Leer Dune está siendo todo un viaje. Al principio, me saturé un poco. Había leído cuatro libros de la saga demasiado rápido y perdí el interés y me dediqué a otras lecturas o a currar (este libro no es para leer en Navidades mientras estás trabajando). Tomando un poco el testigo de las tramas palaciegas y políticas de El Mesías de Dune, Herbert nos propone algo que no esperábamos y que a mí personalmente me hace querer leer su sexto libro, que evidentemente ya tengo comprado en casa. Cansada ya de leer sobre el puto Leto II, es agradable seguir viendo al mamarracho de Duncan Idaho perdidisimo como ghola y persona. Nada, en unas semanas me leo el sexto y cierro una etapa, pero no os preocupéis, que tengo los que ha escrito su hijo ya en la pila de lectura y planeo leerme absolutamente todo lo que existe de este universo arenoso.

Maybe a 3.5 for me! I liked the plot and was interested but I haven’t felt connected to the characters in these books since the original two. Also no disrespect but in the introduction of this book Brian Herbert was like “my dad loved women and it’s so obvious in the strong female characters he writes” but then are only three types of women in this book and the three types are:

uses sex for good(?)
uses sex for evil !!!
13 year old girl

This was the first novel of a new trilogy with apperently the Bene Geserit sisterhood as leading characters who are still involved or lead by the vision of Leto II. There are indeed strong links to the previous Dune books and characters and history.

As always Frank Herbert does seems to really instill a sense of beauty and at the same time mystery in his writing. Something that seems to be lacking in the writing of the continuation writers. And of all the actors in the Dune books I have always had a very strong liking for the Sisterhood since they like Paul & Leto have a larger agenda than most other characters. Herbert does create once again a universe that is interesting and challenging to his readers. He once again creates an exciting new world but yet recognisable from his earlier Duneworlds.

The one thing that I have against the last two Dune novels in this trilogy is that having read them quite a few times he left us on a beautiful cliffhanger and then died. The unfinished novel has been written by his son and Kevin Anderson and those 2(!) books are so unlike the previous 6 Dune novels by Herbert that I do feel that it was not thought out by Frank Herbert at all as is claimed. But still this one and his sister-novel are well worth the read even if they tell in essence only part of a larger tale. For Dune readers essential reading.

Rating: 7.75/10


Heretics of Dune is the closest feeling I had to when I was reading the original Dune masterpiece. The political intrigue, the scheming and machinations of different organizations, the sense of adventure and much more elements that made that original book so great were prominent in this 5th book of the series. This book provided a much needed shift from the heady and heavily philosophical read that was God Emperor of Dune. The action, intrigue, and pacing are all dramatically improved from the last 3 sequels and although the ending felt a little rushed, all of the main questions were answered and the ramifications of the ending was epic and profoundly impactful.



Image: The Bene Tleilaxu & Their Axolotl Tanks.


[Pros]:

-Great new cast of characters

-Unlike the previous 3 books. This book brings back a lot of the concepts/elements that made Dune so great

-Excellent world-building and greatly expands on the existing lore and mythology

-The shroud of mystery around the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood is finally unveiled

-Good pacing


[Cons]:

-Can be confusing at times to keep up with all of the Bene Gesserit plans and all of the machinations of the different factions in this story

-Ending felt rushed and key scenes were glossed over without much explanation


*My Rating System*

5 Stars (9-10): Amazing
4 Stars (7-9): Really Good to Great
3 Stars (5-7): Average to Good
2 Stars (3-5): Bad to Mediocre
1 Star (1-3): Terrible

Heretics of Dune begins a new cycle in the Dune Series. Or, more accurately, an evolution -- consequence -- of the cycle identified in Dune. I enjoyed Heretics of Dune far more than God Emperor, although God Emperor was a necessary bridge between Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune, and Heretics, as well as Heretic's sister novel, Chapterhouse Dune.

Several of the characters are fantastic, in particular Miles Teg, who provides a necessary balance (oddly enough, given the typical focus on men in scientific novels) to the otherwise heavy focus on woman characters. Duncan Idaho, for whatever reason, simply doesn't accomplish this task. In any event, the characters save this story, allowing you to reconcile (overlook?) some of the leaps of logic that are necessary in reading the book. Perhaps this reflects a lesson within the book: the need to make choices, and achieve understanding, on the basis of only so much data and background, and a heavy reliance on intuition.

