OK, dabar po šios knygos galiu pasakyti tik tai, kad vėl kažkiek darosi aiškiau, kur visa tai vėl veda. Vis dėlto, jei jau taip sąžiningai, tai galvojau, kad po "Kopo Dievo Imperatoriaus" ši ir tolesnė knyga bus skirta daugiau ar mažiau vystyti Leto II-ojo „auksinį taką“, bet ne, visai ne. Šioje knygoje vėl laiko šuolis per kelioliką šimtmečių, ir vėl nauja realybė.
Ir turbūt nenustebinsiu pasakęs, kad tai gera knyga. Taip pat esu visiškai tikras, kad paskutinė Franko knyga mane ir vėl vienaip ar kitaip nustebins. Gal netgi paims ir grįš prie "Auksinio tako". Tvirtos 4*.

First thing let me say that I've read this book three times over the years and in my opinion Heretics of Dune is one of the best books in the saga, up to par with the first one. While the previous book, God-Emperor was quite philosophical heavy and some might say action-less, the fifth book is nothing like that and returns to original form, with lots of action, different character focus, various plots, combined with the mysticism, religion and philosophical discourse we were used to. The events in the book are some thousand years after the death of Leto II and this time the main focus of the book is on the Bene Gesserit. Old players like Bene Tleilaxu, the Guild, Ixians and Duncan Idaho (who is yet again resurrected as a ghola) are still present. However, we also have some new ones, like the Priests of Rakis and the Honored Matres (which are the main evil characters of the book). All of them have their different schemes and goals, they plot and fight against each other and it all culminates with quite an unexpected outcome. But, the best thing I liked about this book is Miles Teg, Bene Gesserit’s veteran Bashar. He is my favorite character from all Dune books.
Heretics of Dune is a must read and people who by any chance stopped reading the saga after God-Emperor of Dune are making a grave mistake.

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.

Buddy read with Athena!

“The surest way to keep a secret is to make someone think they already know the answer.”

The tyrant God Emperor has returned to the sands of Dune. The universe that was once ruled by Houses Corrino and Atreides have fallen into chaos and is controlled by dozens of bickering factions. The Bene Gesserit and the Tleilaxu struggle for power, but their ambitions are contested by billions of humans returning from the Scattering. But on the surface of Dune, a small girl might be able to break the balance when she finds that she is able to control the mighty sandworms themselves.

Heretics of Dune is a giant improvement from the last book in the series, God Emperor of Dune. There are more characters, more hidden motives and overall a more interesting storyline. Still, there is much separating even this book from the three brilliant masterpieces of the Great Dune Trilogy. The epic feel is still gone, old boring characters are recycled, and even Frank Herbert's impressive pieces of social criticism are fewer and far between than they once were.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I demand more from this series. What it needs is a breath of fresh air, and I don't know if Herbert was capable of providing that. But Dune is still one of my favourite series of all time, and my aim to read everything still stands.

The care I have for this book is inversely proportional to the number of duncan gholas in the Duneverse. Sorry Frank, I love you still.

I had read the first three Dune books many, many times, and the fourth one once, and decided I may as well try to get through the last two. (I had heard they were pretty terrible.) I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

Heretics is probably not the book anyone was expecting, which probably led to most of the ill-feeling about it. It's much less a philosophical work and much more an action-adventure story, and I'll tell ya, the sex gets weird. It's not so much a gender-politics thing (although I reflexively flinch every time someone uses the word "whores") as a sex-as-power, power-corrupts sort of deal. That being said, there are some typically interesting characters and situations (although I sort of roll my eyes every time Herbert reveals that some group is following a many-thousands-of-years-old Earth-based religion.)

Short version: if you like the Dune books but are avoiding this one because of the bad press, take a look at it. It's not on par with the early ones in terms of depth, but the universe remains fascinating and it's a pretty decent story.

(I also understand God Emperor much better now - it's not exactly a novel in itself, it's a bridge between the familiar Empire setting of Dune and this drastically different political and social setting of the later books. That doesn't make it an easier read, but it makes me dislike it less.)

3.5 – 4 stars

I had always considered this one of the weaker entries in the Dune series, but I find myself revising that opinion after this re-read. Something that has become clearer to me as I’ve read through the Dune series again this time has been the fact that Herbert’s greatest strength in all of them may lie in his characters with which he has a deft hand. It is most often because of them, I think, that I find the Dune series worth reading even when some other aspects of it may seem as though they are coming off the rails a bit. That and the intriguing ideas of course. Not only does Herbert posit an intriguing society based on some far-out sf-nal ideas, but he lods them with musings on politics, religion, and basic human nature that make them well worth the price of admission. Politics and religion are still dominant themes in this volume, but one thing really stands out: sex. Not to say this is an explicit book, but the power and motivation of sex as a lever to hold others in sway is certainly central.

