synopsis
Two decades after the release of Frank Herbert’s monumentally influential novel Dune, Chapterhouse: Dune was released. It was the sixth novel in the series and the last completed by Herbert. He died a year after publication.
It is thousands of years in the future. Dune itself is no more; the planet has been destroyed by the Honored Matres. The enormously powerful group of women is a dark mirror of the Bene Gesserit, seeking power while that other group seeks enlightenmentÑand to survive.
The sandworms, bereft of their former world, need a new one. Chapterhouse will be their new home, if the Bene Gesserit can terraform it in time. If their plan succeeds, it will give them full control of the production of that most precious spice, melange. As they work, Mother Superior Darwi Odrade engages in her own vocation: a plot to destroy the Honored Matres.
Among those on Chapterhouse are a clone of Duncan Idaho, and Murbella, his lover. Allowed to enter the Bene Gesserit as a novice, Murbella is suspected of being a spy for The Honored Matres, who would happily see the witches wiped out of existence entirely.
Marvel upon marvel occurs, many of them familiar to readers of the series, but always fresh, never stale. GholaÑa name so close to “ghoul”Ñare clones; built from a few skin cells, they can remember their former lives, and even their moments of death. And there are hive minds, mutants, shape-shifters, biological weapons, interplanetary travel, and more. Herbert made use of all the tools available to the science fiction writer in order to tell this dark tale of power and struggle.
And, in the end, the battle between these two groups comes to a head, in a clash as epic as anything in science fiction, with intimate scenes of palace intrigue and gripping scenes of war. That group which would guide humanity to enlightenment faces a group of planet-killers, world-enders, who think nothing of murder if it leads to what they want. And the end result of this confrontation is anything but assured.
Chapterhouse: Dune offers a rich worldÑa rich string of worldsÑmade real through well-portrayed characters and fascinating dialogue, and punctuated with intense bursts of action. It is a book of great depth, growing deeper, stranger, and more stunning with every turned page.
Illustrated beautifully by Guillem H. Pongiluppi, introduced by Norman Spinrad, and with a touching afterword by Brian Herbert, this is the definitive edition of an extraordinary work of imagination.
“Against all odds, the universe of Dune keeps getting richer in texture, more challenging in its moral dilemmas,” Gerald Jonas wrote in The New York Times. Millions of readers have agreed. Over four decades have passed since its release, but Chapterhouse: Dune reads as if it was written yesterday, and, by some miracle, tomorrow.
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