1. Murbella was well done. Odrade's plan, I believe, was a shock and awe offensive. Defense had failed so spectacularly that a massive show of force was a gamble to show the Honored Matres the attractiveness and effectiveness of Bene Geserit vitality, personal powers, unity, and skill. This was a risk necessary to make them want to be Bene Geserits—or at least have their talents and skills—which may be the only way to beat them: if you can't beat them, make them want to join you. This is where Murbella comes in as a test case. With her hidden conditioning, if she can be seduced and converted to becoming a full Bene Geserit, then perhaps it would be possible to convert all Honored Matres in similar ways. This is a poetic Bene Geserit punishment: the Honored Matres seek to conquer the Bene Geserit, but end up becoming them and, like Murbella, regret their former lives. This is perfect. By the end of the novel Murbella, through her actions, thoughts, and conversations, has shown the path that the Monored Matre converts will take. This gives the reader intimate prescience of what will occur after the novel ends. Simply brilliant. And Herbert held back just enough to deny the reader full realization until the end, but gave enough pieces that, like a mentat's process, they click into place after the novel is over to show the full pattern. This was very enjoyable to me because he does not lay it out too explicitly and trusts his readers to understand it. Yes, this is esoteric revelation done well, meshed with Murbella's exoteric revelations to form a beautiful whole. And even the timing—while Murbella is still susceptible to Honored Matre methods and logic, while she still understands them, she oversees their transfer to Bene Geserit sisterhood thinking and training, going through the same herself simultaneously. At the same time, Odrade's belief in the necessity of Bene Geserit changes gains a fertile field in which to be sown with this massive increase in Bene Geserit recruits unfamiliar with the standard Bene Geserit stereotype. Murbella is much more holistic than a single character is usually allowed to be in a novel—she embodies the plot, illuminates it, and foretells the post-novel plot. This is an incredible storytelling tactic and Herbert pulls it off perfectly. This rivals the storytelling mastery of the pace of information in Dune and the tragedy of Leto II in God Emperor of Dune. But does the rest of the book live up to this one character?
2. The action is great. There's a lot of stress in the novel: each character arc sees them facing great obstacles and successes. Each action solves the esoteric hints throughout, but raises more questions. Odrade gives herself to the last of the sea, then enforces its temporality—at the same time and in the same action embracing her plan and acknowledging that she will not live to see it completed. Duncan and Sheana discuss escape and Teg's awakening—a backup plan should Odrade's plan fail, a safety net, and a less damaging way to awaken ghola memories. The battle at the end is engaging, well told, and finally reveals most of Odrade's plan. These actions are exciting and well rendered, but they're also paced throughout the novel well—breaking up the philosophical introspection and allowing bursting releases for the bottled up stresses of the characters, and also the readers. These action hooks are what the philosophy is hung on and I enjoyed that there were more actions than some of the other novels in the series.
3. My biggest complaint is something that I realize was probably present in Children of Dune and Heretics of Dune as well—too much of the novel's time is spent on things that seem to road sign a sequel. For instance, Scytale is mostly ignored: the plot point of him trying to control Duncan by whistling—foreshadowed heavily—is dropped, as is his null capsule thing. And I cannot shake the feeling that Herbert changed his mind about using the fulfillment of these story threads in this novel. This is a weakness because it breaks from the overarching story—it is an unimportant part of the overarching story. Same with Duncan's weird visions—though tangentially they relate to the theme of the unknown, they're just too unknown to be useful. They are somewhat useful for understanding Duncan's actions at the end, and the strange epilogue, but perhaps they were more persistent throughout than needed for this. Also, the Jews are awkwardly written and seem to do little more than foreshadow the next novel in the series. What does Murbella learn from them that the Bene Geserit had not already deduced? Though they relate to the theme of Bene Geserits increasing their humanity more—through always paying their debts, even when inherited and secret—this seems like another dropped ball, or a lot of time spent for little importance. Cyborgs, Bene Geserit punishment planets, the abilities of Teg, the male Honored Matre, the Futars and their Handlers, and the Ixian delegation delivering the ammunition for the secret weapon at the end—these are just a couple more examples of narrative dropped balls. I end up wishing more time was spent on threads central to the story: Teg and Duncan planning, Murbella's history and post-spice agony experiences, Burzmali's last stand. This last one could have given a poignant picture of Bene Geserit desperation paired with action, rather than paired with Odrade's stress and reflection.
4. I feel like Herbert relies too heavily on the surprise ending—like the final page reveal in a comic book. Dune Messiah certainly had a great ending, but it ended up being such a surprise that I felt a bit cheated to have slogged through the first 3/4 to get to the good part. I don't think it's necessarily a bad tactic, but it is a bit cheat at times. Here it works because there is enough important action en-route to give clues and string the reader along. But I think it is a tactic to be very careful of relying upon too heavily.
5. As far as the writing goes, I think this is good—not quite as good as God Emperor of Dune, but good. The analogy of other memories as mental sausages was ridiculous. But the philosophical one-liners are often great: the piece that cannot move; not learning to ride the waves, just riding them; patterns being formed from questions—this is good writing. Additionally, each major character has a unique voice: this is a strength, as it allows their choice of words to help explain who they are.
6. The theme of Chapterhouse: Dune is accepting change and the unexpected from within: Rebekah, Murbella, Duncan, and Bella are the main examples of this. Where Heretics of Dune was more about the unexpected from without, symbolized by the destruction of Dune itself, this novel is about unexpected reactions and finding oneself in that changed context.
7. I look back on the series and I like Dune and God Emperor of Dune the most. Children of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune second best. I did not enjoy Heretics of Dune and Dune Messiah as much. I enjoyed the series as a whole, and would recommend that anybody interested read all six novels. They're all at least interesting and readable, though only two of them are truly great. If you can get on board with Herbert's esotericism, philosophizing, and foreshadowing of future novels, it is a great ride. What a universe Herbert created! It's engaging, believable, and fresh. It's based on Saharan, Sinai, and Gobi desert cultures. But it uses these bases to critique the western world in a way that is still applicable today.
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