And guess who’s back? That’s right, our old friend Duncan Idaho has been resurrected yet again in ghola form, this time to serve the purposes of the newly resurgent Bene Gesserit Order who appear as fascinated by the Atreides’ old swordmaster as nearly everyone else in the Dune universe. 1500 years have passed since the fall of the god-emperor, though his presence is still felt, and his golden path continues to steer humanity along the tracks he has set for them. Between the end of the last volume and our present one humanity has suffered a massive collapse due to the fall of Leto’s empire which resulted not only in the Famine Times, but also in a subsequent mass exodus of humanity known as the Scattering. Now the prodigal brothers and sisters, a mass of humanity that dwarfs the numbers of those left in the core worlds, are returning home and the spectre of war threatens all of humanity.

After four previous volumes we finally begin to get a glimpse into the inner workings of some of the most mysterious elements of Herbert’s mythology: namely the Bene Gesserit and the Bene Tleilax. Perhaps the most horrific revelation is the one made about the Tleilaxu axlotl tanks which have been key to producing the much-desired Duncan Idaho gholas, the allure of which (whom?) also seem tantalizingly close to finally receiving an answer. The danger in this kind of revelation, of course, is that it may not live up to one’s hopes. I think Herbert does a pretty good job in avoiding that trap, though, and he still manages to keep making his expanding and changing Dune universe interesting and surprising. There is at least one old lesson that it appears the universe at large *still* hasn’t sufficiently learned even after the example of the god-emperor: don’t fuck with the Atreides! Even latter-day scions of the family like Darwi Odrade and Miles Teg have the genetic heritage to fuck you up!

In this volume I’d say that the aforementioned new characters of Miles Teg and Darwi Odrade really shine, and Duncan Idaho is one of my perennial favourites so I’m happy to see him once again. We even get a new glimpse of the seemingly ubiquitous character by witnessing much more of his pre-Idaho personality as embodied in a ghola that is still quite young and being trained by the Bene Gesserit in preparation for awakening his old memories and personality. If I was going to point to anything that felt like a weakness in the book it might be something you could call ‘GRR Martin Syndrome’: namely, that while I was captivated by at least half of the storylines Herbert weaves in this book, I found some others to be a little less interesting. Even with the knowledge it gives us of Tleilaxu society, the story of Waff, the ‘Master of Masters’, wasn’t particularly compelling to me, and I also found myself wanting to skip through the Sheeana chapters with the petulant girl-child and its cadre of Rakian priests of the Divided God in all their dullard glory. By the end of the book, though, all of the strands do come together, with each playing into the others to produce a truly unexpected conclusion…which of course leaves many questions to be answered in the next, and final, volume. Join me, won’t you?

„Налага се да установим определена степен на искреност помежду ни, рядко допустима в дипломацията. Твърде много зависи от нас, за да си позволим повърхностни извъртания.“


„Еретиците на Дюн“ е отличен роман, в който са описани продължителните и сложни процеси, развиващи се след края на тиранията на Лито II. Около 1500 г. бившата империя се намира в състояние на мрачен посттоталитарен преход, така да се каже. Развихрили са се жестоки конфликти между могъщи организации и религията е използвана (както винаги) за налагане на власт...

В тази част от поредицата разбираме до голяма степен същността и мотивите на тайнствения Бин Джезърит, който след управлението на Бог-императора постепенно възстановява своето могъщество и отново разгръща мащабните си планове. Важна позиция в сестринството заема потомката на Атреидите Дар Одрейди. Възходът на Бин Джезърит обаче не им осигурява спокойствие, тъй като огромна заплаха за тях представляват богатите и влиятелни Почитаеми мами... Отново се заплитат вълнуващи политически интриги, чрез които читателите получаваме ценни теми за задълбочен размисъл, както във всяка книга от този страхотен фантастичен епос!







„Животът не намира основания сам да отстоява себе си, не може да бъде и източник на поносимо взаимно зачитане, освен ако всеки от нас не реши да вдъхне в него подобни качества.“


„— Грешката на погледа в бъдното… — каза тлейлаксианският Майстор. — Нали така е споменато в документа? Не се ли говори там, че умът на вярващия е в застой?
— Съвършено вярно! — възкликна Туек, благодарен за намесата, чрез която бе предадена същността на опасната ерес.“


„Бюрокрацията унищожава инициативата. Почти няма друго, което бюрократите да мразят повече от нововъведенията, особено от онези, даващи по-добри резултати в сравнение със старите практики и шаблони...“


„Манифестът на Атреидите изглежда представляваше ловка маневра. Одрейди — безспорно личността, която бе в състояние да го изготви — успя да вникне малко по-дълбоко в същинското състояние на нещата при написването на документа, но думите сами по себе си се бяха превърнали в преграда пред окончателното откровение.“