Even so, the end is a tad abrupt, and I wish elements of the end were developed in more detail. Also, the focus on landscape, on environment, seemed less pronounced. Perhaps Herbert simply took it as a given, a strong thread persistent and present in Dune that must continue. But I think the thread should have been explicitly identified, reinforced, brightened. Regardless, a fantastic book, one that led me inexorably towards Chapterhouse.

Ovaj peti deo Dine odlikuje ubedljivo najbrza radnja u citavom serijalu do sada.
Navikao sam da Herbert u jednom pasusu lomi radnju i pravi znacajne obrte ali ovoga puta kada to radi deluje da ne drzi sve konce u rukama i da po malo i nasilno stvari tera ka konkluziji. I pored toga ovo je jedan neverovatno dobar deo, a koji to nije, Hronika Dine i sa velikim zadovoljstvom ali i po malo tuzan prelazim na poslednji deo ovog malo je reci monumentalnog serijala.

what the fuck, frank...

En dan heb ik gul naar boven afgerond.
Op zich is de hele Duin serie wel geschreven op basis van politieke spelletjes en ontwikkelingen. Maar wat ik in de eerdere delen wel prettig en ook sterk vond, was dat er ook ruimte was voor personages die je volgde en waar je je emotioneel verbonden mee ging voelen.
In dit deel zijn alle individueler ontwikkelingen en prikkelen erg onduidelijk waardoor je ook moeite hebt om de personages goed te kunnen plaatsen. Dit zorgt voor een afstandelijke benadering van het verhaal en is voor mij persoonlijk ook een reden om me emotioneel minder verbonden te voelen.
Toch ga ik verder…ik ben ondertussen al zo’n eind gekomen.

Yürüme erki kimin elindeyse kanunlar daima onun yanındadır. Bu işin ahlakla ya da hukuki ayrıntılarla pek ilgisi yoktur. Tüm mesele şudur: Güç kimde?
.
Dune serisine devam ediyorum. Aslında 2022'nin son kitabı olacakken 2023'ün ilk kitabı oldu. Dune serisine çok severek başladım ve her kitabında beğenim biraz daha azaldı. 5. kitapta kendimi çok zorlayarak ilerledim. Konuya adapte olmakta ciddi anlamda zorluk yaşadım, Sheeana dışındaki karakterleri umursamadım bile. 4. kitabın 1500 yıl sonrasında geçiyor yani büyük bir zaman aralığı mevcut ki bu aslında bir sıkıntı olmasa da sevdiğim karakterlerin geçmişte kalmış olması üzücü. Açıkçası bir yerden sonra neler olup bittiği bile benim için önemsiz hale geldi. Bunun tek sebebi benim kitapla anlaşamamış olmam değil aynı zamanda yazarın farklı bir ruh halinde olması. Frank Herbert derin ve düşünülmüş bir evren oluşturmak istemiş ve bence bunu başarabilmiş de. Her kitapta farklı detayları öğreniyoruz. Bu kitapta Lucilla ilginçti doğrusu. Herbert bu kitabı yazarken hasta eşiyle tam zamanlı olarak ilgileniyormuş. Hem hastabakıcı hem eş hem de yazar olarak oldukça yorucu bir dönemden geçmiş. Dune Sapkınları'da bunun bir sonucunu oluşturmuş. Yine de ilk serinin son kitabını okuyacağım neler olacağını öğrenmek istiyorum ve bu kadar ilerlemişken seriyi bırakmayı istemiyorum.

