The Second Great Dune Trilogy: God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chapter House Dune

Dune #4-6

by Frank Herbert

The Second Great Dune Trilogy contains God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapter House Dune, and concludes the Dune Chronicles, one of the most influential SF series ever written.

Herbert's evocative, epic tales are set on the desert planet Arrakis, the focus for a complex political and military struggle with galaxy-wide repercussions.

More than three thousand years have passed since the first events recorded in Dune. Only one link survives with those tumultuous times: the grotesque figure of Leto Atreides, son of the prophet Paul Muad'Dib, and now the virtually immortal God Emperor of Dune. He alone understands the future, and he knows with a terrible certainty that the evolution of his race is at an end unless he can breed new qualities into his species. But to achieve his final victory, Leto Atreides must also bring about his own downfall...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Collections, Ebooks, Novels, Classics

1681 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer.
The Dune saga, set in the distant future, and taking place over millennia, explores complex themes, such as the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science and ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, economics and power in a future where humanity has long since developed interstellar travel and settled many thousands of worlds. Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time, and the entire series is considered to be among the classics of the genre.

Reviews

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 3 out of 5]

‘No person or society is ever a pinnacle. Evolution does not end short of death for an entire species.’

I’ve had a copy of the second Dune Trilogy sitting on my bookshelf since 1988 (from memory) just waiting for the right time to read it. And the right time finally arrived after I reread the first Dune Trilogy last year. I do have one other Dune book to read (‘House Atreides’ by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson) but that will be the end of my Dune exploration.

The second Dune Trilogy consists of three books:
God Emperor of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Chapter House Dune.

Of the three, ‘God Emperor of Dune’ was my favourite. The God Emperor, Leto II Atreides, has ruled as a tyrant for 3,500 years. He is a hybrid of human and sandworm, the last sandworm left on Dune because of terraforming. His control of the remaining supplies of melange has enabled his rule as tyrant. Leto, who can be violent, is supported by his all-female army: the Fish Speakers. The Fremen are essentially powerless, the world is essentially stagnant and static. Successive Duncan Idaho gholas serve Leto, and breeding lines are important. All of this is in accordance with a prophecy. This instalment held my attention and the ending sent me straight into ‘Heretics of Dune’

‘Heretics of Dune’ starts 1,500 years later. The death of Leto II Atreides caused the Scattering, an explosion of humanity into the universe. But some are returning now. The Bene Gesserit understand the Golden Path, as intended by Leto II Atreides, but others want change. Can humanity be free from the threat of extinction? An interesting question.

And so, on to ‘Chapter House Dune’ where the Bene Gesserit are the target of the Honored Matres. The Matres want to exterminate the Bene Gesserit, after assimilating their technology and superhuman skills. The Bene Gesserit are seeking to terraform their current home planet to accommodate the sandworms, whose native planet (and others) has been destroyed by the Matres. It becomes complex and complicated: breeding lines and possible saviours; enemies and secrets; the benefits of technology in plotting. Persecuted minorities, and the last member of the Bene Tleilaxu, each have important parts to play.

The pace of these three books is slower that the first trilogy, with the philosophy more central. While I did not enjoy this trilogy as much as the first, I am glad I read it.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

