerian Jihad and ensuing dark ages, then Muad'Dib's Jihad, thirty-five hundred years of the Tyrant's rule, the Famine Times, and the Scattering" (Hunters of Dune, pp. 201 - 202).  But seriously, that is so unlikely.  There are little hints as to why it is an important artifact.  On page 202, we learn that an Ixian had "restored and enhanced the original" but had also added "interactive simulations" that showed the observer how the painting was created, stroke by stroke.  Sheeana thinks to herself "even if she'd made a perfect copy, it wouldn't have been the same as the original" (Hunters of Dune, p. 202).  Since I already know how the epic ends, I know more about this painting's origin and how it connects to the story's end.

     A seriously unlikely story line that, unfortunately, doesn't have solid footing is Sheeana discovering Serena Butler in her Other Memory.  I just don't understand why this is happening and I find it hard to believe that this was in Frank Herbert's outline of Dune 7.  Other Memory was always from mother to daughter until the Sisterhood figured out how to Share which came much, much later.  Serena died childless, as best as we can tell, considering that the Butlerian Jihad was ignited by Serena when Erasmus killed Manion, her young son by Xavier Harkonnen.  I will be looking for missed clues as to why Brian Herbert put this in to the story.

     Note: Thatched Cottages at Cordeville is in the collection at Musee d'Orsay.  The following link goes to information about the painting: http://www.musee-orsay.fr/en/collections/works-in-focus/painting/commentaire_id/thatched-cottages-at-cordeville-18199.html?cHash=5fa6b59f9b

Hunters of Dune - Entry #6

HEY!  THIS IS MY ONE HUNDREDTH BLOG ENTRY!

In Entry #2 for Hunters of Dune, I brought up that the Oracle and the old couple have this power to spread themselves over vast spaces and that they are keys to the ending of this story.  The following scene is very important and couldn't be easily clipped so I am sharing a large portion of it here.

     The Oracle.  Her mind was unimaginably advanced, beyond any level even a Navigator's prescience could attain.  The Oracle was the ancient foundation of the Guild, a comforting anchor for all Navigators. 

     "This altered universe is where I last saw the no-ship piloted by Duncan Idaho.  I helped his ship break free, returning him to normal space.  But I have lost them again.  Because the hunters continue to search for them with their tachyon net, we must find the ship first.  Kralizec is indeed upon us, and the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach is aboard that no-ship.  Both sides in the Great War want him for their victory." 

     The echoes of her thoughts filled Edrik's soul with a cold terror that threatened to unwind him.  He had heard legends of Kralizec, the battle at the end of the universe, and had dismissed them as no more than human superstitions.  But if the Oracle was concerned about it ... 

     Who was Duncan Idaho?  What no-ship was she speaking of? And, most amazing of all, how could even the Oracle be blinded to it?  Always in the past, her voice had been a reassuring and guiding force.  Now Edrik sensed uncertainty in her mind. 

     "I have searched, but I cannot find it.  It is a tangle through all the prescient lines I can envision.  My Navigators, I must make you aware.  I may be forced to call upon you for assistance, if this threat is what I think it is." 

     Edrik's mind reeled.  He felt dismay of the Navigators around him.  Some of them unable to process this new information that shook their fragile holds on reality, spun into madness within their tanks of spice gas. 

     "The threat, Oracle," Edrik said, "is that we have no melange--" 

     "The threat is Kralizec."  Her voice boomed through every Navigator's mind.  "I will summon you, when I require my Navigators." 

     With a lurch, she hurled all of the thousands of great Heighliners back out of the strange universe, scattering them into normal space.  Edrik reeled, trying to orient himself and his ship.

     The Navigators were all confused and agitated. 

     Despite the Oracle's call, Edrik clung to a far more selfish concern: How can we help the Oracle, if we are all starved for spice?

