Norma Cenva
Encyclopedia
Norma Cenva is a fictional character
from the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. Mentioned briefly in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune
(1981), she plays a large role in the Legends of Dune
prequel
trilogy
(2002–2004) written by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
. The character reappears as the Oracle of Time in the Brian Herbert/Anderson novels Hunters of Dune
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
(2007), which conclude the original series.
notes:
This paragraph is the only mention of Norma Cenva in Frank Herbert's works, although Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson develop and expand her character considerably in their novels.
known as the Butlerian Jihad
.
Holtzman discovered the scientific phenomenon he called the Holtzman effect
; though never explained in detail, it uses ambient subatomic energy fields to make (among other things) defensive force shields and instantaneous space travel possible. In Dune chronology, the effect was first employed during the events in Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
for defensive force fields capable of scrambling the gel-circuitry of thinking machines. Networks of towers generating the field from the surface thus protected entire planets from machine attacks. However, the machines soon realized that their cymeks, human-machine hybrids, could slip through the field to destroy the transmitters because they possessed human brains which were unaffected by the scrambler fields. Norma then had the idea (in 203 B.G.) to use the field as an offensive weapon, projecting it with portable transmitters to knock out machines and their installations. Later that year, she used the Holtzman effect to invent suspensors. In 202 B.G., Holtzman calculated that the field could be modified to prevent penetration from physical projectiles; Norma agreed, correcting the flaws in his concept but noting that objects could still pass through the shield at a slow enough speed. She also predicted that when hit by a laser the shield would react violently; resulting in an explosion with the same effects of a nuclear weapon. In 185 B.G. she began to work on Holtzman's original field equations to find a way to fold space, and in 177 B.G. she successfully invented the theory of space-folding. By 174 B.G. she had built a prototype space-folding ship on Poritrin, but she was soon cast out from the planet by Holtzman and his patron, Lord Niko Bludd. The ship was then used to fold space successfully by Zensunni
slaves fleeing a violent rebellion on Poritrin.
While being tortured by the Titan
Xerxes in 174 B.G., Norma's latent psychic
abilities were unleashed, destroying Xerxes and six cymeks. Using these powers she reworked her own body into a more beautiful, appealing one based on the many women of her ancestry. The next year she and her mother's former lover, industrialist Aurelius Venport, established a shipyard on Kolhar to produce space-folding ships (eventually called heighliners). Ever uncaring about her own fame, Norma credited the invention to Aurelius as a gift to him. In 164 B.G., Aurelius put the space-folding technology and shipyards at the disposal of the Jihad forces. He was soon awarded the Manion Cross (by Serena Butler
herself) for his service to the Jihad.
Initially, foldspace travel was not completely accurate or safe; only about nine out of every ten heighliners made it to their final destination. Realizing that the spice melange amplified her psychic and calculative abilities, Norma pioneered the use of massive concentrated doses to presciently perceive space/time. In 88 B.G. she discovered that this was the way to safely navigate foldspace, and essentially became the first Navigator
. That same year, Norma's son Adrien Venport established the Foldspace Shipping Company, and found the first ten volunteers who one day "would navigate fast company vessels throughout the League and the Unallied Planets." They were "confined to chambers filled with gradually increasing concentrations of melange gas ... mutating and changing, much like Norma." Norma experienced extreme mutations as a result of the constant exposure to such high concentrations of spice gas:
The Foldspace Shipping Company later became the Spacing Guild
, monopolizing space commerce, transport and interplanetary banking. This marked the beginning of the Guild Calendar, and the universal dating system started over at 1 A.G. (After Guild).
The confidential Guild memorandum Norma Cenva and the Spacing Guild said the following of Norma in Dune: The Machine Crusade
:
, Norma's mother Zufa Cenva was described as "a tall, statuesque woman" with "pale eyebrows, white hair, and luminous skin that made her seem ethereal, but charged with power." Zufa and her Sorceresses of Rossak possessed destructive telepathic abilities capable of obliterating limited numbers of human brains, such as those of cymeks, but a Sorceress was always killed when she unleashed her full power.