4,5 ⭐ Heretici Dine smješteni su negdje 1500 god nakon vladavine božanskog cara tiranina Leta II. Nakon njegove smrti, čovječanstvo se raspršilo izvan granica poznatog svemira te se sada neki vraćaju u područje Starog carstva s osvajačkim tendencijama. Prvenstveno Časne majke, frakcija sestrinstva Bene Gesserit koja se u dalekim prostranstvima razvila u posebno opasnu silu koja pomalo osvaja stare planete.
Dok se "stare" Bene Gesserit na Gammuu (bivši harkonnenski Giedi Prime) bave novim Duncan Idaho ghola projektom, s Rakkisa (bivši Arrakis) dolaze vijesti o Sheeani, djevojci koja može zapovijedati crvima. Da, crvi su se vratili, jer je nakon Letove smrti i njegovog "podijeljenja" Rakkis ponovno postao pustinjski planet. Njen intro u priču (skupa s onim bashara Milesa Tega) bio mi je jedan od najboljih u serijalu.
Miles Teg, vrhovni bashar, zapovjednik BG vojske, pozvan je iz mirovine ne bi li trenirao novog Duncana Idaha i, kada za to dođe vrijeme, probudio u gholi sva sjećanja na prošle živote. Dio u kojem se to dogodi je tako dobro opisan i težina koju obojica pritom osjećaju je gotovo opipljiva i nekako me preplavio nalet emocija. Općenito sve što se ticalo Duncana je meni van svake pameti, ali nitko ne tvrdi da je dobro to što rade. Štoviše, neki se tome čak i protive. Ali pijuni su pijuni. Dok odjednom nisu.
Miles Teg je meni jedan od naj likova, a tu su i najnoviji Duncan Idaho ghola, nepredvidljiva BG Darwi Odrade, zanimljivi Tleilaxu Waff, Lucilla i ostala paleta intrigantnih likova.
Zanimljivo mi je bilo otkrivati tajnu agendu Bene Tleilaxa, pa novu BG frakciju i old school BG koje se nalaze pred nedoumicom i prekretnicom - sačuvati sestrinstvo ili čovječanstvo.
Kao i u svakoj od knjiga iz serijala Dina, ni ovdje ne postoji jasna razlika između dobra i zla, postoje spletke za opstanak i protivljenje osvajanju, biranje između većeg i manjeg zla. Nema previše mjesta za osjećaje u tom svijetu iako svaki lik izaziva neku vrstu osjećaja, od divljenja pa sve do gađenja.
Moram reći iskreno da nisam mislila da će mi se nakon Dine svidjeti ikoja od ostalih knjiga, a na kraju je ispalo sve suprotno mojim očekivanjima. Nastavljam dalje na zadnji nastavak Frankovog serijala.

I’m one of those weirdos that actually likes the entirety of Frank Herbert’s Dune series even after you get past the first three volumes and the direct history of Muad’Dib and his family and start wading into some seriously weird stuff (and saying that the later volumes of the series are weird when you compare them to the earlier ones is saying something). Don’t worry though, I’m not crazy enough to have anything but contempt for that cash grab series of prequels and sequels floated by Herbert’s son and his ghost writer pal…blech! Part of the interest for me in the later volumes is seeing how the prescience of Muad’Dib (and even more so of his son the god-emperor Leto II) affected the human race and noting how humanity responded in an attempt to free themselves from the ‘Golden Path’ that it brought about. The other reason, I must admit, is that I find the character of Duncan Idaho, or more precisely the Duncan Idaho gholas which populate these books, fascinating. Be warned: there are some spoilerific details for previous volumes of the original Dune series below.

In the previous volume God Emperor of Dune we got a close-up view of the tyranny of the man-worm himself, the god-emperor Leto II (all done for humanity’s own good of course) and also saw his fascination with bringing back his family’s old retainer, the inimitable sword master Duncan Idaho again and again in ghola form over a period of centuries. Why Duncan Idaho? What’s so special about him? And why did Leto keep bringing him back (and ultimately killing him) over and over again? Was he expecting some result other than companionship and ultimately betrayal? It appears to have been a question the sisters of the Bene Gesserit started asking themselves as well and once they were free from the direct yoke of the god-emperor (though not of his pre-destined plan for humanity), they decided to keep up the tradition for themselves and see what the result might be.