(Hunters of Dune, pp. 175 - 176)

Hunters of Dune - Entry #5

The end of this epic story is about Kralizec, mentioned several times in Frank Herbert's books.  But now we are really getting down to it.

The old man adjusted a straw hat on his head and leaned closer to Khrone, though his image came from impossibly far away.  "Our detailed projections have provided us with the answer we need.  There is no possibility for error.  Kralizec will soon be upon us, and our victory requires the Kwisatz Haderach, the superhuman bred by the Bene Gesserit.  According to the predictions, the no-ship is the key.  He is --- or will be -- aboard."

(Hunters of Dune, p. 129)

        But who is or will be this new Kwisatz Haderach?  That is just one of the mysteries to work out at the end.

        The other day I explained to my husband that one of the key themes in Dune is plans.  Plans within plans within plans. Breeding plans.  Climate plans.  The Golden Path.  Getting humanity to learn that truly long term planning is needed for survival of the species.  Frank Herbert subtly gets us to see this theme where Brian Herbert is not so subtle.  The following is a portion of a conversation between Duncan Idaho and Reverend Mother Garimi about the ghola project and the decision to create a ghola of Paul Atreides from the cell samples supplied by Master Scytale.  Garimi is trying to make that case that Paul is a monster, not to be recreated.

        "He was a good child and a good man," Duncan insisted.  "And while he shaped the map of history, Paul was himself shaped by the events around him.  Even so, in the end he refused to follow the path that he knew led to so much pain and ruin."
        "His son Leto did not have such reservations."
        "Leto II was forced into a Hobson's choice of his own.  We cannot judge that decision until we know everything that was behind it.  Perhaps not enough time has passed for anyone to say whether or not his choice was ultimately correct."
        A storm of anger crossed Garimi's face.  "It's been five thousand years since the Tyrant began his work, fifteen hundred years since his death."
        "One of his most prominent lessons was that humanity should learn to think on a truly long time scale."

(Hunters of Dune, pp. 157 - 158) 

Hunters of Dune – Entry #4

" 'There is more skill in avoiding confrontation than in engaging in them.' That's a Bene Gesserit axiom."

Spoken by Janess in a confrontation with a Honored Matre acolyte

(Hunters of Dune, p. 91)

Fighting is a matter of life and death ... not of mood.  Gurney Halleck had taught him that.

Duncan Idaho's pondering while practicing prana-bindu exercise that would  enable him to  move with lightning speed

(Hunters of Dune, p. 98)

But in the Honored Matre line, she found almost nothing at all.

Murbella's thoughts about her search in Other Memory for information about the Honored Matres' history and the Enemy

(Hunters of Dune, p. 119)

Hunters of Dune – Entry #3

     Now that I am back into Brian Herbert's writing, I feel like there will be fewer entries of remarkable quotes.  The story is just as good but it is told differently, more plainly.  For example, Master Scytale was considering his plight on the no-ship, Ithaca, instead of enjoying the meal brought to him by the "witches".  Looking at the plate of food he thought "Powindah food, unclean outsider food." (Hunters of Dune, p. 64).  Frank Herbert would have just used the word Powindah and left it to you to interpret its meaning from the context.

     On the next page, there is more detailed explanation than Frank Herbert supplied about how the Tleilaxu masters created gholas (clones, really) of themselves and then ignited their past memory in the gholas to unnaturally extend their lives.  It is also explained that they did not concern themselves with perfecting the genetics of these gholas and that the gholas "contained cumulative genetic mistakes" (Hunters of Dune, p. 65) that effectively shortened their lifespans.  They also hadn't worried about what might happen if a ghola of themselves was not available.  Hubris.

     Then there are other fun little tidbits like the first time the Litany Against Fear is recited in this book (p. 69).  Murbella's eldest daughter, Rinya, recites the Litany as she tries, unsuccessfully, to take the Spice Agony at an even younger age then Sheeana. Or when Murbella recalls the story Duncan had told her about the woman, Janess, who had saved him from the Harkonnens as a boy in his original life in Duke Leto's time (p. 69); a story described in detail in the Dune prequel (I think it was in the House Harkonnen book).

