Counter-Currents
The Bene Gesserit Books:
Frank Herbert’s Heretics of Dune & Chapterhouse: Dune
Greg Johnson
3,667 words
Frank Herbert’s six Dune novels fall into three pairs. Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969) chart the rise and fall of Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides, a man who becomes a superman and the God Emperor of the known universe. Children of Dune (1976) and God Emperor of Dune (1981) narrate the rise and fall of Paul’s son, Leto II, a superman who transforms himself into a monster and rules for 3,500 years. Heretics of Dune (1984)[1] and Chapterhouse: Dune (1985)[2] are set 1,500 years after God Emperor and focus on the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood’s struggle with their evil twin, a sisterhood that calls itself the Honored Matres.
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3 comments
Thanks for this. Outside the Dune books, my favorite is the (very flawed) Dosadi Experiment.
I haven’t yet read Dosadi Experiment. Now that I have written on all six Dune books, I will start reading Herbert’s other novels. I’ll report any interesting finds.
I look forward to it. Dosadi is not by any stretch of the imagination as well-constructed as Dune. In the mid-seventies, Herbert was cranking out material. As you may have noticed in the Dune series, Herbert had lots of interesting ideas that didn’t always get the careful treatment they deserved. Dosadi is a follow-up to Whipping Star (which I never read).
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