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[Rissa (rissasreading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 - I don't know that Heretics of Dune is that closely tied to God Emperor of Dune, but God Emperor definitely leads into and is the cause of the events of Heretics of Dune so I'm reviewing them together.
God Emperor of Dune is a fantastic book that really goes in deep on our leaders. Frank Herbert analyses politics and religion and how the figureheads used their words to cause harm which, ultimately, created their power. I really enjoyed the dialogue-heavy aspect of God Emperor. I was expecting things to get violent and weird but they never really did but I still found myself enjoying this one.
Heretics of Dune I honestly could've done without, the only benefit of this book is Chapterhouse (sorry not sorry). I didn't care for any of the characters and there wasn't much (if any) action within this book. Nothing picked up and the last 100 pages were just as flat as the rest of the book. I also was hoping for more of a look back so we could move forward with Leto's worms from the end of God Emperor. It takes until the end of Chapterhouse for anything in that regard to be built and (somewhat) come to fruition. I was disappointed by Heretics....
The pacing of Heretics of Dune felt so odd and completely off for me. I was on the last 200 pages of the book and I was wondering what the stakes were, what the exact problem or plan was, and I was wondering when we were going to hit the climax or turning point of the novel. I thought at first maybe it would be like the first Dune book where the beginning is super dialogue heavy before transferring into a whirlwind of action, but that never happened. I'm not sure if it was maybe because of what was happening in Frank's life around the time this book came out but this one was just missing the "it" factor the other novels had.
I mean the last 100 pages felt like it could've been the middle of the book.... This one just wasn't it for me personally.
After reading Chapterhouse Dune I wish we were able to have the seventh novel that Frank wanted to write because you can feel that this was set-up for it in the end. Overall, Chapterhouse Dune was more enjoyable than Heretics of Dune and it provided a decent inconclusive ending for the series. I feel like it went back to the feel of the first Dune novel finally and I really enjoyed that. The one thing I enjoyed the most about the final novel is that it really didn't feature any one particular character heavily, everyone kind of felt like our main story teller. It was enjoyable to finish the series with.

[Curtis Trueblood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thoughts and ideas provoked but really not the best and kind of weird.

[Lukas Schlager · Rating 4 out of 5]

God Emperor of Dune: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Heretics of Dune: ⭐⭐⭐
Chapterhouse: Dune: ⭐⭐⭐✨

[Lavania · Rating 3 out of 5]

That first book in this trilogy was horrendous, I hated it so much and probably the longest I have ever taken to read a book. I thought Paul was annoying, boy did it get worse. The second book had me intrigued, I thought okay we can work with this, I hope they do make a spin off based on that book. That last book also dragged, but not as badly as The God Emperor. Now that I am done, I just digested those whole 6 books for what? Not much really.

[SuperFabioMan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapterhouse is the best entry in the series? Color me surprised. Concise writing and a finality to it all make it the most easy to follow but it has the complexity of all the previous work. The afterword however might be the best thing in the whole series
God Emperor and Heretics didn’t work for me though
Almost 4 years for the entirety of the Dune saga. I am free

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

In these last three installments of Frank Herbert’s Dune Chronicles, the pace slows way down. The vast majority of these books are philosophical in nature.

God Emperor of Dune picks up roughly 3,000 years after Children of Dune, we take a trip through the mind of Leto II - well along the way on his Golden Path. Leto is tyrant, mystic, monster, and mis-understood savior of humanity all rolled into one; a vast accumulation of ancestors and the terrible inhuman worm...

The last two novels take up the story roughly 5,000 years after the death of Leto II, and focus on the Bene Gesserit’s fight for survival and re-instatement of a Dune-like ecosystem on their planet headquarters, Chapterhouse. The main antagonists, the Honored Matres, seem a bit far-fetched. Their main weapon being sexual slavery (making willing slaves by means of their sexual prowess); which, the whole idea seems rather juvenile to me. We get to know the Bene Gesserit much more intimately, which gives them a touch of humanity that was, for the most part, formerly lacking.

All in all, these three are my least favorite of the series, but still well worth the read.

[Notketchup · Rating 4 out of 5]

When compared to the first Great Dune Trilogy, the second is equally backbreaking, doubly dense, and half as digestible. However, this doesn't make its stories any less compelling!

God Emperor of Dune starts us off after a large timeskip (4,000 years!). The first half is incredibly slow, as we become accustomed to this new world through the eyes of the titular emperor and his would-be subverters. This universe, and Arakis in particular, is unrecognisable, but we remain rooted in a familiar struggle: what should one do with all the power and knowledge of the universe? The answer seems to be: fall into a deep, paternal depression! The emperor has cultivated a distant love for humanity that depended on negation of his own humanity, that required him to die the death of prescience, and that understandably sucks. However, what also sucks is the overindulgence in this once interesting idea, and the arrogant, often didactic tone that the emperor book takes as a result. Siona is a river flowing through this otherwise dry story, acting out the reader's frustration and - in combination with other characters – making for incredibly exciting and moving points of tension. Ultimately, this first part of the second trilogy feels like a worthwhile exploration of the tensions between responsibility and freedom, made bearable by memorable characters. (3 stars)

