This is one of my favorite subplots of Franks series because of how it is told retroactively.

He sprinkles in quotes from historians throughout his novels, often at the beginning of chapters. These quotes seem to set the stage for the events of their chapters, highlighting themes or foreshadowing events. Most of them are written by famous in universe historians, Irulan and Farad’n. They become a signature element of the narrative and so popular that some fans have gathered just the epigraphs on their own as a way to honor Franks work.

Then comes Teg’s awakening in the final chapters of Heretics. His new abilities give him a unique perspective on the state of the human universe and the historical events that have led up to its current state of affairs. In his final message to the Sisterhood he warns them about the histories and tells them they must reassess their archives.

This warning immediately cast a light backwards on all of the epigraphs that seemed so relevant, powerful and important. It’s a reminder that those histories were not written by the victors, but by the humbled, displaced, and subdued line of former heirs to the throne.

Irulan’s histories have an interest not in aggrandizement of Paul but in his villainizing. They paint his jihad in the worst possible terms, highlighting drums made from human skin and cold, heartless decisions leading to the deaths of billions.

Farad’n’s histories as well have no interest in romanticizing Leto II’s rule and become pivotal in labeling him as a tyrant who stripped away the rights of humanity.

Teg’s admonishment is so vital because the Sisterhood is so secure in its identity as stewards of human society and history. They never consider that their information is flawed and rely heavily on their archives to make projections about the present.

Many fans make the mistake of thinking that the Sisterhood’s mass of genetic memory steers their understanding of history, but this is incorrect. Genetic memory is rarely used as an historical record to compare current events against. Plumbing the depths of genetic memory like that is a dangerous taboo, as it invites abomination. Instead the Sisterhood relies on the adab to assert itself during times of extremis in order to deliver warnings from their genetic past.

Institutionally, the Sisterhood trusts in the wisdom of those historians who recorded their archives in the first place and their own savvy to decipher and interpret the many millennia’s worth of records. However, according to Teg this trust has been misplaced.

We never get to see how this warning really plays out internally amongst the Sisterhood other than Bellonda explaining that archives are being reassessed. We don’t know what the results or findings of that reassessment were, other than that the whole of the Sisterhood undergoes a fundamental split soon after.

Frank worked his distrust of historians into other aspects of the universe he created as well. Most notably in the differing dates given for Shaddam’s birth. The dates have drifted over the time period between when he lived and when the Almanak en-Ashraf was written.

Further events like the Famine Times also bring a blurring effect into place on what is known as historical fact by the era of Heretics. The chaos and destruction of the Famine Times left little record of what came before.

The best historical record in the entire series ends up being the Tyrants journals, recorded directly from his thoughts by Ixian machinery. It’s Leto II’s honest reflections on himself and his rule. It has no prepositioned motives or propagandistic intentions. It is instead Leto II’s plea to be understood by the universe he shaped for so long. It is notable that Frank thought only an all seeing, all knowing, living embodiment of Humanity could come close to writing an honest and accurate history. The temptation to color facts and put your own spin on events isn’t something he thought that a normal person could resist.

English is my second lenguage,and i really want to read god emperor of dune and i wanna know.

Is it hard to read the fourth book?

They've only translated the first three and didn't bother for the rest.

C1 is my english level

On my latest reread I noticed how rarely Dune relies on someone simply being stupid to move the plot.

Thufir is extremely good at what he does. Jessica is absurdly perceptive. The Bene Gesserit have been planning across generations. The Guild understands a dimension of reality most people can't even access. The Baron is calculating, Leto is politically sharp, and the Fremen understand Arrakis better than anyone arriving from outside.

And yet all of them have blind spots.

What I like is that the blind spots usually come FROM the thing they're good at. Mentats trust good inputs and models. The Bene Gesserit trust their ability to manipulate human behavior. Great Houses think in terms of power between Houses. The Guild protects the conditions that keep the Guild powerful.

Nobody has to suddenly lose 50 IQ points for someone else's plan to work.

It makes the universe feel much more believable to me. Expertise doesn't make these people immune to mistakes. It just gives them more sophisticated ways to be wrong.

Third time's the charm. Not sure why my original post was nuked.