     I feel like I will be posting more of these kinds of little tidbits than quotes.  However, I really like the following chapter starter:

It is only through constant and diligent practice that we are able to achieve the potential -- the perfection -- of our lives.  Those of us who have had more than one life have had more opportunity to practice.

-- DUNCAN IDAHO

(Hunters of Dune, p. 73) 

     I like this quote because I have said something similar when considering my take on how reincarnation might work.  If your soul has learned a lot in its reincarnated lifetimes and has made many attempts at life, a young person or even child can seem quite advanced and knowledgeable whereas a soul that has had little practice with life is more prone to ignorant actions.

Hunters of Dune – Entry #2

     Although the Oracle of Time is not mentioned in Frank Herbert's books, Brian Herbert mentions it in the prequel books.  The Oracle is a guiding force, something like a god, for Guild Navigators.  The Oracle reappears early on in Hunters of Dune to guide Duncan and the no-ship, Ithaca, out of the lost universe he put them in when they escaped from Chapterhouse.  "They" includes Sheeana, a group of conservative Bene Gesserit, Master Scytale, Miles Teg, and the small of band of Jews rescued from Gammu including the wild reverend mother Rebecca (wild in this context means that she became a reverend mother without the benefit of Bene Gesserit training).

     The Oracle warns Duncan that many are looking for them and that they must move out of the universe they are in.  The Oracle also tells Duncan that he has a role to play in Kralizec, a sort of Armageddon.  Kralizec was specifically mentioned in Frank Herbert's Dune books and was foreseen to some degree by Muad'Dib.

     So in this point of the story, we have two forces that seem to be able to spread themselves over vast spaces ... the Oracle and the old couple.  Duncan seems to be the only one to have "seen" or "heard" them.  These are the key characters to the end of this saga.

     On pages 41 through 48, we meet the new breed of Face Dancers and Khrone in an exchange with an Elder of the Lost Tleilaxu.  We find out in this meeting that the Face Dancers can replace just about anyone without others being aware that the original has been killed and replaced by a Face Dancer.  Additionally, we find out that the Face Dancers take orders from the old couple.  Khrone demands that the Tleilaxu use their resources to find the no-ship saying that according to the old couple's projections "the escaped no-ship holds something or someone supremely important to them." (Hunters of Dune, p. 45)

     Khrone also gives the reader reason to pause.

"Are you certain you Lost Tleilaxu created us ... or did you simply find us out in the Scattering?  True, in the distant shadows of the past, a Tleilaxu Master was responsible for our seed stock.  He made modifications and dispatched us to the ends of the universe shortly before the birth of Paul Muad'Dib.  But we have evolved since then."

(Hunters of Dune, p. 46)

Hunters of Dune – Entry #1

     Hunters of Dune begins with a good summary of what has transpired over the past 1500 years since Leto II was transformed back to sand trout by Siona Atreides.  It is provided as the very first chapter starter and is indicated to be from the Guild Bank Records, Gammu Branch.  Recall that Gammu is what once was Geidi Prime, planet home of House Harkonnen.  Gammu is also where the current ghola of Duncan Idaho was reawakened to his memories and where he and Murbella bonded to each other.  It is worth including it, so here it is ...

Following the 3,500-year reign of the Tyrant Leto II, an empire was left to fend for itself.  During the Famine Times and the subsequent Scattering, the remnants of the human race cast themselves far into the wilderness of space.  They fled to unknown realms where they sought riches and safety, to no avail.  For fifteen hundred years these survivors and their descendants endured terrible hardships, a whole reorganization of humanity.
     Stripped of its energy and resources, the ancient government of the Old Empire fell away.  New power groups took root and grew strong, but never again would humans allow themselves to depend upon a monolithic leader or a key, finite substance.  Single points of failure.
     Some say the Scattering was Leto II's Golden Path, a crucible in which to strengthen the human race forever, to teach us a lesson we could not forget.  But how could one man -- even a man-god who was partially a sandworm -- willingly inflict such suffering upon his children?  Now that descendants of the Lost Ones are returning from the Scattering, we can only imagine the true horrors our brothers and sisters faced out there.

