By Frank Herbert.

Now we come to the end of this series, or at least where I have decided to end it.  This is the last book that Frank Herbert wrote. I know there are more Dune books, but as it is said that the Fremin will cut something and say here is the end because it is finished, I will say that this is where I will end this book series review and continue by looking at the adaptations.

“The desert Planet Arrakis, called Dune, has been destroyed. The remnants of the Old Empire have been consumed by the violent matriarchal cult known as the Honoured Matres. Only one faction remains a viable threat to their total conquest- the Bene Gesserit, heirs to Dune’s power.

Under the leadership of Mother Superior Darwi Odrade, the Bene Gesserit have colonized a green world on the planet Chapterhouse and are turning it into a desert, mile by scorched mile. And once they’ve mastered breeding sandworms, the Sisterhood will control production of the greatest commodity in the known galaxy- the spice mélange. But their true weapon remains a man who has lived countless lifetimes- a man   who served under the God Emperor Paul Muad’Dib…”

This is an interesting end to this series but it goes without saying there are questions about where Frank Herbert would like to take it.

For this story, I have three thoughts.

Firstly, I would like to talk about Duncan Idaho and all his powers. This is something that was brought up in Heretics of Dune; we see how Duncan had somewhat gained all the memories from all his past lives. This is fascinating because in every other example of this character, he only has the memories of his original life and his current one. This gives him a wealth that puts him on the same level as the Bene Gesserit, with two differences. One being that he is male and the second being his mentat abilities, which seem to have gained some form of prescience. This raises an interesting question, as the only character who is in every book, is Duncan Idaho the main character of the books?

Secondly, sharing. This is an interesting idea within the Bene Gesserit. This is something that probably existed in all the books, but this is the first time where we are following multiple Bene Gesserit while under threat. While in other books we hear about Bene Gesserit having the memories of all their ancestors, we now see how people can download the memories of another Bene Gesserit into their brain. The reason that I want to bring this up is the effects that relying on this ability leads to none of this history getting written down, and if someone dies without sharing, it means a large chunk of knowledge gets lost.

Thirdly, what are the Honoured Matres running from? In the book, there was talk about the fact that the Honoured Matres seem to be running from something they saw in a distant part of the galaxy. We hear this enemy called the ones with many faces. Now on the face of things, it suggests that they are referring to face dancers, but I have heard two different other ideas of what else it could be: robots or aliens. Now, both of these feel like it would be fun, but there is no mention of those in the books written by Frank Herbert.

Thank you for joining me and staying with this series. If you are interested in me reviewing the other Dune books please let me know. And until next week.

Happy reading to all and to all a good night.