Sandworms of Dune - Entry #9

Who is the Kwisatz Haderach the prophecies speak of that will emerge at the End Times?

     A key turned in Sheeana's mind, unlocking other thoughts.  Perhaps in the solemn twelve-year-old Leto, the thinking machines had a blind spot!  Could he be the final Kwisatz Haderach they sought?  Had Omnius even considered the possibility that the machines might have the wrong one?  Her pulse quickened.  Prophecies were notorious for misdirection.  Maybe Erasmus had missed the obvious!  She could hear the inner voice of Serena Butler laughing at the possibility, and she allowed herself to cling to a tiny kernel of hope.

(Sandworms of Dune, pp. 414 - 415)

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #8

     Erasmus.  Hateful creature.  But in trying to figure out how Serena could exist in Other Memory, Erasmus conjectured a possibility.  In fact, Erasmus had created many clones of Serena in his attempt to bring her back.  He had used these clones multiple times during the Butlerian Jihad.  Perhaps, one of those clones who had Serena's being locked up in her DNA, had survived, had children, and had eventually awakened the memories within.

     I have to admit that the transference of Other Memory from one Bene Gesserit to the next is not as well-developed as some of the other special skills demonstrated in the Dune story.  But at least this presents a "feasible" possibility and demonstrates the authors' ability to tie pieces of the story over a 15,000 year span.

     And then there's the Face Dancers.  Erasmus finds the young Master Scytale in the medical center.  Scytale was destroying the axlotl tanks to assure that "thinking machines and traitorous Face Dancers" (Sandworms of Dune, p. 392) didn't just take the secret of making melange using the tanks.  Erasmus tries to convince Scytale to come to his side ... and to help him make a ghola although he doesn't tell him that he wants a ghola of Serena Butler.  In the argument that ensues, Scytale insists that he would always oppose the thinking machines even if it meant aligning with the witches.  Here is a piece of their exchange:

     "Interesting. New enemies make unexpected alliances."
     The Tleilaxu didn't move.  "In the final assessment, we're all humans -- and you are not."
     Erasmus chuckled.  "And what about Face Dancers?  They fall between, don't they?  These aren't the shape-shifters you produced long ago, but are instead far superior biological machines that I helped create.  And because of them, Omnius and I are, in effect, the greatest of all Face Dancers -- among many other things."
     Scytale didn't move.  "Haven't you noticed the Face Dancers are no longer reliable?"
     "Ah, but they are reliable to me."
     "Are you sure?"

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 393)

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #7

     Chapter Starter:

Time is a commodity more precious than melange.  Even the wealthiest man cannot buy more minutes to put into each hour.

-- DUKE LETO ATREIDES,

last message from Caladan

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 353)

     Teg's special talent of acceleration also accelerated time thus expending time in his life.  When finally the interminable patience of the thinking machines allowed them to catch the Ithaca with the help of a face dancer replacement of the Rabbi, Teg expended all he had to free the ship from the machine's tachyon net.  He died in this failed attempt.  So heroic and tragic.  Duncan, feeling so frustrated that he could not take advantage of Teg's work to free them, said that he shouldn't have done it.

     Sheeana fixed a hard look on him.  "He shouldn't have tried?  We're humans.  We have to try, no matter what the odds are.  There are never any guarantees.  Every action in life is a gamble.  The Bashar fought to the last instant of his existence, because he believed there was a chance.  I intend to do the same."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 342)

    See, again, why I love Sheeana.

     When Erasmus first boarded the captured Ithaca on Synchrony, it was Sheeana who recognized the "old woman" Duncan said they were hiding from.  Serena Butler's voice from within cried out to her: "Erasmus! Destroy him!" (Sandworms of Dune, p. 387).  Erasmus was thrilled to be able to "speak" to Serena again and asked to be brought to her private quarters saying  "[a] human's den reveals much about the individual personality" (Sandworms of Dune, p. 388).  When Serena refused Erasmus responded with this:

     The robot's voice hardened.  "Be reasonable.  Or should I decapitate a few of your fellow passengers to encourage your cooperation?  Ask Serena Butler inside you -- she knows I will do it."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 388)

     There, of course, Erasmus finds the ancient Van Gogh painting, Cottages at Cordeville, and comments: "Ah, yes! I remember this clearly, I painted it myself" (Sandworms of Dune, p. 389).  Serena reels at the thought that this has been a forgery all along.  But how do you explain to a robot that even a perfect copy is still just a copy, not another work of genius?  Cannot be done.  Erasmus didn't understand that point 15,000 years ago and he still doesn't get it.

