| Author: | Frank Herbert |
| Copyright: | 1985 |
| Date Reviewed: | 9/20/86 |
| Rating: | 6.0 |
Synopsis: At the end of the last chapter, Taraza, Mother Superior of the Bene Gesserit, tricked the Honored Matres into destroying Dune along with all the worms save one. This was done to free human civilization from the remnants of the Tyrant's endless dream. By the time Chapter House was converted into another Dune, the Tyrant's hold on the universe would be completely broken.
The plan succeeded but no one could know the terrible price the Honored Matres would exact. They dedicated themselves to utterly destroy all traces of the Bene Gesserit. By the time this story begins, they've turned into burning cinders 11 of the Bene Gesserit's 16 planets. The Honored Matres hope to find and destroy Chapter House and although they never find it, they do locate and obliterate Lampadas - the Bene Gesserit's training planet. Its a severe loss - four million Reverend Mothers and millions more acolytes, students and military personnel. Also killed is the Bashar, commander and chief of the army who was personally trained by the famed military genus Bashar Miles Teg. The only survivor of this holocaust is Lucilla. She carries in her mind the combined memories and Other Memories of all the Reverend Mothers who died on Lampadas. Lucilla knows she is going to die. All she can hope for is that her memories can be transferred into another.
Lucilla makes it to Gammu where she is able to transfer her memories into Rachelle. Rachelle is a member of an ancient religious sect called the Jews who went into hiding a long time ago. In this special kind of Diaspora, the Jews steadfastly protect their identities from all peoples. Only the highest ranks of the Bene Gesserit know they exist. They never forgot the holocaust and the pogroms. Some years ago Rachelle took it upon herself to become a renegade Reverend Mother. Amazingly, she survived the Spice Agony. Since the Honored Matres know that Lucilla reached Gammu, the plan is for Lucilla and Rachelle to Share. The Rabbi could then protect his clan and Rachelle's new knowledge from the Honored Matres by selling Lucilla to them. Lucilla is brought before Great Honored Matre and is killed as she learns they're vulnerability. The Honored Matres never learn anything from Lucilla. After Lucilla is captured, the few remaining Jews hide out on Gammu from the Honored Matres.
Back on Chapter House, Odrade is now Mother Superior and like her predecessor, she is forming a subtle and dangerous plan to survive the Honored Matres. In case of failure, the Bene Gesserits are sending out all of the people they can spare into a new Scattering in the hopes that their species will survive them. Those who leave, each take with them sand trout. Perhaps one expedition will survive.
Still in captivity in a no-ship are a Duncan Idaho ghola, Murbella an Honored Matre and Scytale, the last Bene Tleilaxu. All others of his race have been killed by the Honored Matres. Scytale has the knowledge to produce melange from their axlotl tanks (really grotesque women) and the Bene Gesserit want that knowledge. If they can produce melange artificially, they won't need to turn Chapter House into a dessert planet. They play games, each trying to outwit the other, but the secret is never learned. As for the other two inmates, Duncan and Murbella are lovers but they have no choice. Both have been engineered to use sex to enslave others and each has enslaved the other. Murbella is know being trained in the Bene Gesserit ways. She desperately wants their powers to add to her own.
Odrade's two advisers are Bellonda and Tamalane. Tamalane is old and has begun her procession from a participant to an observer of humanity. She can no longer feel anything and soon must be replaced. Odrade decides her replacement will be Sheeana. The young Rakis girl who can control the worms is now the youngest Reverend Mother ever. The youngest, that is, who wasn't an abomination like Alia. Sheeana spends most of her time in the new desert watching for worm sign. Odrade's other advisor is Bellonda, the Mentant in charge of Archives. Bellonda is a sour, belligerent person. She is the watcher of the highest. Bellonda would like to see Idaho and Scytale killed because of their dangerous potential. Also on Chapter House at this time is a Meg Tiles ghola. Eventually, his memories will be restored so he can once again lead the Bene Gesserit forces in battle.
