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.