--Guild Bank Records, Gammu Branch

(Hunters of Dune, p. 1)

     Although I am excited about reaching what could be seen as the home stretch, it is an odd sensation switching back to Brian Herbert's writing after just finishing Chapterhouse: Dune.  The son's writing is by far more direct, easier reading, and less hidden meanings.  However, the language is not as rich even though the meaning more plain.

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.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #22

     The chapters start getting pretty action-packed at this point as the climax for Chapterhouse: Dune is approached. Murbella successfully goes through the Agony to become a Reverend Mother.  Both Duncan and Murbella know that this has changed their relationship.  Odrade is about to share her plan for an attack on the Honored Matres leadership at Junction - a plan which will likely make her a martyr.  She has all but stated that either Sheeana or Murbella will succeed her as Mother Superior.

     Then there was an odd scene that I certainly missed on my previous readings of this book.  Duncan awakens from a dream in which he saw a scroll listing weapons and details of their construction.  He then goes to his workroom, sits at his console, and the scroll returns but this time with different weapons, including Futars and weapons he had never heard of such as Disruptors.  Then suddenly, he sees the elderly couple he has seen through the shimmering net before and they glare at him and say "Stop spying on us!" (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 335)

     So somehow, Duncan can see through to the elderly couple ... they, with Duncan, are the key to  the climax of the entire Dune Saga.  Here is his analysis of this vision:

     Resonances and tachyon theory held his attention for a time.  Tachyon theory figured in Holzmann's original design.  "Techys," Holzmann had called his energy source.

      A wave system that ignored light speed's limits.  Light speed obviously did not limit foldspace ships.  Techys?

     "It works because it works," Idaho muttered.  "Faith.  Like any other religion."
Mentats squirreled away much seemingly inconsequential data.  He had a storehouse marked "Techys" and proceeded to go through it without satisfaction.

      Not even Guild Navigators professed knowledge of how they guided foldspace ships.  Ixian scientists made machines to duplicate Navigator abilities but still could not define what they did.

     "Holzmann's formulae can be trusted."

      No one claimed to understand Holzmann.  They merely used his formulae because they worked.  It was the "ether" of space travel.  You folded space.  One instant you were here and the next instant you were countless parsecs distant.

     Someone "out there" has found another way to use Holzmann's theories!  It was a full Mentat Projection.  He knew its accuracy from the new questions it produced.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 335 - 336)

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #21

Become too conservative and you were unprepared for surprises.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 320)

   
     This is Odrade's warning to her advisors.  This is the reason the machines lost in the Butlerian Jihad.  This is the reason that humanity is uniquely prepared at this point in the story because they have learned this lesson from Muad'Dib and the Tyrant.  And they have Odrade, Sheeana, Idaho, Teg, and Murbella ... five amazing characters.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #20

     The following chapter starter says so much in so little.

Spend energies on those who make you strong.  Energy spent on weaklings drags you to doom.  (HM rule) Bene Gesserit Commentary: Who judges?

-- The Dortujla Record

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 300)

Note: HM stands for Honored Matre.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #19

     Sometimes I wish that there were chapter numbers or names.  One of the best chapters is between pages 263 - 277.  In this chapter, Mother Superior Odrade is confronting Scytale again as she tries to negotiate for what the Sisterhood needs - the method for creating synthetic spice using the axlotl tanks.  The intricacies of the conversation are engrossing.  But the best scene is when Sheeana comes to announce that there has been a spice blow which attracted thousands of sandworms!