„Одрейди вече бе забелязала, че мнозина от жреците изпитват удоволствие от объркването на нечии планове, но не бе подозирала, че може да им е забавно собственото им сгромолясване. Докъде стигаше въпросната склонност към забавление? Дали за хора като тях съществуваше разлика между краха на отделната личност и смъртта на цяла цивилизация?“


„Башарът на мига забеляза колебанието и гласът му прогърмя:
— Слушай бойната заповед! Аз съм твой командир! Изреченото беше възможно най-близкото до Гласа изпълнение, което Лусила бе чувала от устата на мъж. Неволно погледна към него с искрено възхищение.
А Дънкан виждаше само лицето на стария дук, нареждащ му да се подчини. Оказа се предостатъчно...“


„Зад затворените врати на Храма вече имаше дебати за прехода в институцията на Върховния жрец. Новите ракианци говореха за нуждата „да се върви в крак с времето“. Всъщност настояваха: „Дайте ни повече власт!“


„— Може да се окаже прекалено късно! Дар, проклето да е съглашението ви! Дала си възможност да имат влияние над нас, както и ние над тях… И нито една от страните да не дръзва да задвижи нещата.
— Не е ли това идеалният съюз?“


„Паметта не е в състояние да върне реално станалото някога. Тя възстановява само спомена за него. Но всеки подобен акт променя оригинала и се превръща във външни отправни рамки, които неизбежно се оказват неточни.“


„Въпреки че свръхбогатите нерядко биваха поразени от пълна безнравственост. Причиняваше я вярването, че парите (или пък властта) могат да купят всичко и всички. А защо да не го вярват? Ставаше всеки ден пред очите им. Най-лесно се вярва в абсолютни истини.
Надеждата във вечен е цъфтеж…
Беше също като с която и да е вяра. С пари може да се купи даже невъзможното.
Тогава идва и пълната поквара.“

What to say, after i have read previous four books, Heretics of Dune came into my hands, and i must say that i am to some degree dissapointed. It has everything that you expect from Frank Herbert, great plot, characters, political intrigues, pace, and yes Arrakis is again desert planet, but something is missing, especially i was dissapointed by the end of the book. It is written fast and Herbert lost himself or it was just like that so he can make part 6, i think the second option is more realistic. Another important notice for me that Heretics of Dune lost spiritual and mystical side which previous books all had it and it was one of the aspects why i fell in love so deeply with the whole Dune universe. The Heretics of Dune is more on political intrigue side mixed with action parts of the charachter Miles Teg and strange sexuality. The most interesting thing for me in the book was strong presence of Tleilaxu, one of the strangest factions in the Dune Universe. Definetely i will read Chapterhouse Dune to finish the original serial but the quality of the books drops after Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune wanted to be highly philosophical but it ends pretentious but it is still better book than Heretics of Dune. Children of Dune still stands as my favorite from the series followed by the first book.

I have to admit my expectations were pretty high when entering the Dune series since these books are hailed as one of the best in the sci-fi genre. I would argue the over arching story hidden behind Frank’s writing is very compelling, but in order to enjoy it you have to fight him for every piece of it.

At least two thirds of every book is riddled with long, sluggish conversations, that themselves are peppered with undefined diegetic terminology, hit-or-miss philosophy, unsatisfying character development and incomplete world building. If you manage to power through endless pages of what, at worst, feels like padding, you’re rewarded with details that seem relevant to the story being told.

There is a very fun experience in every book, but it’s hidden behind so many layers of fat that it really becomes an exercise in patience. One usually has to wait until the last 20% of the book for characters to gain agency and start getting “shit done”.

I feel like an amazing story happened in the Dune universe, but the only person around to tell the story was Frank and he’s just not very good at it.

I loved the Dune Chronicles 1-4. Especially the God Emperor of Dune was fantastic. I was shocked that Heretics of Dune was so boring I almost gave up on it. I read on because I wanted to see whether it would get any better, but no, it didn't.

I'm just really confused. Who is the main character? There's lots of characters, but most of them felt like bland supporting characters to me. The few interesting ones didn't get enough screen time to become central in the plot. Teg came the closest to becoming the main character, but he lacked the charisma. Everybody kept saying how awesome he is, but he didn't actually do anything awesome. He's a Mentat, and yet he got out of the one hairy situation not by using his wits, but by suddenly developing inexplicable superpowers. Majorly disappointing.

And what is this book even about? I kept waiting for the plotline to kick in, but I just didn't see it. It seems that the whole point was just to (SPOILER ALERT) get one sandworm off Rakis (a feat that turned out to be laughably easy, apparently). But if that was the climax, why the heck did it happen off screen? The moment something interesting was about to happen it was skipped over. Instead we got loads of descriptions of characters sitting around, feeling awfully distressed about the danger they were supposedly in. Descriptions of childhoods. Descriptions of the rooms they were sitting in. Conversations about plans that don't really go anywhere.

Lots of background information, but nothing substantial happening. If this book was a movie, it would be two and a half hours of establishing shots.

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.