Product Description

From Dune to Rakis to Dune, the wheel turns full circle. From burning desert to green and fertile land and on again to burning desert . . . the cycle is complete. The people of the Scattering are returning. Amongst them, mysterious and threatening, are the women who call themselves the Honoured Matres, adepts of an ecstatic cult. And on Rakis, become Dune, an ancient prophecy is fulfilled with the coming of the she-sheer, Sheeana . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33970 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08-14
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

About the Author
Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first sf story was published in 1952 but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication in Analog of 'Dune World' and 'The Prophet of Dune' that were amalgamated in the novel Dune in 1965.

Customer Reviews

Finest book in the (-fantastic-) Dune series
Well... after the disappointing God Emperor Of Dune which seemed to drag on and on and on this came as a total shock, right out of the blue. I have only read it once but I know I will be coming back to it time and time again - this really is a classic book.

Set 1,500 years after Leto II's death, Herbert has had to start again with the storyboard and the series certainly benefits from it. New characters like the believable Miles Teg and Darwi Odrade are fantastic and the story is inspired. Certain parts are actually spine tingling in execution, and the frentic pace never lets up - the story is told from four viewpoints, namely the Bene Gesserit, the Tleiaxlu, the child Sheeana and the 'new improved' Duncan Idaho. This gives the storytelling a jolt of direction as apposed to the mundane 'God Emperor' book which plodded along to a halt.

This book is inspired in every way, and, -dare I say it-, even better than the marvellous 'Dune'. If you like Science Fiction in the slightest, you really ought to own this book. It'll hook you.

Intresting...
I cannot confess to being a hardcore Dune fanatic or that I have enjoyed everone of his books, but this is probably one of the better ones. It doesn't quite have the 'epic' quality of previous ones but as a story in itself its not bad. However I felt that the despcription of Gammu (Geidi Prime) was a little dissapointing; it kept on reminding me of Canada for some reason. Also the character of Sheeana was rather underdeveloped and she was, in all fairness, a brat (although the fact that Idaho mentions this seems to imply Herbert was in on the joke). This is the first book that introduces us to the seven foot Bashar Miles Teg, one of the better characters in a Dune novel, and, of course, the Honoured Matres who are some of the best villains ever in a sci fi book. All in all Heretics seems to be set in an alternative universe to the other Dune novels, even if it is set thousands of years into the future, primarily because so much of the technology seems to have reverted, but read it as a stand alone story and its not bad I suppose...

Another incredible and weird book..
Since the time of the Tyrant (God Emperor of Dune), thousands more years have passed.. What was the Golden Path? Where was it heading? I've heard people say the last two books (Chapterhouse and Heretics) were spin-offs - this is false.

Leto II having died long ago, has become the Great God Divided, the terrifying worms of Arrakis, now called the planet Rakis each carry a fragment of Leto's conciousness as he continues in his endless dream.

Honored Matres, an unknown order are returning from the Scattering, an event pre-planned by Leto? As they return, they hunt and kill the Bene Gesserit, their last hope is a young girl from Rakis who has the ability to control the great worms.

This is a fantastic book, one my favorites, which takes place at a time so far in the future, it's barely imaginable.

You have to look on this as the second installment in Frank Herberts final trilogy: God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune.

A fascinating and gripping read.