     Odrade remained silent.  We have done it!  But this was Sheeana's moment of triumph.  Let her make the most of it.  Scytale had never looked this defeated.
     Sheeana opened the pod and lifted the worm from it, cradling it as thought it were an infant.  It lay quiescent in her arms.
     Odrade took a deep, satisfied breath.  She still controls them.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 271)

     Later in the chapter Odrade is reviewing the conversation with Tamalane, Bellonda, and Sheeana.  The importance of the conversion of Chapterhouse by the sandworms could not be understated.

     "When you spoke of Chapterhouse becoming another Dune, that was when he began to panic, " Bellonda said, her voice Mentat distant.
     Odrade had seen the reaction but had not yet made the association.  This was a Mentat's value: patterns and systems, building blocks.  Bell sensed a pattern to Scytale's behavior.
     "I ask myself: Is it the thing become real once more?" Bellonda said.
     Odrade saw it at once.  An odd thing about lost places.  As long as Dune had been a known and living planet, there existed a historical firmness about its presence in the Galactic Register.  You could point to a projection and say: "That is Dune.  Once called Arrakis and, latterly, Rakis.  Dune for its total desert character in Muad'Dib's day."
     Destroy the place, though, and a mythological patina inweighed against projected reality.  In time, such places became totally mythic.  Arthur and his Round Table.  Camelot where it only rains at night.  Pretty good Weather Control for those days!
     But now, a new Dune had appeared.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, pp. 274 - 275)

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #18

     Odrade's visit to the desert observation center where Sheeana has been working as an "imprinter" and teaching young men how to resist being imprinted was quite interesting.  Odrade reminds the reader that Sheeana was the youngest-ever Reverend Mother and a descendent of Siona Atreides.

     "I have a problem with you, Sheeana.  You alarm some Sisters."  And me.  There's a wild place in you we have not found.  Atreides gene markers Duncan told us to seek are in your cells.  What have they given you?

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 248)

     During this conversation, Mother Superior Odrade tells Sheeana that she wants her to be in her Council to replace Tamalane who has gotten very old.  But when the Mother Superior asks about Sheeana's conversations with Duncan, Sheeana worries that Odrade sees that there is more going on at the desert observation center than she has let on.  But Sheeana successfully deflects the conversation's direction.

     No need even to waste her fallback position - truth: "We've been discussing the possibility that I might imprint Teg and restore the Bashar's memories that way." 

     Full confession avoided.  Mother Superior did not learn that I have weaseled out the way to reactivate our no-ship prison and defuse the mines Bellonda put in it.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 250)

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #17

Creativity! 

Always dangerous to entrenched power.  Always coming up with something  new.  New things could destroy the grip of authority.  Even the Bene Gesserit approached creativity with misgivings. ... The trouble was that creative ones tended to welcome backwaters.  They called it privacy.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 243)

     This is why Odrade knew how important Duncan was to their plans.  They needed his creativity.  They needed to make sure they didn't get stuck in old patterns of behavior.  They needed the element of surprise!

     Further down on this same page was a reference to "HOSPITAL FOR INCURABLE DISEASES".  This came from a "simulflow" Odrade, an Atreides, had during a conversation with Streggi.  It amazes me that either Frank Herbert had envisioned this as the first place we would meet Raquella, daughter of Vor Atreides and founder of what became the Bene Gesserit, or that Brian Herbert thought to weave this in to the prequel story.  The ability to make connections over eons amazes me.  The only other author I have known to be able to tell a story over such an expanse of time is James Michener, especially in The Source.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #16

     The conversation that Duncan has with second-in-command Reverend Mother Bellonda is nothing short of amazing.  Duncan is, well, Duncan ... the most amazing character in the Dune series.  And this conversation enlightens us to the historical background and glimpses of the future that Frank Herbert envisioned.

Simulflow poured it through her awareness: Order of Mentats, founded by Gilbertus Albans; temporary sanctuary with Bene Tleilax who hoped to incorporate them into Tleilax hegemony; spread into uncounted "seed schools"; suppressed by Leto II because they formed a nucleus of independent opposition; spread into the Scattering after the Famine.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 230)

And then later in the conversation ...