In 201 B.G., Zufa's lover (and pharmaceutical magnate) Aurelius Venport founded the VenKee corporation (with Tuk Keedair) and introduced the League of Nobles to melange, a substance with interesting properties in use by the natives of Arrakis
.
Zufa gave birth to Ticia Cenva, her daughter by Iblis Ginjo (of which he was unaware), in 173 B.G.
Norma and Aurelius (b. 228 B.G.) had five children, her first and most successful child being Adrien Venport, born in 172 B.G.
In 164 B.G., Zufa and Aurelius were intercepted in space by the Titan Hecate. Not knowing that Hecate was assisting the Jihad forces against the thinking machines, Zufa unleashed a telekenetic blast that killed herself, Aurelius and Hecate.
In 108 B.G., Ticia led the Rossak Sorceresses in the collection of genetic samples of various human bloodlines, as they were in jeopardy from a catastrophic virus (the Demon Scourge) genetically engineered and unleashed by the thinking machines. Since the Sorceresses later became the Bene Gesserit
, this process marked the beginning of a wider scope for the Sisterhood's breeding program (the Sorceresses had actually started keeping detailed breeding records circa 400 B.G., trying to improve the potency and prevalence of their telekinetic powers).
One of Ticia's children was Jimmak Tero, one of the genetically-undesirable people of Rossak referred to by the Sorceresses as the "Misborn". According to Ticia herself, he possessed "a sweet disposition which did not make up for his dull intellect." Raquella Berto-Anirul traveled to Rossak (with Mohandas Suk) in 88 B.G. in her role as a doctor to help fight a new outbreak of the Scourge on the planet. She befriended Jimmak; after being infected herself, Raquella made a miraculous recovery due to "healing water", provided by Jimmak, from a secret source known only by the Misborn. Paranoid and feeling that the doctor might somehow usurp her power, Ticia poisoned Raquella with the Rossak Drug. When the attempt to kill Raquella failed, Ticia killed herself.
That same year, Norma's son Adrien Venport founded the Foldspace Shipping Company, Norma having discovered how to safely navigate spacefolders using melange-induced prescience. The Foldspace Shipping Company later became the Spacing Guild, monopolizing space commerce, transport and interplanetary banking. This marked the beginning of the Guild Calendar, the universal dating system now starting over at 1 A.G. (After Guild).
in the Legends of Dune novels:
Unpublished laboratory notebooks (Dune: The Butlerian Jihad):
Mathematical Philosophies (Dune: The Machine Crusade):
Private lab journals (Dune: The Machine Crusade):
The Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson prequel novel Dune: House Corrino
(2001) introduces the "Oracle of Infinity" as the guiding force and "patron saint
" of the Spacing Guild.
In Hunters of Dune
, the 2006 Herbert/Anderson sequel
to Frank Herbert's 1985 Chapterhouse: Dune, the Oracle of Time appears. She is able to communicate with the Guild Navigators and Duncan Idaho
telepathically
, although the range of her communications and prescience has limits. The Oracle possesses the power to fold space; she calls all Navigators to a certain coordinate in space, and when they arrive in their heighliners she transports them all to an alternate universe. She informs them that Kralizec, the so-called "final battle," is upon them, and they must find the wandering no-ship Ithaca. According to the Oracle, the Ithaca — fleeing from both the Bene Gesserit and the all-powerful Daniel and Marty — contains the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach
, and both sides in the great war between mankind and thinking machines wants him for their victory. The Oracle finds the Ithaca and transports it back to the Old Empire
, telling passenger Duncan that he has a part to play in Kralizec. But with Daniel and Marty in pursuit, the Ithaca soon flees and the Oracle loses track of the ship again.
At the end of Hunters, it is revealed that Daniel and Marty are in fact reincarnations of thinking machine leaders Omnius and Erasmus, and that the Oracle of Time is actually the consciousness of Norma Cenva, somehow still in existence over 15,000 years after the formation of the Spacing Guild. She watches over humanity in order to prevent Omnius and the thinking machines from destroying the human race.
