Horrendous narration

Listened to all the books this series up to this one. Could not finish this book due to horrendous narration by a female. The absurd out of place voice inflections and intonations, the changes from audible speech to whisper, without any reason for it, the British accent that made it next to impossible to understand passages, and the overall equal pacing of her speech which blended the whole thing into a mess, and zoned me out.

At first, I had to chose between continuing the book, or dropping it all together. I had made the choice to continue, but skip the section narrated by her. Then, I just dropped the whole book.

What a waste. A wonderful saga ruined by this horrible decision, to mix narrators, and the worst of it, to introduce one who utterly ruined the whole book. I wonder how many other books were ruined by that “executive” decision.

The first out of over two hundred books on Audible that I could not finish.

22 people found this helpful

An unfortunate and abrupt end to the Dune series

Dune. The original novel has found its way into popular culture for its meaningful themes and ideas, memorable characters and fascinating setting. As the series progresses, however, the traits that defined what is hailed as the greatest science fiction novel of all time, quickly start to fall away, until we're left with Chapterhouse: Dune.
Herbert is known for his long-winded expositions, taking his time in setting up the stage, only to pull the curtain out for a big reveal halfway (or later) through the story. These expansive opening sections, replete with quotes about life and it's hidden meanings, can seem to drag on to the new reader, you either get it or you don't. While making good use of this time to humanize his characters and set the stage in the early books, it is in the latter few (and markedly so in this one) that the pace slows dramatically, to the point where 14 hours into this audio book, hardly any action had taken place. There was no reveal. I felt disinterested in most of the characters, the plot was thin at best, and it felt like the climax of the book would have taken place much earlier, giving us more of what the story would have been if the author hadn't tragically died a year later. There were, of course, good moments mixed in. Teg and Duncan are great characters, and Odrade is a fascinating and complex individual, however she suffers from the plot and pace given to her. I would have loved to see more of Sheanna's perspective in this novel as well. This is an unfortunate end to the Dune series, I cannot recommend it for the plot or characters, only for the satisfaction of finishing a story line for yourself.

11 people found this helpful

Did the narrators talk to each other?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The book would only make sense to someone who has read the other books in the series.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The narrators used different accents for some of the characters; for example, one narrator gave Murbella a generic Eastern European accent, while the others used their own accents. The character Scytale was pronounced as "Skytale" by one narrator and "Sigh-tale" by another. It was distracting.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Too long.

Any additional comments?

I love all of the Dune books.

6 people found this helpful

Great Story! Horrible way to compile a narration.

I love the story. I been reading all the dune series that Frank Herbert wrote and been doing the audio books too. The worst narration was Dune Messiah. This narration has the same problems as Dune Messiah. Instead of using differ narrators for differ characters they just had them all narrate random chapters. Like they are all practicing narrating and not taking this one seriously. A message to whoever produces this audio book: We do not want random narrations that are disjointed. We want a male narrator doing male voices and a female one doing the female voices. Quit messing up our audio books. These narrators are great but who ever produced this is dumb as all can be.

45 people found this helpful

Unchallenged Series Finale

Have read this book many times along with the rest of the Dune Series. First time listen on the audio format and all of the books were great. Could have done with out the female narrator of Chapterhouse however. She needs some serious work on tonality and timing. Other than that small irritation all was splendid!

11 people found this helpful

Classic Herbert, but a terrible production

What bothers me about this audiobook is the lack of coordination in the production, which ultimately becomes quite grating. The Dune saga is full of proper nouns, and these numerous narrators managed to disagree about the pronunciation of most of them. Quite unnecessary and distracting, and a sad fate for this series of audiobooks.

As for the book itself: I'm going to assume that any reader who's reached this sixth book in the original Dune series knows what they're getting with a Frank Herbert book - an incredibly complex and well-drawn world that moves at its own pace but wrestles with some heady ideas. While I don't like that Herbert increased the callbacks to current times as the series went on (Van Gogh, really?), it's hard to deny the overall monumentality of his life's work.

4 people found this helpful

…..Bucket list complete.....

Back in the day I read the original DUNE and then followed with DUNE MESSIAH and CHILDREN OF DUNE, but then I stopped because I didn't like the direction the series was going. Over the intervening years I kept hearing high praise for the rest of the series. I just wasn't motivated enough to undertake reading all six books. But now that they are available on Audio I thought I would give it a try. After all I had been richly rewarded in a similar situation involving the works of Neal Stephenson. (I had avoided The Baroque Cycle after loving Snowcrash but disliking The Diamond Age) So, in the case of the Dune novels I felt compelled to check off this nagging omission from my bucket list. I was hopefully expecting a buried treasure. Sadly, my original estimation was confirmed. The original DUNE is wonderful and inventive, fresh and new. The balance of the Dune novels are slow plodding—focused too much on fanciful, imagined philosophy. The second book, DUNE MESSIAH, reads like an outline—just advancing the plot so the third, CHILDREN OF DUNE can be told. This third book has some mildly interesting characters and promises a Space Opera scale expansion of the story for the remaining novels. The fourth, GOD EMPEROR OF DUNE, documents the tyrannical reign of human-turned-worm Leto II but does not make good use of the vast scale of a multiple-planet empire. The creepy giant larvae-like emperor, and his entire dialog, seems less then majestic or oppressive, as later recollections will portray his reign. The idea is there but the execution is lacking. The next, HERETICS OF DUNE, advances the plot but leaves much to be desired when it comes to holding my interest; which it could have done with more interesting people or with witty dialog (Again the reader is referred to The Baroque Cycle). And this last novel is no improvement. Mercifully, Frank Herbert ended his series with CHAPTERHOUSE DUNE. This last novel has the same feel as the previous two books. I did not like it. And unless someone can convince me that the other Dune books, written by Frank Herbert’s son are of a completely different quality, my exploration of Dune is at an end.

As a public service I can say that if you enjoy exploring the outlining of a future society based on treachery and long range planning—but without fleshing out the characters or establishing an engaging storyline, then the last five Dune novels may be for you. My chief complaint is that the new characters which necessarily populate the later novels are just not very interesting. I was never made to care about them and so had a hard time following their concerns.

I sympathize with the plight of the narrators. The dissertation-like nature of the text as a sociological treatise demands a slow monotone reading, and the narrators faithfully comply.

23 people found this helpful

After reading all 6, should have left it with Dune

overall pretty rambling/ rather boring. the first book was great, after that it kinda dragged...

8 people found this helpful

Worst of the 6 original books, very disappointed.

Narrators misspoke terms. Character Plots that go nowhere. 16 hours of anticlimactic garbage. Don't Buy.

2 people found this helpful

Exciting all the way to the end.

If you could sum up Chapterhouse Dune in three words, what would they be?

Suspenseful, Engaging, Thrilling

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chapterhouse Dune?

I found the moment when O'drade took to the failing sea for one last swim to be the emotional low of the book.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Duncan Idaho is the character who is most interesting as a person. His unwavering morals make him my favorite.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. I use audio books to get through long sessions such as those in a work environment which involves repetitive labor.

Any additional comments?

Chapterhouse Dune ends the Dune Chronicles nicely and gives the reader a sense of completing a great epic journey through humanity's common history in the universe.

5 people found this helpful