While plans are being readied, Dortujla arrives at chapter house. Dortujla is a Reverend Mother serving punishment on the Bene Gesserit punishment planet for having once fallen in love. The Bene Gesserit can not again make the mistake they once made with Jessica. Never again will they try to produce a Kwisatz Haderach. Dortujla comes to Chapter House to warn Odrade that the Honored Matres will soon discover the punishment planet. She has been contacted by Handlers. Handlers are normal people who handle Futars - genetic mixtures of human and feline. The Futars were created to hunt Honored Matres. We don't know who in the original Scattering created the Futars but if they were powerful enough to cause the Honored Matres to escape back to the Old Empire, their powers must be limitless. We do learn though that the Honored Matres are a mixture of Fish Speakers and Bene Gesserits. Dortujla will allow herself (and unfortunately all her staff) to be captured and used as bait. Her charge is to get the Honored Matres to meet with Mother Superior on their stronghold world Junction. Now the plan begins to mature.
As time proceeds, Teg is restored to his former self in the body of a ten year old and Sheeana is confirmed as Tamalane's replacement. Odrade knows that Sheeana and Duncan share a secret in sign language but not what it is. When Tamalane Shares with Sheeana, she too knows the secret but won't say what it is. However, Mother Superior must trust her. Later on, Mother Superior Shares with Sheeana but for some reason she never learns the secret. Murbella survives the Spice Agony and becomes a Reverend Mother despite her former Honored Matre training. And the worms come but they are so small.
Dortujla is tortured and all her staff is killed but finally the Honored Matres release her so that she can bring back a message to Mother Superior. The Honored Matres will accept Mother Superior's surrender in 100 days on Junction. In reality, the Bene Gesserits are going to teach them a hard lesson. As Odrade, Tamalane and Dortujla go to Junction to "surrender", Teg leads his forces in a feint against Gammu. After months in hiding, the Jews are rescued and Murbella takes on the memories of the dead four million. Next it's on to Junction where the fighting is fierce but Teg's forces easily win. Not so easy - the Honored Matres had their own feint. Teg is captured and Odrade's staff is killed. Before the fighting Great Honored Matre is poisoned by her second in command who succeeds her.
Now Murbella takes over. She pretends to be a patriot Honored Matre who learned all she could from the Bene Gesserit. When Odrade and the new Great Honored Matre are killed Murbella takes over both organizations. Thus the Honored Matres will be controlled by being absorbed into the Gene Gesserit fold. But there is the other plan. Back on Chapter House, after some Honored Matres are brought there, Sheeana steals some baby worms. With the worms in the ship's hold, she, Duncan, Scytale and a few Bene Gesserits take the ship out into their own Scattering. All along Duncan has been having a vision of two normal looking people in a garden welcoming them. When he has the vision again, he wipes clean the ships memory. Not only is the ship lost from the known universe but it is lost to these two people. Oh well. We never find out who exactly they are Tleilaxu Face dancer descendents, masters from the Scattering or Gods. There is always the next story.
Review: I'm not sure why I keep reading these stories. Maybe its because I have so much invested in them. The pattern for the last few has been similar. The story is interesting for the first hundred pages while the characters are being drawn up. Then it drags and drags and drags. Eventually, towards the end, it becomes interesting again as the hidden plans within plans are unfolded. However upon review of these complicated plans, we find there are many inconsistencies. This is not to say the latter Dune novels are completely worthless. By shear virtue of their length they are full of plots as the length of this review will testify. It's just that they leave me unsatisfied.
I had several specific problems with some of the story lines. The introduction of the lost Jews piqued my interest but went absolutely no where. It only served to show how archaic the Rabbi's unclean reasonings were. Mother Superior set out to punish the Honored Matres but she had a very odd way of doing this. She joined the two organizations together with Murbella in charge but she must have seen how dangerous this would be. Soon Murbella would be assassinated by the next Honored Matre in line and the new combined organization would then be ruled by an Honored Matre. Since the Honored Matres outnumber the Bene Gesserit's, this would surly crush the smaller organization. The Bene Gesserit's only hope would be to get the Honored Matre upper echelon trained as Reverend mothers right away but they could never do it that quickly. And why the feint on Gammu. This seemed to serve no purpose other than saving the Jews. No Honored Matre forces were sent from Junction to Gammu. Many lives were lost with that. Even I could tell that Teg's forces won too easily on Junction. It had to be a trap. A lot of this last action was described in the past tense which helped loose it for me. "Chapter House Dune" was the last "Dune" novels written by Frank Herbert before he died. I understand his son is going to carry on the tradition but I think he'll do it without me.