At long last, we get out act together and record our thoughts on the whole main Dune series, discussing the overarching plot, comparing our respective rankings, and considering how the series fits into the greater sci-fi canon. We hope to be back for future Dune content and, just maybe, some other nerdy podcasts about sci-fi. In the meantime, thank you for listening and watch out for sandworms!
In this episode, we take a look back at all of Sandworms of Dune, discussing our thoughts on the this novel, its plots, and its characters, on its own merits, as the second half of the non-Frank-Herbert mainline Dune lineup, and as the conclusion to the Dune series as a whole.
In this episode, we take a look at the final third or so of Sandworms of Dune, in which the thinking machines orchestrate a duel between competing Paul gholas only for Duncan to turn out to be the Kwisatz Haderach they were looking for, the Oracle of Time shows up and finds both saving the human fleet and destroying Omnius to be barely an inconvenience, the Face Dancers are summarily dispatched before they can actually execute any of their plan to turn on the machines, and we see the final state...
In this episode, we take a look at the second third or so of Sandworms of Dune, in which the Bene Gesserit of the Ithaca are met with a hostile reception on the world of Qelso, Edrik brings a dying Tylwyth to Rakis before falling prey to a fatal ambush at the hands of the Face Dancers, Murbella desperately works to prepare for the machine invasion in the face of plague and betrayal and the loss of another daughter, and the Face Dancer saboteurs aboard the Ithaca are finally revealed…but not befo...
In this episode, we take a look at the first third or so of Sandworms of Dune, in which the Ithaca crew traumatically awakens several gholas while the ship is attacked by one or more elusive saboteurs, the Baron and Paolo are summoned to Synchrony as the machine fleet makes its bizarrely slow way to destroy humanity, and Khrone continues to manipulate the factions of the Old Empire to surreptitiously undermine Murbella's attempts to mount a resistance to the oncoming danger, and tragic consequen...
In this episode, we take a look at the final third of Hunters of Dune, in which several members of the Ithaca crew narrowly escape a deadly trap on the planet of the Handlers, Murbella finally defeats the rogue Honored Matres after they strike a devastating blow against her nascent fleet at Richese, Uxtal achieves some success in his Tylwyth ghola project but shortly thereafter receives some karmic comeuppance, and a war fleet is launched by Marty and Daniel…aka Erasmus and Omnius, aka the exact...
In this episode, we take a look at the second third or so of Hunter of Dune, in which Murbella continues conquering the remaining Honored Matres in her attempts to unify the old Empire before the Outside Enemy attacks, Uxtal continues making gholas to make himself useful to both the Face Dancers and the Honored Matres, Khrone chafes under the watchful eyes of emissaries from Marty and Daniel while secretly working for his own purposes, and discord continues on the no-ship regarding their goals a...
In this episode, we (finally) take a look at the first third or so of Hunters of Dune, in which the Chapterhouse escapees jump dimensions and start up a ghola factory, Murbella attempts to wrangle her combined New Sisterhood to be united against the coming enemy, the Scattering Face Dancers are revealed to have their own plans and motivations, and one of the last surviving Tleilaxu is pressed into service churning out even more gholas - including a most unwelcome face from the past.
In this episode, we take a look back at all of Chapterhouse: Dune, discussing our thoughts on the characters, plotlines, and how we thought about this novel in relation to the previous entries in the Dune saga, as we look ahead to examining the controversial posthumous conclusion to the series in Hunters and Sandworms of Dune.
In this episode, we take a look at chapters forty-six through forty-eight of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Sheeana recruits some other dissatisfied Reverend Mothers to the plan to escape from Chapterhouse by stealing the no-ship, Duncan makes a desperate play to keep the no-ship out of the hands of the mysterious old couple and their net, new Reverend Mother Superior slash Great Honored Matre Murbella confers with Odrade about the future now that Sheeana and Duncan have abandoned her and the Orde...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters forty-three through forty-five of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Sheeana makes a decision about her future with the Bene Gesserit, Odrade is killed but her memory witnesses her plans coming to fruition, Murbella becomes both the Reverend Mother Superior and the Great Honored Matre in the span of a few murderous seconds, and the new joint leader begins to figure out how to secretly convert the Honored Matres into Bene Gesserit as she had been converted - ...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters forty-one and forty-two, in which Odrade finally meets the infamous Spider Queen, this is quickly made pointless as Logno finally makes her play against her hated superior and becomes the new Great Honored Matre, the attack on Junction appears to go surprisingly well for the forces of the Bene Gesserit, and Miles and Odrade come to realize that all may not be as it seems - and that the Matres may have another card up their sleeves.
In this episode, we take a look at chapters thirty-nine through forty of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Odrade makes what she expects to be her final farewells to Chapterhouse and the Sisterhood as she journeys to her meeting with the Honored Matres, the Mother Superior's favorite pilot Clairby makes an unexpected appearance as the cyborg pilot for the trip to Junction, Miles oversees a devastatingly effective attack on Gammu, and Murbella intervenes in order to ensure that the Bene Gesserit's for...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters thirty-six through thirty-eight of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Duncan has several revelations as he tries to adjust to the changes in his relationship with Murbella after her Spice Agony, Rebecca continues to spar with an increasingly frustrating and distrustful Rabbi, the Reverend Mother Superior calls a Convocation to announce her bold plans to mount an attack on Junction while she is distracting the Honored Matres with her faux surrender, and Odrad...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters thirty-four and thirty-five of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Odrade must make decisions about who to take to near-certain death on Junction, Bellonda figures out Odrade's plan but keeps quiet about it for now, Tamalane Shares her memories and seems to judge the things Sheeana is hiding not to be a threat, and Murbella undergoes her Spice Agony - which, from her experience, definitely deserves the title.