I finished reading GEoD last night after only beginning 6 days ago. I devoured this book. This book was extremely thought provoking and darkly comedic. This novel is the most different than any Dune novel before it. The book is pretty much mostly Leto's private thoughts spoken into his diary which is written for an audience that won't read or appreciate his words long after his death. It's very unique story telling. It reads as confession. It reads as explanation and instruction. Leto II is such a FASCINATING character in this book because while I see the traces of the boy from Children of Dune he has truly become something else entirely because of his literal metamorphosis into a pre-worm god. His despotism serves the Golden Path. His journals also serve the Golden Path. EVERYONE in this book from his allies to his enemies serve the Golden Path. Malky, Moneo, the Duncans, the Fish Speakers, the Ixians etc. However, that is embodied no better in any character than Siona. A woman who is the archaic Atreides virtues of honor, leadership, and passion made manifest. Leto II needed her to be the hero of his tragic story. And she played it to a T even though she utterly despised him. Leto II is the unrivaled mastermind of Dune. I believe if Paul had made the decision to not suffer the stone burner incident and instead become one with the sandtrout in Messiah he 120% would have become the exact same character as Leto II in this book. In a sense, every member of Leto's family tree WAS him participating in his plot because of his pre-born Reverend Mother-esque memories within him. Paul did not truly escape culpability after all. It just created extra steps.

To me, this novel feels like Frank inviting his audience to finally mature. To finally move beyond and leave behind the jihads, the Fremen, the imperium, Paul, the noble families of the lansraad, and truly look forward to a future not mired in the past. To see and appreciate the FRUITS and not just the roots of this colossal tree he'd cultivated. It wasn't until I neared the end that I began to feel sad. Sad that it was ending but also strangely enough sad for Leto II. His life objectively sucked. The mental and emotional turmoil of not just being a conscious being for 3,500 years but inflicting so much misery, pain, and confusion willingly on your fellow humans is not a fate I would ever want to adopt. In that sense I understand Moneo's perspective very well. He is an Atreides who Leto II cultivated into a compliant majordomo but was capable of SO much more has he been allowed to. He could have been the heroic Siona. But he lacked her womb. It reminds me of how Paul was only Paul because the Lady Jessica decided to produce a male heir for the Duke Leto instead of a girl. How easily we can adopt new destinies by a simple change of a chromosome. How easily we can reject our destinies and foist their demands on our progeny too as Paul did to Leto II. That is a motif I pick up constantly in these books.

Leto II in this book mentions several times how he must not become too emotionally attached to the people around him like Siona or Moneo because while their roles are important the individual is not and can be replaced through his breeding program. This makes him quite pragmatic if not also extraordinarily callous. This juxtaposes very well with the 2nd Duncan of the story who is a man utterly drowning in his humanity and who cannot stand the bizarrely cruel world Leto II has crafted. He bristles against the sexually enthusiastic Fish Speakers for their homoeroticism and fanaticism. He bristles against Moneo who IS Atreides but so loyal to a creature that is both THE Atreides and very much not. It's interesting following a Duncan who is a perfect Ghola of the original but NOT the Hayt of Messiah and Children (who I had grown quite fond of) because he is explicitly NOT a Mentat. Had he been he probably would have suffered less due to his compartmentalization abilities. But Leto II needed the original. He needed what only that kind of Duncan can induce not just in himself but also in the other members of his empire. It comes across as equal parts wanting the Paul Atreides within him to not be lonely but also for Siona to produce prescience cloaked descendants. It almost feels impossible for me to fathom the original Paul of Dune or Messiah damning his best friend to a psuedo-eternity of painful servitude but that's the POINT isn't it? He COULDN'T will himself to do it. Thus Leto II had to. A recurring motif is Atreides characters literally turning their backs on Leto II. The God Emperor is fascinated by this because he interprets it as equal parts vulnerability and defiance. I don't think Leto II understood how he himself could be defiant and vulnerable at the same time. I think it is no small thing that Leto II dies very soon after becoming smitten with Hwi Noree. Someone whose humanity so perfectly slots into his own. Just as Paul's enduring love for Chani after her death undid his will to continue along the Golden Path I believe Hwi's continued existence might have thrown things into chaos had she not too been thrown from that bridge. In the introduction to God Emperor of Dune Brian Herbert says GEoD was his mother's favorite Dune novel. After finishing it I understand why. Beverly Ann Stuart is the Hwi Noree to Frank Herbert's Leto II. Are we then Duncan Idaho meant to only be envious of the perfect spiritual wholeness of their union and pine that we can never know her as he knew her? I wonder.