And so we begin this volume of the series at a Bene Gesserit fortress located on the planet Gammu (formerly Geidi Prime, home of both the Harkonnens and the original Duncan Idaho) watching as a young ghola is being trained for purposes that even his teachers and protectors aren’t fully aware of. Of course this ghola is merely the last in a long line of Duncan Idahos, not yet aware of his previous existence, and just as uncertain of his purpose as those who watch over him. Despite the fact that this book takes place thousands of years after the time of Muad’Dib some familiar features survive: as noted the Bene Gesserit are still controlling bloodlines (though with the express purpose to perfect human breeding while at the same time to explicitly avoid the appearance of another Kwitsatz Haderach) and holding a precarious, though powerful, position in the political hegemony of human culture in the former precincts of the Padishah Empire; the Bene Tleilax still tinker with the genetic code of humanity in a much more direct way (including supplying the Bene Gesserit with their desired Duncan Idaho gholas) and hope to supersede all political rivals through plans and machinations of their own; and the Spacing Guild and industrialists of Ix still survive albeit in much weakened forms. Two of the most drastic changes are that the Bene Tleilax have finally discovered a way to artificially produce the spice melange and thus break the stranglehold previously held by those who controlled the Worms of Arrakis (or Rakis as it is now called); not to mention the fact that a multitude of peoples who had left the Empire after the fall of the god-emperor in an event called the Scattering to populate the vast reaches of space are now returning and want to conquer all of the supposed secrets of the humans they left behind in the regions of the old empire.

The overarching tale is one of political intrigue as the Bene Gesserit face off against the mysterious Bene Tleilax and each hopes to outplay the other in a bid to control the former empire; of course in addition to this they both face the threat of the nearly overwhelming forces of the Scattering and their mysterious and deadly leaders, the Honored Matres. At a much more human level it is the personal story of several key players against this wider backdrop: the Duncan Idaho ghola as he comes into his own and must decide how to live in this new world separated from all he knew by thousands of years; his teacher and mentor Miles Teg, an Atreides scion and mentat-warrior of great ability who has served the Bene Gesserit all of his life; Sheanna, a young native of Rakis apparently born with the power to control the sand worms into which the god-emperor transformed himself; and Darwe Odrade a sister of the Bene Gesserit who must navigate difficult waters and test her loyalty to the sisterhood that made her and the many plans within plans that have formed the basis of her society.

I enjoyed this volume, though I think on this re-read I didn’t find it quite as captivating as I remember my first reading to have been. This also is very much the first half of one story as it ends nearly in mid-crisis and leaves much to be resolved in the next volume (which I remember being the weirdest of the bunch and which itself unfortunately left many unanswered questions). If you want to keep following Frank Herbert on the ride through his crazy Dune universe and see the impact of the Atreides on the human race then this is a required volume; on the other hand if you were happy to leave things where they were at the end of Children of Dune, or found the politics and world of God Emperor of Dune confounding then perhaps you should leave this one on the shelf.

After the long philosophical rambling disguised as a novel that was the last book, I hadn't much interest in continuing the series. Yet, the trailer came out for the new Dune movie, and I had a choice, reread the first Dune novel or continue the series. With only two books left written by the father, it seemed a shame to leave it unfinished. I chose to continue the series, and feel like this, as well as the series after the first, were both mistakes.

There is little doubt in my mind the first Dune book(which was meant to be a trilogy in of itself) was meant to be the only book. Messiah was still good, if unnecessary. I remember not disliking Children of Dune, except for the ending. God Emperor was just barely above a one star review, and this book, while better, made me sad. The grand vision that was Dune seems like little more than a money grab to me now. In my heart, the series isn't a series at all but a single novel that ended with Paul as emperor and the knowledge of the Jihad to come.

Well, I guess I could talk a bit about this book specifically now that my morose ramblings are at an end. The characters were pretty decent, the most memorable ones since the first book. Other than that though, I was bored and slightly appalled throughout. It's quite obvious things are made up as he goes along, and ideas conflict with earlier ideas in the previous books.

The whole sex addiction making slaves of an empire comes across as little more than silly fetishism to me and doesn't work in my mind. Humanity is and has never been, an entirely sexual nor heterosexual species. The idea that sex can be so damn good with these women, that any man that has it is a slave for life made me grimace.

There were plot conveniences throughout. Seemingly insurmountable enemies were suddenly given a glaring weakness, or the good guys were just as suddenly given an unexpected power or ally. The ending in particular was rife with convenient escapes.

Now, there are flashes of that original Dune brilliance, some neat quotes and ideas here and there. Plus, as I said, the characters were well done for the most part. Everything else though, made it hard to finish this book. Will I read the final Frank Herbert Dune book? Probably, it seems almost silly to stop here, but I really wish he had stopped with Dune. Some prequel novels might have been fun, but that's really all I can see being necessary. Everything after Dune takes away from Paul's prescience and design for the universe.