In Sandworms of Dune
— the 2007 sequel to Hunters and the conclusion of the original Dune series — the Spacing Guild has begun replacing its Navigators with Ixian
navigation devices at the prompting of Face Dancer infiltrators with their own plot to take over the universe. Their supply of melange cut off, the obsolete Navigators are dying one by one. As Edrik pursues alternate sources of the spice, he and the remaining Navigators seek the Oracle's assistance. She responds that their problem is trivial compared to her need to find the Ithaca and assure victory in Kralizec.
As the forces of mankind make a last stand against the thinking machine forces and ultimate Kwisatz Haderach Duncan faces Omnius, the Oracle gathers the last of the Navigators. The weaponry and navigation of the human ships fail due to Face Dancer manipulations, but the Navigators intervene and are able to hold back the first wave of the machine attack. The Oracle emerges on Synchrony, the capital of the new Synchronized Empire, and takes all traces of Omnius with her to an alternate dimension. This paves the way for Duncan Idaho to bridge the gap between the humans and machines and guide the two into a peaceful coexistence.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the Dune universe
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
created by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
. Mentioned briefly in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981), she plays a large role in the Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
(2002–2004) written by Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
. The character reappears as the Oracle of Time in the Brian Herbert/Anderson novels Hunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune is the first of two books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels....
(2006) and Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune is the second of two novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels. They have stated that it is based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert for Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the Dune series...
(2007), which conclude the original series.
God Emperor of Dune
Norma Cenva is first mentioned in God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert, when the God Emperor Leto IILeto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
notes:
Who has ever heard of Norma Cenva? ... You think a man designed the first GuildSpacing GuildThe Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
ship? Your history books told you it was Aurelius Venport? They lied. It was his mistress, Norma. She gave him the design, along with five children. He thought his ego would take no less. In the end, the knowledge that he had not really fulfilled his own image, that was what destroyed him.
This paragraph is the only mention of Norma Cenva in Frank Herbert's works, although Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson develop and expand her character considerably in their novels.
Life and achievements
Norma Cenva (b. 218 B.G.) was the daughter of Zufa Cenva, Supreme Sorceress of Rossak. Barely four feet tall, Norma was a gifted mathematician. Realizing her genius, famous Poritrin scientist Tio Holtzman invited her to be his assistant in 203 B.G. Despite being against slavery, which was common on Poritrin, Norma lived much of her life there because she liked working with little distraction. She also cared little that Holtzman took credit for much of her work. Nevertheless, her innovations would prove indispensable to humanity in the war against the thinking machinesThinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
known as the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
.
Holtzman discovered the scientific phenomenon he called the Holtzman effect
Holtzman effect
The Holtzman effect is a fictional scientific phenomenon in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, beginning with the 1965 novel Dune...
; though never explained in detail, it uses ambient subatomic energy fields to make (among other things) defensive force shields and instantaneous space travel possible. In Dune chronology, the effect was first employed during the events in Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad is a 2002 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
for defensive force fields capable of scrambling the gel-circuitry of thinking machines. Networks of towers generating the field from the surface thus protected entire planets from machine attacks. However, the machines soon realized that their cymeks, human-machine hybrids, could slip through the field to destroy the transmitters because they possessed human brains which were unaffected by the scrambler fields. Norma then had the idea (in 203 B.G.) to use the field as an offensive weapon, projecting it with portable transmitters to knock out machines and their installations. Later that year, she used the Holtzman effect to invent suspensors. In 202 B.G., Holtzman calculated that the field could be modified to prevent penetration from physical projectiles; Norma agreed, correcting the flaws in his concept but noting that objects could still pass through the shield at a slow enough speed. She also predicted that when hit by a laser the shield would react violently; resulting in an explosion with the same effects of a nuclear weapon. In 185 B.G. she began to work on Holtzman's original field equations to find a way to fold space, and in 177 B.G. she successfully invented the theory of space-folding. By 174 B.G. she had built a prototype space-folding ship on Poritrin, but she was soon cast out from the planet by Holtzman and his patron, Lord Niko Bludd. The ship was then used to fold space successfully by Zensunni
Zensunni
The Religions of Dune are a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Many of the names of religions mentioned in the novels indicate they are blends of current belief systems, some syncretic....
slaves fleeing a violent rebellion on Poritrin.