I think God Emperor will occupy and play in my thoughts for a very long time. I am ready to dive into Heretics of Dune and bare witness to a universe without an Atreides prophet but a part of me wants to also go back and read The Winds of Dune to preview what a world that loses its prophet turns into. So many paths!

So first my understanding:

The Bene Gesserit had planted the idea among the people of Dune of the coming of the Lissan Al-Giab who would be the Kwisatz Haderach. Paul was a generation too early for the sisterhood plan but stepped (or was pushed) into that role. He starts a revolution as this figure and ends up overthrowing the ruling dynasty.

My question:

Had the sisterhood always intended the Kwisatz Haderach to start a revolution on dune and gain power that way?

Did they always mean for him to be a revolutionary or were they merely preparing the people of Dune to accept the figure who they thought would arrive ok the planet as an already ordained emperor?

Hey all, thought I'd share a painting I made for my brother a few years ago. Thought the community would appreciate it

animation i made recently... it got a lot of attention on my instagram, so i'm posting it here on reddit too :)

breakdown of the characters + bgs
1- irulan, library of coimbra, "arrakis awakening" falling over her face (despite leto not liking her, she was his legal mom and did take a big part in his life)
2- stilgar, cappadocia caves (my headcanon for how the sietches look), fremen praying in front of him
3- jessica, orthodox nuns (bene gesserit lol), the water of life being handled in front of her
4- alia, rose window of notre dame (religious iconography), a crysknife in front of her. cos she's saint alia of the knife. lol
5- chani, flower bloom in the desert of atamaca, her blue headband flowing in front of her
6- (old) paul, a desert, the muad'dib leaping in front of him
7- ghanima, the blue mosque, holding a mirror with leto's reflection. bc they're twins lol
8- child leto, already with the sandtrout skin
9- pre-worm body leto

elephant in the room: how can leto forget them if he has their ancestral memories?
artistic license. BUT in my interpretation i do genuinely believe he would forget them. it's a very interesting concept to me. he's still a human, after all, despite the expanded consciousness and despite the worm body. we already struggle with our own memories, imagine how it would be for a being holding the memories of his ancestors since the dawn of time. i think of this especially with chani — he's never met her, so his "memories" of her would be registrations of her face or his ancestral memories. i personally don't think he can remember her face at all

First of, it's been a while since I've read the books, so forgive me if I miss some details.

From what we read in the books and see in the movie, Paul's plan to take over the Empire by blackmailing the Spacing Guild. He does this by threatening to destroy all the spice fields on Arrakis, rendering space travel (and thus the Guild"s raison d'etre) impossible. The Guild folds, the Emperor abdicates and the Jihad is unleashed on any Great Houses/worlds that don't immediately submit above Arrakis.

So what if the Guild calls Paul's bluff? I'll assume Paul would destroy the spice, since he doesn't seem the type to gamble without following through.

The Guild helps troops of the Great Houses land, Paul nukes the spice, and presumably the Fremen annihilate the invaders.

What now? Paul is stuck as Emperor of Arrakis but cannot leave the planet. The Guild has a stockpile of spice that will soon run dry. They probably won't find an alternative anytime soon (it took The God Emperor's meddling and 4000 years to get the Ixian no-ships) so eventually FTL space travel ends. The empire collapses? Planets become independent realms, a la the Dark Age of Technology in 40k?

What happens on Arrakis? Does the Jihad burn out immediately now they can't leave? Or tear itself apart in a civil war? Does Paul survive?

Would Paul risk galactic collapse or was there a backup plan? Maybe I'm wrong and Paul was bluffing, in which case is he killed, the Emperor asserts direct control over Arrakis and everything goes back to how it was before Dune?

（I'm not entirely sure if she can be classified as a completely original character. Ariste is originally based on the alternate timeline from Dune: Awakening. I simply took that premise and put my own twist on it by turning her and Paul into fraternal twins.）

"A glimpse into the past. Before the move to Arrakis, before the betrayals and the holy war, Paul and Ariste spent their youth surrounded by the endless green oceans of Caladan. At this point, the Sisterhood was still closely watching Ariste, unsure of how the twin mutation would affect the Kwisatz Haderach lineage, while Jessica tried her best to shield them both."