In this episode, we take a look at chapters thirty-two and thirty-three of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which we cringe our way through Duncan's plan to awaken the memories of the old Bashar in the young ghola Miles, Odrade must deal with the aftermath of that decision as the awakened ghola exerts his simultaneous loyalty and independence, Dortujla returns from Junction with news of a successful at the cost of her health and several Sisters' lives, and Odrade calls the Bashar to prepare for an attack ...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters thirty and thirty-one of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Odrade continues working on getting what the Sisterhood needs out of Scytale, Sheeana arrives with long-awaited news about a new generation of sandworms, the Mother Superior must make a difficult choice about saving the life of her driver Clairby, and Murbella stands firm against any demands that she give up Duncan to become a Reverend Mother - which, it turns out, is exactly what Odrade wants.
In this episode, we take a look at chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which the Mother Superior's party finally makes it out to the desert, Sheeana manages to hide her most important secrets from Odrade while being surprised with a proposed promotion, Duncan helps Murbella to work through some bizarre and unsettling dreams, and Odrade receives some welcome promising news on the sandworm front - though not before getting an unexpected eyeful when trying to look at the...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters twenty-five through twenty-seven of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Odrade gets at least halfway to see Sheeana out in the desert, Spider Queen exults in her ascendancy but seems to start to fall into the Sisterhood's Dortujla trap, Duncan makes the case for his life to a murderous Bellonda, and Odrade decides to sacrifice one of Chapterhouse's remaining seas - after going skinny dipping in it, as one does in front of all of one's underlings on a work tri...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters twenty-two through twenty-four of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Odrade procrastinates on her responsibilities as she prepares to finally head to the desert to speak with Sheeana, Rebecca's people on Gammu are scattered and both she and the Rabbi are forced into hiding by agents of the Honored Matres, Murbella struggles to reconcile her desire to be a Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit with the love for Duncan that she will be expected to give up, and ...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters nineteen through twenty-one of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which the Mother Superior's leadership is called into question by the Sisterhood, Duncan struggles with how to unlock the Miles ghola's memories in a less-traumatic way, both Murbella and Duncan struggle in their own ways with how she is changing on her long journey from defiant Honored Matre prisoner to willing Bene Gesserit devotee, and Duncan has an unsettling revelation about the mysterious elde...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters sixteen through eighteen of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Scytale has another frustrating conversation with the Mother Superior, Odrade wrestles with the effects of thinking like an Honored Matre, an exiled Reverend Mother returns from the planet of Buzzell with news of an intriguing offer, and Lucilla has a final conversation with Great Honored Matre…and finally oversteps in her antagonism of the Spider Queen.
In this episode, we take a look at chapters thirteen through fifteen of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which the Mother Superior has dinner in the Chapterhouse dining hall and meets a promising acolyte named Streggi, Murbella has the startling revelation that she sincerely wants to become a Bene Gesserit, Odrade and her advisors conduct an inspection of various aspects of Central, and she decides to reveal to them that her plan is to immediately recover the original Miles Teg's memories in his child gho...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters eleven and twelve of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which we are reacquainted with Scytale in his current incarnation, the Tleilaxu Face-Dancer-turned-Master schemes and struggles to gain the upper hand in negotiations with Odrade, Lucilla is not immediately killed but instead brought before Great Honored Matre for questioning, and the Spider Queen attempts to bargain with Lucilla for information…while making us all uncomfortable with her bizarre relationship ...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters nine and ten of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which Rebecca is dragged before Great Honored Matre for questioning, the Rabbi becomes worried about the effects of Lucilla's memories on an increasingly bold and self-confident Rebecca, Odrade reveals to Duncan that she and her Sisters have figured out that he is a Mentat with the memories of many of his past ghola selves, and Duncan has one of what are apparently periodic (and thus far entirely unexplained) visi...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters seven and eight of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which we catch up on the whereabouts of Reverend Mother Sheeana, the Mother Superior and her advisors speculate on the nature of Duncan and his relationship with Murbella, Odrade struggles to carry out a new Been Gesserit Scattering while trying to understand how the first one could have led to the rise of the Honored Matres in the first place, and Murbella resists falling in line with the culture and values of...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters four through six of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which the new character of Grand Dame Logno has an uncomfortable meeting with her boss Great Honored Matre, Odrade has some weird introspection before receiving extremely bad news about the Bene Gesserit planet of Lampadas and some familiar faces from Heretics, Lucilla turns out to have at least temporarily survived the destruction and receives both aid and betrayal when seeking refuge on Gammu, and we learn a...
In this episode, we take a look at chapters one through three of Chapterhouse: Dune, in which we catch up with our good friend Reverend Mother Superior Darwi Odrade and company on Chapterhouse Planet, we get an idea of how the war against the Honored Matres is going (spoiler alert: so far, not great), we are introduced to what seems to be Odrade's counterpart among the Honored Matres, and we learn that the late Miles Teg might not be entirely out of the picture…in some form, at least.
In this episode, we take a look back at all of Heretics of Dune, discussing our thoughts on the characters, plotlines, and how we thought this novel compares to the previous entries in the Dune saga, as we look ahead to reading about the continued adventures of Odrade and company as they face off against the Honored Matres.
In this episode, we take a look at chapters forty-six and forty-seven of Heretics of Dune, in which Miles leads a suicide mission against the Honored Matres on Rakis to allow various key Bene Gesserit personnel to escape, all or most Rakian life is obliterated and only a single sandworm taken to Chapter House seems to have survived, Duncan is under no-ship arrest and turns out to have knocked up the scheming Murbella, and current Reverend Mother Superior Odrade plots how to best lead her Sisterh...