While being tortured by the Titan
Titan (Dune)
The Titans are a group of fictional characters in the Legends of Dune series of novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
Xerxes in 174 B.G., Norma's latent psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
abilities were unleashed, destroying Xerxes and six cymeks. Using these powers she reworked her own body into a more beautiful, appealing one based on the many women of her ancestry. The next year she and her mother's former lover, industrialist Aurelius Venport, established a shipyard on Kolhar to produce space-folding ships (eventually called heighliners). Ever uncaring about her own fame, Norma credited the invention to Aurelius as a gift to him. In 164 B.G., Aurelius put the space-folding technology and shipyards at the disposal of the Jihad forces. He was soon awarded the Manion Cross (by Serena Butler
Serena Butler
Serena Butler is a character in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Legends of Dune series, a trilogy of novels set during the Butlerian Jihad, the war against thinking machines only vaguely referred to in Frank Herbert's original Dune series....
herself) for his service to the Jihad.
Initially, foldspace travel was not completely accurate or safe; only about nine out of every ten heighliners made it to their final destination. Realizing that the spice melange amplified her psychic and calculative abilities, Norma pioneered the use of massive concentrated doses to presciently perceive space/time. In 88 B.G. she discovered that this was the way to safely navigate foldspace, and essentially became the first Navigator
Guild Navigator
A Guild Navigator is a fictional humanoid in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Humans mutated through the consumption of and exposure to massive amounts of the spice melange, they are able to use a limited form of prescience to safely navigate interstellar space in a starship called a...
. That same year, Norma's son Adrien Venport established the Foldspace Shipping Company, and found the first ten volunteers who one day "would navigate fast company vessels throughout the League and the Unallied Planets." They were "confined to chambers filled with gradually increasing concentrations of melange gas ... mutating and changing, much like Norma." Norma experienced extreme mutations as a result of the constant exposure to such high concentrations of spice gas:
Her direct physical senses were deadened, and Norma no longer cared about taste, touch, or smell ... She found it remarkable to see webbing between her fingers and toes. Her face, once blunt-featured and later flawlessly beautiful, now had a small mouth and tiny eyes surrounded by smooth folds. Her head was immense, while the rest of her body atrophied to a useless appendage.
The Foldspace Shipping Company later became the Spacing Guild
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
, monopolizing space commerce, transport and interplanetary banking. This marked the beginning of the Guild Calendar, and the universal dating system started over at 1 A.G. (After Guild).
The confidential Guild memorandum Norma Cenva and the Spacing Guild said the following of Norma in Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Machine Crusade is a 2003 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the second book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
:
Though Norma Cenva saw great revelations in the intricacies of the cosmos, sometimes she could not distinguish night from day, or one place from another. Perhaps she did not need to identify such things, because she was capable of journeying across an entire universe in her mind. Was her brain physically capable of assembling huge quantities of data and using that information to identify large-scale events and complex trends? Or was it instead some inexplicable extrasensory phenomenon that enabled her to exceed the thinking capacities of any person who had lived before her? Or of any thinking machine? Generations later, her biographers would argue over her mental powers, but Norma herself might not have resolved the debate. Realistically, she would have cared less about how her brain worked than she cared about the actual performance of her mind and the incredible results of its inquiries.
Family
In Dune: The Butlerian JihadDune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad is a 2002 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the first book in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's...
, Norma's mother Zufa Cenva was described as "a tall, statuesque woman" with "pale eyebrows, white hair, and luminous skin that made her seem ethereal, but charged with power." Zufa and her Sorceresses of Rossak possessed destructive telepathic abilities capable of obliterating limited numbers of human brains, such as those of cymeks, but a Sorceress was always killed when she unleashed her full power.
In 201 B.G., Zufa's lover (and pharmaceutical magnate) Aurelius Venport founded the VenKee corporation (with Tuk Keedair) and introduced the League of Nobles to melange, a substance with interesting properties in use by the natives of Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
.