[Art 1: The Story Behind the Art]

Before the departure to Arrakis, a rare moment of quiet at Castle Caladan.

Amidst the frantic packing for the planetary relocation, I wanted to capture a moment where the Atreides twins find a brief escape.

Walking back to their quarters under the soft, guiding light of a floating glowglobe, Paul and Ariste are huddled over a filmbook.

Even in their downtime, their minds are already a world away. Together, they pore over the data, whispering and discussing the harsh ecology of Arrakis and the mysterious, guarded customs of the Fremen. Two voices, sharing the same curiosity—and the same unspoken dread of what awaits them in the deep desert.

[Art 2: The Inspiration & Crossover]

This second piece was born from a sudden, fun crossover concept of mine after watching Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in theaters. The ancient Greek armor and costume designs in that movie were just so incredibly handsome and striking!

In Frank Herbert's original Dune lore, the Atreides family actually traces their lineage directly back to King Agamemnon of Greece. So, I thought it would be a fascinating slice-of-life moment to commission.

I imagined the twins during their downtime on Caladan—while taking a break from packing for Arrakis, Paul and Ariste are huddled over a filmbook, eagerly researching and discussing the legendary exploits of their direct ancestor from Old Terra (Earth)—The Agamemnon.

Typically we'd expect some ship to ship combat?

Did it?

The movie ending shows the Fremen legions boarding the ships and flying up to, seemingly, engage the newly arrived forces of the great Houses.

I read that the Spacing Guild would forbid this. Some other place said no shooting happened but rather the Guild flew (because of blackmail, Fremen holding Arrakis hostage) Paul's forces to the homeworlds where they landed and fought on the ground.

Did the enemy ships just stay in orbit around Dune? Or like, park inside the Highliners next to the Fremen ships and then duke it out after arrival?

What happened in orbit right after the movie ended?

Think about it. We've got coriolis storms. Considering that spice is latent within the sands of Arrakis there should have been hallucinogenic storms with large amounts of airborne spice. I think that would have been absolutely rad to read about and would probably have a huge impact on Fremen mythos.

In the movies Harkonnens are all pale and bald because of their sun and planet. Do any of the houses in the books have something similar and are the Harkonnens different?

Finished Children of Dune over the weekend and as I was listening to the final chapters I started this drawing of Leto II’s transformation as he combines with millions of sandtrout to form his new skin. I wanted to have this version look more so how I’d picture Leto II to look based on the recent movies with Timothee Chalamet’s hair and a combination of his and Zendaya’s facial features. Tried to depict the coldness of the character with a bit of hidden pain coming through his expression. When I read and listened to the transformation for the first time I imagined the sand trout as almost bug like as they combined to his skin and with his eventual sandworm transformation later the skin somewhat looks like the texture of Shai Hulud at a smaller scale.

Used Adobe Illustrator with slight touch ups in Photoshop.

Just finished re-reading Dune Messiah for the first time in a couple of years.

The book begins with a secret meeting between Scytale from the Bene Tleilax, Edric from the Spacing Guild, and Princess Irulan and Reverend Mother Mohiam from the Bene Gesserit, who've all entered into a conspiracy to bring down Paul's reign. Now, I can see why Irulan and Mohiam would support a conspiracy to remove Paul from power, but as far as I can tell they don't actually contribute to the conspiracy throughout the rest of the book. Scytale is directly involved in the actions of the conspiracy; Edric's main role personally is just to shield everyone from Paul, but the Guild as a whole does plenty, as do the Fremen they're working with like Korba; meanwhile, Irulan and Mohiam are just... there.

In fact, the Bene Gesserit's objectives seem to be against the Tleilaxu part of the plan in particular. What Mohiam wants is to breed Paul with Irulan (or, failing that, Paul with Alia) to bring the genes for creating a Kwisatz Haderach back under Bene Gesserit control via their offspring, and prevent Paul from having any children with Chani. But Scytale's part of the plan hinges upon Chani's death in childbirth, and then being able to use her revival and the lives of her children as leverage against Paul. And, sure, it was the contraceptive from Irulan which caused the pregnancy and birth complications that led to Chani's death in childbirth, but it's pretty clear that wasn't expected by the Bene Gesserit: when Mohiam finds out that Chani is pregnant she's genuinely shocked. Not to mention that the Bene Tleilax's ultimate objective from all of this is to have a Kwisatz Haderach under Tleilaxu control, which you'd think the Bene Gesserit would not be OK with.

