Is Chapterhouse the end of the Dune noves or is it a cliffhanger?

[Leto le Juste]

I read Chapterhouse again and I realize that I don't want to read a Dune 7. According to me the gardeners are an image of FH and his wife. So, FH used a technic I read in other books (for instance "le monde de Sophie"): the author enter in the novel in order to say "look I'm a caracter of the novel and I have a large influence on them. It is a means to disturb everybody: the reader who don't see who is who and where stop the power of the author, the caracters because it is an shock for them to see this intervention of their creator and for the author because is becomes a caracter of is novel.

Furthermore I believe that the trip of Duncan and Sheeana in their vessal is an end. Indeed, they don't know where they are going. According to me it is also a symbol. The Humankind is free and she goes in the Unknown because she is free and she wants to discover more and more things.

So, for me Chapterhouse is the end of the Dune novels but not the end of the Dune Spirit (remember it is the Dream of LetoII, a Humankind which is not undercontrolled).

[Andrew]

It is possible that it was meant to be the end of the series (as he wrote it) but it obviously left holes open so that if he wanted he could write more books. Another Conclusion to support your idea is that it was the 6th book, there are two sets of 3 books that go together.

But then Frank was obviously planning on writing a 7th book as he had notes for it.

Yes the Duncan and sheeana is a pretty good ending, because you could think that they go into the unknown, repoopulate the human people there and build an army/solution to defeat the enemies. (or end up in the enemies territory and find a solution while hiding)

[Vanguard3000]

That's also what I noticed when I first read Chapterhouse.  The ending symbolized the beginning of a new time, with infinite possibilities.  Why should the reader know exactly what happens to Duncan and Sheeana, when he could stop and think what could happen.

I am interested in seeing the Dune 7s, but they aren't absolutely needed.  And of course, I'd much rathr read Mr. Herbert's uncensored notes than more fan fiction.

[Inoculator9]

It might be possible from what I gleaned from the interview I did with Brian and other bits of data, that the notes will be released... at least in some abridged form. I'd love to see exact reproductions though, exactly as he had them.

And obviously from the author's point of view, Chapterhouse isn't the end of the series, but I don't think the author's intentions necessarily proclude it.

I think if Frank had lived, he'd have finished it himself, and now Brian and Kevin are. But... had he died without a literarily oriented child, it may never have been continued and than... it would have been the end, regardless of his intention, and quite likely would be construed as you've put it Leto.

To me it's like the Giver, the author says he lives at the end of the book, but many think he dies. Since their is no sequel... despite her wishes: it's up to you to interpret the data however you want.

But, since there is a sequel coming, you can't really call it a cliffhanger in the sense that you never get total satisfaction.

[Harq al-Harba]

But then Frank was obviously planning on writing a 7th book as he had notes for it.

Ah true, but he never did write it, did he ;D.  My question concerning the notes is how old are they.  Maybe FH drew up notes, looked at them, and thought "no, I think that Chapterhouse is where I want to leave it."  He was certainly prolific enough to have written the book if he wanted to.  Aside from that, my impression is (seeing how the notes were discovered in a safe deposit box, and not right away) that the notes were made some time before Frank's passing, leaving him time for a book if he so desired.  Just a thought, though perhaps no more plausible than a 7th book.

al Harba

[Inoculator9]

There is going to be a seventh book, the name of which we know thanks to moi and my Brian Herbert Interview :) Hunters of Dune and than Sandworms of Dune.

And I understand your point, and honestly I know very little about the timeline of his life.

[Egeides]

The worst-case scenario would be that Brian wouldn't give Herbert's notes integrally. He already did things going against the Dune authenticity in my opinion, so since we're at it, I think he would need a reason to publish them and this may be pretty much the same reason he got to write his never-ending books. We'll end up with a Bob Morane series if he lives long enough....

So, if we believe that he needs a personal reason to publish Frank's notes, then the question is "Does he have more reason to publish them, or more reason to not?", which brings me to believe that he will publish the notes simply to continue what he started, but maybe he'll do that by throwing tiny bits here and there to continue the series. In a worst-case scenario, he could decide not to publish certain parts that he doesn't like for some reason.

[NeoDevilbane]

Of course it wasn't meant to be the end of the series - unless we're to believe the son of Frank is lying to not only the readers but friends & family as well, Frank wrote an entire "complete" (as BH/KJA's website says) outline of Dune 7, and Frank didn't live that long past Dune 6 during which to write that Dune 7 outline (leading one to think he was probably already working on the outline while finishing up Dune 6).

Plus, if one reads "Dreamer of Dune," BH indicates towards the end that after Dune 6 was published he saw his dad working late into the night highlighting specific passages of Dune 5 and 6 and jotting down notes, etc., clearly working on a Dune 7 outline of a sort (unless we're to think him a liar, which I personally don't).

- NeoDevilbane

[AeonGrey]

Okay....if you believe that Brian Herbert really did find Frank Herbert's "Dune 7" notes, then it's clear that Frank wasn't truly done with the Dune story.  I personally think he ended up having 2 trilogies in mind (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune, bridged by GEOD, and finished by the trilogy of Heretics, Chapterhouse, and "Dune 7").

One thing you have to bear in mind here, is that his wife died in 1984 around the time that Heretics Of Dune was published.  My guess is that at this point, Frank had already been working on Chapterhouse before she died.  I've read places that Frank and his wife Beverly were VERY close.  Frank died Feb 12 1986.  Chapterhouse came out in 1985.  My theory is that Frank missed his wife so badly that he forced himself to finish and publish Chapterhouse, but changed the end to include the two strange Face Dancers as some kind of sendoff or whatever, and that he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to finish the series without his wife (I've heard that they worked together on the Dune books, Beverly reading as Frank wrote and giving her opinion).  I'm not sure how the notes fit into this though.  I have a hunch that the "Dune 7" notes aren't very substantial.  And I don't think Brian will ever let us see them because I honestly believe he's going to incorporate ideas Frank never had into his "Dune 7" book(s) (blatant hints he's dropped in his prequels). 

Personally, I'm dying to know what happens after Chapterhouse.  And call me an elitist jerk, but I don't want to see Brian's version....I want to see Frank and Bev's, and that's just not possible anymore.