At first, Chapterhouse: Dune (a sequel of Dune) by Frank Herbert is confusing.
It is almost necessary to read Dune, or watch the movie. I hadn’t read Dunebefore I had started this book, and I was totally confused. I thought aboutputting the book down, but then I rented Dune. Everything suddenly cleared up.
Suddenly, Chapterhouse: Dune became the greatest book I have ever read. The Duneuniverse is much more complex than most science fiction universes; such as StarTrek. It is filled with alien (human) races, technology that might someday beinvented, and a story line that encompasses some 50,000 years. That is one hugefeature about Chapterhouse: Dune, there is a history that you can learn aboutfrom other Dune books.
Unlike in other science fiction books, where the backstory is the back cover. Another thing that makes Chapterhouse: Dune morecomplex and more intriguing than other titles are the characters. Frank Herbertwrites in a way that you can’t truly get a grasp on their persona. Such asScytale, who is a Mentat. A Mentat is a human computer, able to calculateimmense problems, and have the ability to have a thing called Other Memory. Other Memory is where memories of other people before them are implanted intotheir brain.
It is very hard to explain; you would have to read more about it. Scytale since he is a Mentat, strives to attain information. But it is hard forhim to achieve this goal. Scytale is a prisoner on Chapterhouse for being of aidto the Jews. He was ordered to be held there by Ordade, the Mother Superior.
Mother Superior is the leader of the Bene Gesserit; the last remnants of the OldEmpire. She is tough to understand. She is compassionate in her own little way,yet totally feared by all. She too, has Other Memory, but of past MotherSuperiors. A thing that I really liked about Chapterhouse: Dune is the realisticconflicts.
The most obvious one is the battle between the Bene Gesserit and theHonored Matres. The Honored Matres are lead by a bloodthirsty, extremely violentman known only as the Great Honored Matre. The Honored Matres were formed 1,500years ago after The Scattering. The Scattering occurred when the emperor Leto IIdied after his 3,500-year-old rule.
There is one thing that I found a bitlacking in Chapterhouse: Dune, the setting. There is only one, and that is theproblem. The whole story is based on one massive complex known as Chapterhouse. Chapterhouse is the primary headquarters of the Bene Gesserit. It is located onthe planet of Arrakis, also known as Dune.
In my humble opinion, Chapterhouse:Dune is very accurate in the depiction of the human mind and in the actuality oftechnology. Another thing that I found very intriguing is the fact that humanshave actually evolved; while in other universes, we remain in the same form forall time. I strongly recommend Chapterhouse: Dune for anyone who actually hasthe time to read it. Chapterhouse: Dune is an extremely long book. I figure thatif it were in normal paperback book size, it would be some eight hundred pageslong. Chapterhouse: Dune was defiantly not aimed towards children.
There aresome very difficult words, some of which I could not even understand. I wouldnot even recommend this book to most teenagers. I feel that this book was meantto be read by adults, and some enlightened teenagers (the likes of which are farahead of their time).
