Dune: The Duke of Caladan (The Caladan Trilogy Book 1)

by Brian Herbert

were so ingrained in every person in the Imperium.…

Leto was a duke but an occassionally naïve one

“Sometimes the Sisterhood is even more skilled than they themselves realize.”

Bene Gesserit power sometimes gets out of control.

“My, you have been busy.”

Shaddam has zero sense of sympathy.

“Prepare a strike force. Wait for Duke Verdun to return to his homeworld, then lead a punitive raid. Wipe out that treacherous man and his entire family. It will be a message the Noble Commonwealth cannot fail to comprehend.”

Shaddam is holding NOTHING back.

I want the Verdun bloodline terminated, every last one of them erased from Imperial records.”

But the Atreides engagement? The possible catalyst for war this may become? This fucker is unhinged.

After the strike on Fausto Verdun, there would be yet another vacant holding in the Landsraad.

Shaddam is worsening the political situation in the Imperium.

Historically, great progress comes about through bold visions. Only weak leaders make decisions based upon the phrase “Thus it has always been done.”

Now Shaddam’s reactionary spice surtax served Malina’s purpose further, by driving countless wedges and angering noble houses that would not have previously considered leaving the Imperium. On the other hand, with so many slots open in the Landsraad, Shaddam IV would install only loyalists and lapdogs, and that would make the Noble Commonwealth’s work more difficult.…

The similarities this has to the current tariff situation going on in the USA......

Navigators were advanced, evolved human subjects whose superior minds were so saturated with spice that they dwelled in a universe of mathematics, physics, and prescience. Only under the rarest of circumstances did they deign to speak with normal humans. Even important Guild officials such as this towering woman could barely relate to the creatures.

“But history shows that war is often good for business,”

He lurched in front of Duncan just at the moment the box erupted in a firestorm. The front of the tavern blasted inward with a deafening report. Windows shattered, and the façade caught fire. The explosion ripped the innocent tavern maiden to pieces.

Wtf is going on?!

Duke Leto Atreides: You threaten my operations, attack my business. The barra ferns are mine. The ailar is mine. More will die if you keep interfering.

“Income from the new spice surtax falls short of expectations. One particularly troubling factor was uncovered through intense Mentat analysis. It seems that a small but significant channel of spice is being smuggled off Arrakis.” He hardened his voice. “Either you are not forthright about your profits, deliveries, and bribes … or, mmmm, someone else has a side operation, and the Emperor has noticed.”

“You are known smugglers with black-market connections. I need a way to divert the Emperor’s attention and maintain my own position here while I conduct a more thorough investigation. That could take time, and time is a luxury we do not have.” He leaned forward, his gaze boring into the smuggler leader. “I require a victory now, someone’s head to give Shaddam, even if it is only a diversion.” He drew a breath of the warm, painfully dry air. “Consider it, mmmm, another tax. One time only.”

The Imperium is just losing its orbit.

“Rulla.”

Brooooooo...........

He wished someone would ask for his own opinion on the matter.

Bonds were seen as a political duty.

There is law and there is vengeance. I embody both.

Murdering the girl and her family like this did not give Kolona pleasure. It was another black mark on history.

Effecting Shaddam's dirty work under a conscience.

Chaen Marek was a member of the Bene Tleilax, reviled experimenters, genetic manipulators, torturers.

Of course he is...

As the Duke of Caladan, he considered himself inherently responsible for letting the deadly drug spread across the worlds of humanity.

This man's civil modesty...

Now a Tleilaxu had come here, genetically modified a native Caladan plant, and turned it into something more addictive, more deadly.

“House Harkonnen holds Giedi Prime as well as Lankiveil, and for eighty years, they have controlled the spice operations on Arrakis. Does a House like that deserve more holdings than House Atreides? I can get more for my family and for future generations. There may come a time in the future when our livelihood depends on it.”

“My Lord, this has been altered. Some of these other marginal notes are not my handwriting. A clever forgery.”

House Atreides had a chaotic era.

Take her away from the boy! Disaster to the Sisterhood!

The advent of the Lisan Al-Gaib

Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is—” Lethea fought back with surprising strength. “You do not understand! Patterns are out of alignment! One failed Kwisatz Haderach after another, dead-end breeding lines, birth mothers unwilling to follow commands, not considering the consequences of their actions. Jessica must not remain on Caladan! It may already be too late!”

The lythany does not always work.

the Bene Gesserit did not see “wives,”

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

“The original Caladan barra fern was an extraordinary specimen, but my alterations have made it vastly more suited to our uses. Unfortunately, we still have not been able to make the species thrive off of Caladan.”

The endgame was to distribute the drug across the Imperium.

The best leaders assemble information and take actions that lead to political stability. The worst leaders dissemble information and generate chaos.

Fenring’s images showed a woman staked on the sand, struggling as a giant sandworm surged in to swallow her in a magnificent display of primal power.

Desert Power!!!!

“We will continue to investigate this Noble Commonwealth conspiracy. Soon, I expect to have more work for you and all your troops. There will be even more Landsraad seats to fill after I have cleaned house.”

Shaddam said Red Wedding.

“Duke Leto Atreides, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood hereby rescinds its assignment of Jessica as concubine of House Atreides, and recalls her permanently to Wallach IX. Should you desire another concubine, submit a formal request, and arrangements can be made.”

bitch what