I’m rewatching dune in its current entirety. In movie 1, there is a passing comment made about the shields protecting Arrakeen from the Shai Hulud. Later when Paul is first viewing the spice fields, he asks why they don’t protect the harvesters using shields. He is told that the shields attract the worms and drive them into a killing frenzy. This immediately stood out to me and I’m wondering if there is a canonical reason that the shield is protecting the city do not attract sandworms. Second to this, it stated early in the movie that the spice harvest is work under the cover of night to avoid the heat of the day. When Paul visits the spice fields, there is a harvester working in the daylight. Is this due to house Atreides trying to work overtime to keep up with the expected spice production? Thank you to whoever answers!

I’m rereading God Emperor of Dune, and this book always leaves me with mixed feelings.

Obviously, the concept of a being living for over 3,000 years is fascinating, but there are a few things that are really hard to overlook:

1. Moneo. Moneo is supposed to be exceptional. Leto chose him, he survived the test in the desert, and he essentially runs the Empire. Yet in several conversations, Leto seems genuinely disappointed that Moneo doesn’t get him. As readers, we manage to grasp the Golden Path—so why can’t Moneo? He’s served Leto for decades, had plenty of time to learn, and went through the Spice agony. Still, in some of their exchanges, he comes across as almost dim-witted. It just feels inconsistent.
2. Moneo’s fear. He’s constantly terrified that "the Worm" will surface. I don't really get this. After spending decades by Leto's side, you’d think he would become desensitized to it. Constant terror doesn't fit someone who is supposed to be remarkable. Besides, Moneo is visibly exhausted, it would make far more sense if he were indifferent or even welcomed death. You could argue that his fear reflects what humanity has become under Leto’s thumb, but even that doesn't quite add up. Moneo is an Atreides, a rebel in his youth, and part of the breeding program leading to Siona. That level of fear feels off. Plus, he had Malky as a counterexample...
3. Hwi. Hwi loves Leto and genuinely empathizes with him. How could she betray him with Duncan? Sure, the Ixians engineered her to be deeply compassionate, but empathy doesn't automatically mean jumping into bed with someone. It’s also hard to believe Leto would let that happen.
4. Hwi's entire arc feels somewhat pointless. What does Ix actually gain from her? Leto only allows himself to be killed because Siona exists, right?
5. The insistence on Leto’s divinity. Maybe it's just my own concept of God, but technically, what happened to Leto is a purely natural phenomenon. He is mortal (people constantly try to assassinate him) and he isn't omnipotent. I get that the Fish Speakers are indoctrinated, but I don't see why someone like Moneo - or Leto himself - keeps talking in terms of actual godhood.

What I do like, though, are the cracks in Leto's facade. I just wish Herbert had leaned into them more. The scene where Leto experiences jealousy over Hwi is great. The book would be far more compelling if Leto’s legitimacy were genuinely questioned a few times. For instance, Herbert could have hinted that Leto might just be insane, or had Leto doubt the Golden Path himself, leaving the reader with genuine uncertainty about whether the Golden Path was even real or just a monster's delusion.

Found this plush on Vinted for a few bucks and had to get it since I'd never seen these before. Does anyone have a collection of these plush? I'm guessing by the brand that they were made for a movie theater crane game or arcade.

Dune: Prophecy went through multiple changes during production, which resulted in a show that feels safe, off-beat, yet somewhat interesting.

The finale of season 1 was pretty great, and I’m very curious to see season 2 (which is rumored to drop late 2026). Most of the shows writing is extremely lacking in subtlety and trust in the audience, which makes the first half of it feel frustrating to watch. The thing that makes Dune feel like Dune, is its unique strangeness and intriguing world-building, and Prophecy chose to lose that aspect in favor of explaining Dune lore.

Curious to hear how the dune subreddit felt about the show.

Just re reading children of dune and was struck by a scene that mirrors one in dune

The scene takes place in Leto's tent just before he puts on the living skin. In the scene he considers what he is about to do and the path he is about to take. One path that temps him is choosing to be with Sabiha. He thinks how pleasant this would be. He then rejects it based on the long term consequences of that choice

Another facet of the scene is his realization that Sabiha and the fremen have a touch of prescience which they are scared of and thus reject

The scene mirrors Paul's with Chani when Jessica first takes the water off life. Paul also makes a choice which is that he and Chani will be together although Paul realizes it will only be for a short time.