     "By the way, Bell," as she stood to leave, "Honored Matres could be a relatively small group."
     Small? Didn't he know how the Sisterhood was being overwhelmed by terrifying numbers on planet after planet?
     "All numbers are relative. Is there something in the universe truly immovable? Our Old Empire could be a last retreat for them, Bell.  A place to hide and try to regroup."

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 231)

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #15

The tyranny of the minority cloaked in the mask of the majority.

That was what the witch Lucilla had recognized.  No way to let her live after discovering she knew how to manipulate the masses.  The witch nests would have to be found and burned.  Lucilla's perceptiveness was clearly not an isolated example.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 221)

     I tried really hard to understand what had made the Grand Honored Matre so mad to kill Lucilla.  This passage not only explains that but the rampage on all Bene Gesserit.  If the Bene Gesserit can control the masses then the tyranny of the Honored Matres could not be maintained.   Thank you Frank Herbert for explaining things every once in a while.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #14

With accumulated skills of many lifetimes, he looked on his surroundings through a screen of sophistication and naiveté.  Mentats cultivated naiveté.  Thinking you knew something was a sure way to blind yourself.  It was not growing up that slowly applied brakes to learning (Mentats were taught) but an accumulation of "things I know".

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 199)

     If you can't tell, this is Duncan Idaho.  He can recall all of his lifetimes and this ghola is a mentat.  Mentat training, along with all the schools of the Dune series fascinate me, probably because I am an educator.  I love this concept that thinking you know something can blind you to breakthroughs.  Maintaining humility is so important.  I strive to do this but it is difficult to demonstrate to others that you are humble when you are also strong and self-confident.  Recently, a couple of dear friends and colleagues pointed out humility as one of my endearing characteristics.  They should know who they are and that this was a huge compliment to me.

      I believe I have previously mentioned the painting that Odrade cherishes and keeps in her bed chamber: Cottages at Cordeville by Vincent Van Gogh.  There is no doubt that the painting she has is the one painted by Erasmus when he was trying to understand humans during Serena Butler's time.  Serena had mocked Erasmus.  Tried to explain to him that he had not produced art, he had just produced a copy.  Erasmus didn't understand since it was a perfect copy.

     So during this chapter, Duncan is trying to piece together things that are on the edge of his consciousness that he recognizes are important in some way.  The pieces of the puzzle are truly clues to the future of this story but, again, are difficult to comprehend without already knowing where this is going.  One of the pieces is a conversation he had with Odrade about the painting.  Odrade says to him "That painting says you cannot suppress the wild thing, the uniqueness that will occur among humans no matter how much we try to avoid it." (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 203).  This is what Serena was trying to express to Erasmus!  That uniqueness, that wildness, that is what won the war against the machines in the past and will do so again in the future.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #13

Chapter starter:

Major flaws in government arise from a fear of making radical internal changes even though a need is clearly seen.

-Darwi Odrade

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 182)

From the Litany Against Fear: fear is the mind-killer.  The fear immobilizes the individual that makes up the masses.  But we HAVE to let the fear pass through us so that we can ACT!  In what ways in your life is fear stopping you from acting on making changes that you clearly see need to be made?

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #12

How I enjoy the precious little clues that Herbert provides the reader.  But you almost have to already know what is coming in order to see the clues.  Like this thought of Odrade’s during her first conversation with Dortujila about the Honored Matres:“The oppressed will have their day and heaven help the oppressor when that day comes.”  (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 147)  She continues this train of thought by noting how “the oppressed always learned from and copied the oppressor.” (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 147)  After just having watched the movie Argo last night, the truth in this is so painfully clear.  But what does this have to do with Honored Matres?  Who was oppressing them in their past?

