Re:The Secret History of Dune
by milquetoastaf on Monday September 02, 2019 @12:41PM
(#20860217)
I mean if you take a reductive tack like that then you can say the plot of Moby Dick is just that a certain sea captain chases a whale around and some poor simp is along for the ride.
The plot isn't the sum of these works, it is the scaffolding provided so that the author can explore various themes and theses.
Here is the plot of God Emperor of Dune: <SPOILER> sits on their butt all day and discusses politics. Oh, there's a sort of assassination plot happening on the side, but let's not let that distract us from hearing political ruminations!
As for (some of) the Dune books whose position in canon is of some dispute:
... I can't recall anything that happened in Dune 7. Surprisingly forgettable. Then again, I don't remember a lot of Heretics or Chapterhouse in the first place.
The pre-prequels are set during the events of the Butlerian Jihad and suffer horribly from the sin of feeling the need to explain the genesis of every single important piece of lore in the series. Be amazed as every important event in the universe happened within a hundred years of each other, no matter how unrelated they are to one another.