Moreover, as this novel opens some of the scattered are coming back- and they do not hold much love for the Old Empire.

As a reader, you need to be aware of that books five and six in the series are somewhat different from the rest. Not who characters are, why they are important, why they do the things they do, why those things are important, what is going on, why any of that is important, why I should care about any of it, and so on.Despite bringing some much needed action back to the series, this book fails to entertain because it is written so poorly, and the plot reads like a map for a roadtrip planned out by a crack addict. Well if this book is good then that book must have been terrible because I found this book unreadable.

There’s a sense that things are coming full circle as the reborn Duncan is trained in the arts he once taught to young Paul Atreides. There is far too much pedophila going on for comfort here, and the fact that I never see anyone bring that point up about this book has me feeling a little nervous over where society is going. It lacks the original's extraordinary novelty and its mythic, archetypal plot, but this is a thoughtful, intelligent and well-structured work that stands with Herbert's best. The plot of this book, frankly makes no sense, it goes through several reversals, keeps the readers completely in the dark on the motivation and reasons behind generally everything going on, and skips over serveral key scenes without even referencing them or what went on during them. And then I'll be picking up the series carried on by Anderson and Frank's son following the events of Chapterhouse.

According to his son Brian, Herbert's time spent writing the draft would be "exceedingly arduous and much slower for him [Herbert] than usual, because of all the time he had to spend out of his study tending to the medical crises of my mother, Beverly Herbert. Apart from weaponising sex, the Scattering has also resulted in a lot of really weird tech filtering through into the Duniverse, much of it copies of, and yet infinitely superior to, Ixian manufacture.

After being defeated in a quick bout of personal combat, Murbella assumes that Lucilla is the Great Honored Matre, and allows Lucilla and Burzmali to watch through the window of a locked room while she completes the sexual enslavement of the ghola. The plot of Heretics of Dune allegedly (according to the back cover) revolves around the discovery of Sheeana, a girl on Rakis who can control the sandworms. As the awesome character of Miles Teg, former Supreme Bashar tries to protect a young, and very special, ghola of Duncan Idaho.

For much of this novel, we’re told about vague plans by the Honored Matres, and vague abilities the Duncan Idaho ghola possesses. Seemingly insurmountable enemies were suddenly given a glaring weakness, or the good guys were just as suddenly given an unexpected power or ally. Characters start doing wildly irrational things and I can't even tell if it's in their character to do so or not, because they're not developed well enough as people for me to know anything about their personalities.

There was something almost insulting in Taraza’s casual tone and only the habits of long association put down Odrade’s immediate resentment.Which is a great pity, because in my view ‘Heretics’ is the best of the sequence up to this point, a tautly plotted sociopolitical thriller that, strangely, largely consists of extended verbal jousts between the wonderfully diverse cast in a range of exotic locations, from desert to snow, and even the beguiling world of Chapter House itself. This time around I remembered too late that I'd left my copy of Heretics of Dune in a hotel 13 years ago! So of course it stands to reason that some could take those Bene Gesserit teachings and turn them towards more overtly sinister goals. It's not the same Duncan in every book, but he's got the same memories and personality so it works to hold the series together.