Pod Emperor of Dune

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 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 of the Dune universe - complete with a surprising number of happy endings for characters from throughout the series.

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 consequences ensue when Edrik and Tylwyth use the oceans of Buzzell as a testing ground for genetically-engineered sand…er, seaworms.

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 and gholas - one of which appears to have mystical sandworm abilities, for…reasons.

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-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 - without losing too many of her true Sisters to the violent instincts of the Honored Matres.

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 forces honor ancient agreements and take in the refugees from Rebecca's group - finally giving the wild Reverend Mother the chance to return the millions of memories from Lampadas that Lucilla had entrusted to her.

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 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-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 trip.

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 elderly couple in his visions - raising questions of whether they might be powerful allies against or even worse enemies than their foes the Honored Matres.

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 ghola…which we can only hope is a less traumatic experience than it was for Duncan, though that seems unlikely.

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) visions of what he perceives of as an elderly couple on a in a flower garden, which certainly raises a number of questions.