What a pointless slog of a story. "Dune" has been a part of my life since I was 5 or 6, and to see this part of it end like this is kind of... sad. Ah well. We all grow up.

This book is almost as garbage as "God Emperor of Dune", except more happens in it, so it wins by comparison. Though much of the story is again spent with characters internally debating or debating with each other about maybe doing something eventually. Though they do get around to parts of it. The frequent confusing POV switches were as confusing as ever, and omniscient until they weren't, which was also frustrating.

The constant references to sex magic (which we never actually see) were frustrating. People here and on Reddit call this the weird sex book, and it is, but it's all flash and no substance. The most graphic scenes we "see" are a furry/human orgy in the dark, vanilla shower sex, post-coital bed lounging, and the rape of a child, so that's... that. It also contains a ridiculous amount of rightwing griping about taxes and voting, about how ableism is cool, and also one of the weirdest instances of a Christian writing a group of Jews that was at turns stupid and incredibly offensive. We are not just Christians wearing yarmulkes, which is how Herbert writes them.

It's also painfully obvious that although Herbert possibly seemed to grasp that he needed to write more women in this universe, he has no idea how women talk or interact with each other. And it's uncomfortable to read.

None of the characters in this story are appealing. The narrative is miserable. The love "story" isn't compelling. It's a tired retread of the same characters in previous books, but worse. The "philosophy" and politics are pretty dumb. And somehow Herbert took one of my favorite artists - Vincent van Gogh - and made me dread every time his name was brought up.

I will give Herbert this, though: he added furries to the story. That's kind of neat. He didn't go very far with it, but it's amusing that that's in there.

Overall, this was a waste of time for a series that should have ended at least three books prior. People were writing better SF than this in the 80s (and Steven Brust had magic genetics, reincarnation, and past life stuff, too). And they're writing better now. As someone with a soft spot for all the "Dune" adaptations, I hope they never adapt this. ( )

My least favorite of the Dune books. ( )

A must read for Dune fans......can never get enough of the Dune books. ( )

Too slow and philosophical; the ideas are bogged down. Speeds up towards the end, but it's not delivered well enough and all the unfinished strands leave you wondering about too much ( )

10,700 word analysis of my reread

People change. 10 years ago I read the Dune series for the first time, and it became my favorite series ever. In 2019 I started my reread of the series, and now I’ve finally come to the end of that project, finishing Chapterhouse: Dune, the 6th book. 10 years ago, I thought Chapterhouse was the pinnacle of the series – today, I think it is its nadir, and I would not call the series as a whole a favorite anymore.

In what follows, I will first try to explain why I think Chapterhouse: Dune is the weakest of the bunch. The bulk of this post will be an analysis of the book’s main themes, and their relation to the previous books.

For starters an examination of the Bene Gesserit. The main question I still had after reading Heretics was about their intentions, and I’ll check how Odrade’s emotions play out in Chapterhouse as well. I’ll also look into the question of free will again – the main issue of the first Dune. I’ve written shorter sections on change & creativity – change being the series overall constant, on Nietzschean morality – yet another recurring theme, on the obscure & conflicted nature of Mentats and, finally, on Herbert’s obsession with bureaucracy, something that popped up in Heretics already.

Before I wrote my actual analysis, I lined up 85 quotes with a total of 5500 words. Not all of those made the cut, but the text is quote heavy nonetheless. If you don’t want to read quotes, just skip them: in most cases, you should be able to follow my reasonings without them.

I’ll end with a short assessment of the series in general.

(...)

Full analysis on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It ( )