Heretics of Dune adds yet another timeskip. Perhaps one too far, if you liked your Arrakis with all its syllables. Although we are happy to put the tyrant's world behind us for a moment, we are met with new characters and factions introduced so nonchalantly that I often caught myself flicking back and forth, asking, "Wait, have we already met them? What on Earth (or Rakkis, rather) is an honoured matre? And are they supposed to be a big deal or something? Ohhh.... right". Largely, the timeskip is welcome, and makes for an unfamiliarity that keeps us curious about the world we are reading about. Perhaps related to this is a reliance on flashbacks, in contrast to the flash-forward prescient dreams of previous instalments. Sadly, the readability of this instalment takes a big hit due to its non-linear storytelling. The temporal consistency, which I adored in the first trilogy (things happen as they happen, unless interrupted by a scene change as indicated by a break in the text), is completely thrown aside. Instead, we are presented with nested memories which are explored at length, only brought back to reality through the liberally utilised 'presently'. These recollections are helpful insofar as they help us understand how increasingly refined, complex characters come to make a difficult decision, or a subtle assessment, but, on top of the timeskip, new cast, and new political powers to become accustomed to/situated in, this makes for a high-effort read. As with God Emperor of Dune, Heretics' second half is where this instalment shines. The book returns to its original formula: political drama which unfolds in parallel and across multiple scenes/plots, superpowered leads that we can't help but root for (albeit with slight reservations). The last hundred pages of the book practically read themselves. (4 stars)

`Chapterhouse' completes the trilogy, with a subtlety that builds on all of the previous books to powerful effect. In fact, I would argue that, although the first 500 pages of the trilogy are a slog, they are worth reading if only to set the stage for this story. We begin not long after Heretics, following Odrade as she walks a fraught tightrope to the Bene Gesserit's future. By contrast to other (often overconfident) Dune leads, Odrade is made compelling by the transparency with which her hopes and fears are presented. Chapterhouse (the planet) also benefits from a complex portrayal. It offers our first real view of Bene Gesserit society: a planet defined by a religious chapter, moving as one organism, and yet somehow not a monoculture. The corpus of reverend mothers is a rich tapestry of temperaments, skills, hopes, and doubts. Further afield lies a shifting ecosystem, bringing into focus the fringes of its lay-society (I know how I would feel if I got displaced to make space for sandworms), while unruly acolytes and high ideals flesh out the vertical component of Gesserit life. Other characters make key contributions to the story: a few ghloas, Tleilaxu, and Matres drive things forward, but ultimately these points of stress only further highlight tensions between Odrade’s creativity and the sisterhood’s dogma, as the Bene Gesserit are confronted with a mirror in which they must reckon with their own history. But, the openness of all this complexity obscures any clear-cut decisions for readers — can we wholly trust Odrades's plan for Bene Gesserit 'survival'? In fact, what is her plan? Is it what I think it is? Oh, I don't think I agree with that…. This was a gem in the trilogy, nearly 5 stars had it not left me sour with an unsatisfying ending and underused characters —for example, Scytale, Sheeana, and particularly Teg 2.0—. (4 stars)

“Some precious stones could be identified by their impurities” (Chapterhouse). In many ways, this trilogy shines precisely because of its flaws—its dull spots, slow starts (God Emperor), and unfulfilling endings (Chapterhouse). Yet against these small silhouettes shines the bright light of this second trilogy. At its best, this is Herbert as a master of linear storytelling, weaving multiple, increasingly converging threads to devastating effect. Getting to the end of this trilogy feels like coming back from a year abroad — wanting to tell everyone about friends I'll never see again, languages I no longer need to decode, and a sense of loss in saying goodbye — but I’m so glad I picked up my first Dune book last year. I can’t recommend this series enough.

[Mike S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hardcover printing of the books of the second trilogy of Dune novels written by Frank Herbert: 1981's God Emperor of Dune, 1984's Heretics of Dune, and 1985's Chapterhouse Dune. The first novel tells the story of Leto II's reign over the empire, and the last two involve the Bene Gesserit versus another clan of powerful women called the Honored Matres. The stories in these novels are very far removed from those told in the original Dune novel and its first two sequel novels. Although characters like Paul and Jessica are mentioned, the massive time jumps used by Herbert mean they are long dead and not actively involved in the events of any of the books in this trilogy.