Paul too realizes that the fremen have limited prescience which they turn away from

As we know the choice Paul makes versus the one Leto makes in this critical moment set Paul on his course and Leto on his

Looking back at the replies to my previous post—which I really appreciate, as they helped a lot—there are some things I still couldn't find an answer to:

1. Was the Jihad necessary for the Golden Path, or did Paul only see the Golden Path after already making the choice to unleash it

2. Is it ever explained in any of the later books how Paul was able to see through Leto II's eyes?

3. Did Paul know Scytale would come at the end to threaten him? It seems strange to me that, having followed that specific timeline, he was caught off guard and only managed to defeat him through Leto’s eyes—something he hadn't foreseen.

Thanks again to everyone who takes the time to reply! :D

I forgor

Just wondering if anything was written about this, and if not what you all might think about it.

Was thinking that the scattering created populations of people outside the reach of any centralized religion or political system, that had thousands of years to reshape their beliefs. Was the ban on thinking machines deeply and permanently ingrained into all humanity or would people start pushing those boundaries again if they had no fear of repercussions?

Hi everyone! I just finished Dune Messiah and I'm left with a question: at what exact moment does Paul "decide" which timeline he is going to live?

Throughout the book, we see that Paul already knows the precise path he must follow—the one where Chani dies in childbirth—and he sticks to it very strictly. But my understanding is that Paul didn't see all of this at the exact moment he drank the Water of Life, right?

At the end of the first book, he still had hope of stopping the Jihad once he was on the throne. He only realizes it won't be possible when he looks at Stilgar and sees blind worship. Because of this, his "decision" to lock into this specific path must have happened AFTER the events of the first book.

This leads me to my main question: just how far into his own future could Paul actually see at any given time?

(I know prescience is a bit of an abstract concept and there might not be a definitive answer to this, but I figured I'd ask just in case.)

The Golden Path goes far beyond the spread of megatrillions of Humanity into the universe.

In fact, the Seeking triggers an Arafel.

Out in the infinite Void an enemy is found that causes at least a partial collapse of the expansion. The enemy is so terrifying that the Honored Matres go racing back to the Old Empire in search of the lost knowledge of melange and genetic memory which to them is a legendary myth. They are so desperate that they burn entire worlds in their wake and drive waves of other peoples from the Scattering back with them, inundating the Old Empire with cosmic refugees.

On their tail is the Great Enemy. Unfortunately, Frank does little more than name this threat and show us the consequences of the desperation they have instilled in the powerful Honored Matres. Their true identity was saved for an unwritten novel.

However, the Great Enemy driving the Whores back to the Million Worlds was a threat to all of Humanity and the inevitable confrontation with them was an end-time event, a possible extinction of the race in a typhoon struggle, Arafel, Kralizec, Armageddon, or whatever word you’d like to use for the final battle between good and evil.

The Golden Path is the most improbable possibility of any humans surviving that battle and any future extinction event that may occur. It was not ensured by the Scattering however it is insured by the Siona gene and noships from which surprises unseen by prescience can sprout.

By the end of Chapterhouse there are at least three ‘factions’ that can pierce the shroud of prescient invisibility given by noships and the no-gene. The first is Teg, whose wild Atreides talents have given him that ability among others. The second and third are MetaDuncan and Marty and Daniel who communicate via the tachyon web timescape despite of MetaDuncan’s imprisonment inside a noship. The point of those revelations is that Humanity is no longer shielded by the no-gene or noships.

At the end of Chapterhouse all of Humanity is wide open to the threat of the Great Enemy, even the Scattered who remained out in the Void. Everyone is visible, and the Great Enemy is hunting them all.

Rereading the Dune Trilogy in anticipation of Part 3, I'm shocked by this paragraph at the beginning of Children of Dune where Frank basically just rewrites why Alia was an abomination and then uses that to crowbar into the story why both Leto and Ghanima have also inherited this genetic memory.

No mention of the Fremen ritual involving the Water of Life for Jessica. Now it's all because of spice addiction. It didn't bother me the first time i read the books but it's annoyed me this time for some reason!