Heretics of Dune is the fifth entry into the epic Dune saga and boy this was a difficult one to get into. Heretics takes place 1500 years or so after the events of God Emporer of Dune and all the main characters are long dead. But they are not forgotten. The prophecies and prognostications of Leto II are still at the heart of everything that moves human activity. With the God Emporer's death, humanity lacked direction and took to exploring new parts of the universe. This is called The Scattering and from the splintered pieces come new and powerful factions that are returning to the old realms to take power away from those that have ruled since The Tyrant's long plunge into the watery grave he accepted.
The Bene Gesserit, Tlielaxu, Ix, and Fish Speakers are part of the old world and continue to compete for dominance over the most powerful resources, melange, and information. Now that melange can be made synthetically by the Tlielaxu the planet known as Dune, Arrakis, and now simply known as Rakis, the sandworms that create the original spice are not the only resource that is being fought over. It is still completely vital but so is knowledge. How do the Tlielaxu make their version of melange? How do they create and manipulate their ghola clones? How does the new Duncan play into all this? Who controls the diary passed down by the God-King Leto II and what does it say about the future? And who is the young girl who can speak to and control sandworms?
Sheeana, a peasant girl whose entire family was killed by sandworms, can summon even the largest of sandworms, speak to them, and somehow hear their psychokinetic voices. She is the key to finding out if The Tyrant is back and what that might mean for the interests pulling at the strings of human evolution. Is his Golden Path being fulfilled or is mankind doomed?
The Bene Gesserit are up to their usual witchcraft with the goal of protecting humanity from those groups that would suck humanity dry. Unfortunately, a group known as the Honored Matres has evolved more powerful forms of manipulation and control more forces than any other in the universe. They seek to wipe out the Bene Gesserit and anyone else that doesn't bend the knee to their form of tyranny. Lucky for the Bene Gesserit that they have the most powerful descendants of the Atreides lineage among their ranks and the power that those ancient genes have the potential to wield.
This book is crazy complicated and it was very difficult getting into it for me. It took almost half the book for my mind to start to grasp the new players, motivations, and all the connections to the previous books. Once these connections were made though and the book became integrated into the canon of Dune lore it all clicked and I was once again mesmerized by the genius of Frank Herbert. It is hard to tell at first who to root for and who really matters. The new Duncan Idaho is younger than any from the previous books and is something to grasp onto as a connection to the previous books but soon takes a backseat to the new characters who weave their way into the Dune canon as characters that are just as powerful, terrifying, and heroic as any others in the series.
If you are already into Dune to get this far in the series then this book is worth the mind-bending trouble of nearly starting over in regards to the names and places that matter to the story. Once you get into it the whole world is still there, just expanded from the previous. The influence of the actions of characters from day one of the series is still visible all the way into the future world of Heretics of Dune.
I came this far so why not keep riding this crazy space train?
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