The hardcover version of the trilogy is just under 1000 pages. I found none of them easy to read, mainly because many new characters were introduced without much setup, and the storylines became increasingly convoluted with each book. So, none of the storylines were all that easy to follow. And, not much action happened in any of the books until the last handful of chapters. Ultimately, if you are a fan of the Dune series and have invested the time to read all the other novels, this set is worth reading, if nothing else, to see where the story goes. However, if you are only a casual fan, or a fan primarily because of one or more of the live-action adaptations of the original novel, you may not like this trilogy.

[T.A. Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this trilogy, I didn't think I would like it as much as I thought I would.
I found Leto II frustratingly arrogant and his obsession with Duncan Idaho was a little weird.
God Emperor of Dune dragged a little for me, but I did like the ending- it felt like putting up with Leto was worth it!
Heretics and Chapterhouse were a massive improvement on God Emperor, and I really like Odrade.
Heretics ended a little abruptly for my liking.
But, the 3 books of the second great dune trilogy work better as a whole rather than separately, and Chapterhouse is the best of the three.
Worth your time to read them all, and there are definitely no more Dune books after this one.

[maxwop · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sci-fi epic beyond comparison , with characters, plot and settings so rich that few story universes come close. Althoughat points the symbolism and character motivations were hard/impossible for me to understand,the ultimate pay off was worth it. I really liked the host of characters in this trilogy, with Odrade, Sheeana, Murbella Duncan and Teg.

[Brudis · Rating 4 out of 5]

God emperor of Dune and Heretics of Dune were good books. They gave something different and I was excited to continue reading them. Chapterhouse: Dune was not quite as exciting and took me a long time to finish reading. Maybe I was just finished with the Dune books and that colors my view of Chapterhouse, maybe not.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Densely political and philosophical. Discourse drove the plot more than anything else. The miniature of human response is laid bare before the reader; a glimpse into the psyche of humanity, and therefore; how to gain power over it.
I would not read it again, but appreciated the nuance and paradigm shift it may still cause within me.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are not as interesting the further they get from Paul. It is , as usual, well written. The book has many different points of view through it. It was a push to finish it, but I want to read the whole series...so it must be done.

[Suzanne Cornyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

This is my 4th time reading this. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the other times. There's just so much talking about things and so little action, and then so much happens in the last 100 pages.

[Steen Larsen]

Great series. A must read. Looking forward to seeing the new Dune Movie.

[Chung Fei]

Non ricordo perchè l'ho letto, forse mi rompono le palle 'ste storie. Preferisco vederle in un film..

[Max Hood · Rating 3 out of 5]

God Emperor: 2.5
Heretics: 3
Chapter house: 2.5

[G. John · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading these stories numerous times over the years... Hollywood finally got the script close enough to make this classic trilogy Top shelf on the big screen too! It was worth the wait!!

[Joakim Ax · Rating 4 out of 5]

The God Emperor of Dune: This was a very philosophical book. I found it the most interesting of the second trilogy books. It reminded me a lot of: Eren, in Attack on Titan.
Being captured in a path of which you had no control off, but still trying to aim it as to save as many of those you cared for. I hope they one day will come this far and make this a movie, but the audience might not be ready or mature enough for it.

Heretics of Dune: It was a bit hard to get into in the beginning, we jumped even further into the future and there was a lot of new characters to get aquinted with. A lot of the bene gesserits names got bundled in my head for the longest time. But once I got them all sorted the story started moving in a faster pase.

Chapterhouse of Dune: This moved faster in comparison to Heretics. I still wish we would have gotten one more book out of Frank before his passing, cause he was really building up something.

[Gigngogn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Speculative Fiction

 

Centuries have passed on Dune, and the planet is green with life. Leto, the son of Dune's savior, is still alive but far from human, and the fate of all humanity hangs on his awesome sacrifice...

[Thomas Müller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book is a great read. The follow-ups, while satisfying as a whole, are a bit difficult to separate into distinct entities, I found. Ahh but words, Mercantile alliance for exploitation of the space, or somesuch. Great

[Can Özmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahhh... should have stolen it from the university library ... regrets ... regrets

[Vlad-Adrian Ilie]

Cool stuff!