In this part of the book, Odrade is developing her plan for drawing the Honored Matres in to a battle with Odrade picking the time and place without the Honored Matres realizing it.  Understanding the development of that plan requires such careful reading.  Again, so easy to miss if you don’t already know where it is going.  One evening, as the plan is crystallizing in her mind, she imagines talking with the Honored Matre commander.  The following passage of Odrade speaking to the imagined commander, I think, gets at why some of my family and friends teasingly call me a Bene Gesserit.

“It is difficult for us to let you make your own mistakes.  Teachers always find this hard.  Yes, we consider ourselves teachers. We do not so much teach individuals as the species.  We provide lessons for all.  If you see the Tyrant in us, you are right.”

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 164)

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #11

This little nugget comes from a recollection Mother Superior Odrade has of something the “Senior Watchdog” is commonly heard saying: “Show me a completely smooth operation and I’ll show you someone who’s covering mistakes.  Real boats rock.”  (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 119)

As for the following little snippet, although there isn't really anything all that special about it, I just enjoyed the word play:

Any good, any evil; any god, any devil. (Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 120)

That’s the answer to what Infinity can produce.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #10

It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 59)

This is from a chapter starter and taken from Missionaria Protectiva.  It is an unpleasant thought leaving little hope that those with power wield their power for “common good”.  But sometimes, it just feels like this is the reality at work.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #9

Built into his machine, she thought. That said something about the way humans were fitted to the things they did.  Lucilla sensed a weakening force in this thought.  If you fitted yourself too tightly to one thing, other abilities atrophied.  We become what we do.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 36)

Just a reminder from Reverend Mother Lucilla that if we are not vigilant, we become what we do!

Reminder: be more than your work.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #8

The unintentional break from Dune reading has opened my eyes to missed gems and clues.

Here is a gem from Mother Superior Odrade (an Atreides, of course, and daughter of the critically important Mile Teg):

“Enclosures of any kind are a fertile breeding ground for hatred of outsiders,” she said.  “That produces a bitter harvest.”

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 18)

That nugget was given to nine-year old ghola Miles Teg during a walk with Odrade through the orchards of Chapterhouse. 

Then there were the clues to this epic story’s eventual climax.  On page 20, Logno, a senior aide to the Great Honored Matre, is getting herself prepared to meet with the Grand Dame but lets her fears seep into her thoughts. In her thoughts, she provides clues about the Scattering.  In the same train of thought she conjures up images of The Weapon which was used to destroy Arrakis, Futars, and the “Enemies of Many Faces”.  All in the same paragraph!  Not by accident.  And “Enemies of Many Faces”?  Face Dancers?  Oh the many developments that happened in the Scattering with those scattered Tleilaxu peoples and their biological “skills”.

Chapterhouse: Dune – Entry #7

It has been since the start of this academic year, late August 2012, since I have earnestly read in the Dune series and since I have posted in this blog.  That is a testimony to the consuming work of being a full-time teacher.  No longer half administrator (goodbye to department head position, I do not miss it and I have no doubts of the choice to step down), I am fully immersed in my courses and students … and loving it.

Now that the end of the academic year is in sight, I reset my objective of completing this journey in Dune.  To do so, I need to start Chapterhouse: Dune from the beginning again. I just finished the first chapter and what a joy!  Re-immersing myself in this story and these characters is rejuvenating; like a vacation at the beach if you know what I mean.

In this first chapter, we are observing Mother Superior Odrade and her thoughts about how to strategize against the Honored Matre onslaught.  Interestingly and not surprisingly, I found a quote that I hadn’t highlighted before which got my attention this time:

The Sisterhood had no need for archaeologists.  Reverend Mother embodied history.

(Chapterhouse: Dune, p. 5)

I quoted the chapter starter from this first chapter back in Entry #1 for this book.  It was in the Bene Gesserit Coda … if you plan to repeat history then you must control the teaching of it.  The importance of the role of history AND the teaching of it cannot be understated.