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #6

     "The Golden Path".  Always questions about it since Leto II never divulged what it was and where it led.  Each of our most important characters have struggled with this, curious and questioning.  As Murbella is trying to map out a strategy for the humans to fight the machines, she too struggles with it:

     If the Tyrant's prescience was so formidable, how could he not have foreseen the existence of the great machine empire, no matter how far away it was?  How could the God Emperor not have known that another titanic conflict awaited humankind?  She felt a faint shudder.  Or had he, and everything was playing out exactly as the Tyrant planned?

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 342)

     By the way, notice the use of "humankind" not "mankind".  Love that.

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #5

     I liked this little explanation that Erasmus gave to the Baron and Paolo to explain the advanced Face Dancers that Omnius employed:

     "Long ago -- during your original lifetime, dear Baron -- a Tleilaxu researcher named Hidar Fen Ajidica created an artificial spice that he called amal.  Though the substance proved to have significant defects, Ajidica consumed huge quantities of it himself, and as a result he went increasingly mad, which led to his demise."
     "Sounds like a failure," Paolo said.
     "Oh, Ajidica failed spectacularly, but he did accomplish something very important.  Call it a side effect.  For his special ambassadors, he created greatly improved Face Dancers, with which he intended to populate a new domain.  He dispatched them into deep space as scouts, colonizers, preparers of the way.  He died before he could join them.  Poor foolish man."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 297)

     Such long history telling.  This dates back 5,000 years and ties to storytelling in the prequel to Dune books.

Sandworms of Dune - Entry #4

     I think I have said this already, but Sheeana, Duncan, and Murbella are my favorite characters, regardless of the author ... Frank Herbert or his son.  I also really liked Teg since we first met him when he was training the young ghola of Duncan Idaho on Gammu (which once was Geidi Prime).  This little exchange between Teg and Sheeana, as they analyzed their situation as captives on a planet they had stopped to investigate, demonstrates their intensity and confidence:

     "Duncan is wise, and I trained him well.  He will know what to do."
     Sheeana stared at the door as if in meditative trance.  "Duncan has lived hundreds of lives and remembers them all, Miles.  I doubt you taught him anything new."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 208)

     The planet they were captive on had been seeded with worms from Chapterhouse.  When the native people had realized what the Bene Gesserits who had come to their world had unleashed on it, they killed them all.  The people were trying to fight the worms and save their planet not believing that this was likely futile.  The native people offered to take Sheeana, Teg, Liet, and Stilgar into the desert to watch them kill a worm. As a planetologist, the awakened Liet Kynes ghola was fascinated but Stilgar was unsettled by the situation.

     "Shai-Hulud." Stilgar said with great uneasiness.  "Fremen used to worship the great worms."
     "Fremen depended upon the worms and the spice, " Liet replied quietly.  "These people do not."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 214)

     And then, when Duncan realized that the landing party must be in jeopardy and in need of rescue, his reaction was classic Duncan Idaho:

     "No -- I will do it personally."  Before either could argue with him, Duncan strode toward the lift, and they were forced to follow him.  "I'm sick of hiding.  My plan has been to run and remain unobtrusive, staying one step ahead of that strange net.  But in doing so, I've left too much of myself behind.  I am Duncan Idaho." He raised his voice as they entered the lift.  "I was Swordmaster of House Atreides and consort of St. Alia of the Knife.  I acted as advisor and companion to the God Emperor.  If the Enemy is out there, I won't leave the rest of humanity to face it themselves.  If Sheeana and the Bashar need my help, then I'm going to help."

(Sandworms of Dune, p. 234)