We finally stop jumping a few thousand years between every book and pick up exactly where we left off in Heretics of Dune. A showdown is looming between the Bene Gesserit and Honored Matres, Duncan and Murbella’s relationship develops, and Miles Teg makes a comeback as a Ghola.

All in all, not a bad wrap up for the series. It does leave a bit open though.

Several thousand years after the events in God Emperor of Dune, the golden path is quietly running it’s course. Humanity exploded into the universe during the “scattering”, dependents of Siona carry the genetic mutation making them immune to prescience, and the old power bases (bene gesserit, tleilaxu, and the Ixians) are re-emerging. However there is trouble as many of those who went into the “scattering” are returning, either coming to conquer the “old empire” or perhaps fleeing from something horrible.

Once again we see Idaho resurrected (he is in every dune book, get used to him) only this time he becomes a major player. A showdown is looming between the Bene Gesserit and the Honored Matres (warped dependents of the Bene Gesserit who fled into the scattering thousands of years ago) and Idaho might just hold the key to defeating them.

Thousands of years after Children of Dune, Leto II’s “golden path” is coming to a close. Although nearly invulnerable, long lived, and unquestionably the ruler of the universe, his existence is a tortured one. Isolated for humanity and protecting all from a fate they know nothing about has drained him and leaves him open to a plot from his enemies.

This story becomes much more philosophical than the previous two. Dune was a great mix of philosophy, action, politics, and plots, while Messiah & Children were a little light on the philosophy in favor of action, this one swings far in the other direction. Not to say it is not good, it is very good and makes you think, just don’t expect a fast paced thriller.

With Paul seemingly dead, it is up to his now teenage children to continue his legacy. Their aunt Alia is showing signs of possession and their grandmother Jessica is ending her self imposed exile from Dune to visit them. With everyone having their own plans for the twins, the two prescient offspring of Paul (armed with all of his knowledge and abilities) put into effect their own plans:

The Golden Path, the salvation of the human race and the single most disruptive event in the course of the Dune Universe.

The further adventures of Paul Muad’Dib. Overthrowing the galactic government and setting up a religion based monarchy was the easy part. Now that he is in power, Paul fights to maintain a stable universe in the face of multiple conspiracies against him. With his wife pregnant, and cracks forming in his once loyal Fremen, all of his plans become very complicated.

I love the Dune series, but what I love most of all is this one. This book not only gets it all started, it is clearly the best of the series. Mixing science fiction, politics, religious topics, and…well….giant sand worms, this books juggles a massive array of characters who all pretty much end up well developed and interesting. Not as philosophical as some of the later books, there is a pretty good balance of action, explanation, character development, and back-story development.

Word of warning, once you read this book you will likely want to read the others to find out what happens next (or leading up to it, as the case may be). There are well over 10 books now, and I believe two more on the way, so if you are compulsive about this sort of thing, consider the financial and time investment.

This has become my favorite book of all time, I cannot say enough about it. It is an amazing story that ties WWII history, code breaking, money and banking systems, dot com startup intrigue, legal maneuvering, mathematics, computer espionage, combat theory, and other geek topics into a story-line that spans 5 decades. Although not for the faint of heart (1130 pages and some very technical and math heavy descriptions), it is accessible to non geeks and moves fast enough that you do not notice the length.

Three story-lines in two separate timelines are tracked simultaneously. First there is Lawrence Waterhouse, a shy and somewhat naive math wiz who gets involved in the Allies cryptanalysis (code breaking) operation during WWII. Rising up through the ranks and breaking Nazi and Nip codes with his longtime friend Alan Turing, he stumbles upon something even more secretive and interesting, a secret conspiracy involving seemingly unbreakable codes and gold.

Bobby Shaftoe is a Tennessee boy who has proven himself countless times in the field of battle in the pacific with his fellow Marine Raiders. His new assignment however is as confusing as it is secret. Thrown together with a loose confederation of Brits, Aussies, and Americans he becomes the “business” end of Detachment 2702. Without any clear idea of what this Detachment is supposed to be accomplishing, he is assigned to a series of odd and dangerous missions, leading him to get mixed up with gold, morphine, and a strange chaplain named Enoch Root.

Randy Waterhouse is Lawrence’s grandson, but he never really knew him. He is a Unix hacker and system administrator who is working with a group of math, networking, crypto, and business hackers on a typical dot com startup company. However as new opportunities arise for them to create a data-haven and digital cash system, they attract the attention of corporate shark lawyers, governments, and a mysterious ex NSA crypto guy named (wait for it)…Enoch Root.

The two timelines and all three story-lines tie in together perfectly, but leave you wondering right up until the end.