Season 7 Episode 3: Oracles and Everminds (and Retrospective on Hunters of Dune)

Pod Emperor of Dune

In this episode, we take a look at the final third of Hunters of Dune, in which several members of the Ithaca crew narrowly escape a deadly trap on the planet of the Handlers, Murbella finally defeats the rogue Honored Matres after they strike a devastating blow against her nascent fleet at Richese, Uxtal achieves some success in his Tylwyth ghola project but shortly thereafter receives some karmic comeuppance, and a war fleet is launched by Marty and Daniel…aka Erasmus and Omnius, aka the exact same thinking machines who were apparently at the center of the Butlerian Jihad, somehow. We also discuss the book as a whole, including our feelings on the novel in relation to the previous Dune entries, the reliance on characters and plot elements introduced in various intervening prequels, and our likes and dislikes of the story so far before the story is tied up in Sandworms of Dune.