Zufa gave birth to Ticia Cenva, her daughter by Iblis Ginjo (of which he was unaware), in 173 B.G.
Norma and Aurelius (b. 228 B.G.) had five children, her first and most successful child being Adrien Venport, born in 172 B.G.
In 164 B.G., Zufa and Aurelius were intercepted in space by the Titan Hecate. Not knowing that Hecate was assisting the Jihad forces against the thinking machines, Zufa unleashed a telekenetic blast that killed herself, Aurelius and Hecate.
In 108 B.G., Ticia led the Rossak Sorceresses in the collection of genetic samples of various human bloodlines, as they were in jeopardy from a catastrophic virus (the Demon Scourge) genetically engineered and unleashed by the thinking machines. Since the Sorceresses later became the Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
, this process marked the beginning of a wider scope for the Sisterhood's breeding program (the Sorceresses had actually started keeping detailed breeding records circa 400 B.G., trying to improve the potency and prevalence of their telekinetic powers).
One of Ticia's children was Jimmak Tero, one of the genetically-undesirable people of Rossak referred to by the Sorceresses as the "Misborn". According to Ticia herself, he possessed "a sweet disposition which did not make up for his dull intellect." Raquella Berto-Anirul traveled to Rossak (with Mohandas Suk) in 88 B.G. in her role as a doctor to help fight a new outbreak of the Scourge on the planet. She befriended Jimmak; after being infected herself, Raquella made a miraculous recovery due to "healing water", provided by Jimmak, from a secret source known only by the Misborn. Paranoid and feeling that the doctor might somehow usurp her power, Ticia poisoned Raquella with the Rossak Drug. When the attempt to kill Raquella failed, Ticia killed herself.
That same year, Norma's son Adrien Venport founded the Foldspace Shipping Company, Norma having discovered how to safely navigate spacefolders using melange-induced prescience. The Foldspace Shipping Company later became the Spacing Guild, monopolizing space commerce, transport and interplanetary banking. This marked the beginning of the Guild Calendar, the universal dating system now starting over at 1 A.G. (After Guild).
Quotes
Excerpts from Norma's writings appear as epigraphsEpigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
in the Legends of Dune novels:
Unpublished laboratory notebooks (Dune: The Butlerian Jihad):
- The eyes of common perception do not see far. Too often we make the most important decisions based only on superficial information.
- Science: The creation of dilemmas by the solution of mysteries.
- Science: Lost in its own mythos, redoubling its efforts when it has forgotten its aim.
- Creativity follows its own rules.
Mathematical Philosophies (Dune: The Machine Crusade):
- Nothing is ever as it seems. With appropriate equations I can prove this.
- Life is about choices — good and bad — and their cumulative effects.
Private lab journals (Dune: The Machine Crusade):
- Time. We always have too little, or too much — never just enough.
The Oracle of Time
The Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson prequel novel Dune: House Corrino
Dune: House Corrino
Dune: House Corrino is a 2001 science fiction novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is the third book in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy, which takes place before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune...
(2001) introduces the "Oracle of Infinity" as the guiding force and "patron saint
Patron saint
A patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
" of the Spacing Guild.
In Hunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune
Hunters of Dune is the first of two books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels....
, the 2006 Herbert/Anderson sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Frank Herbert's 1985 Chapterhouse: Dune, the Oracle of Time appears. She is able to communicate with the Guild Navigators and Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character became a breakout character as the readers liked him and was revived by Herbert in 1969's Dune Messiah...
telepathically
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
, although the range of her communications and prescience has limits. The Oracle possesses the power to fold space; she calls all Navigators to a certain coordinate in space, and when they arrive in their heighliners she transports them all to an alternate universe. She informs them that Kralizec, the so-called "final battle," is upon them, and they must find the wandering no-ship Ithaca. According to the Oracle, the Ithaca — fleeing from both the Bene Gesserit and the all-powerful Daniel and Marty — contains the ultimate Kwisatz Haderach
Kwisatz Haderach
In Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe, Kwisatz Haderach is a term which refers to a prophesied messiah and superbeing. In the series, the Bene Gesserit, a matriarchal secret society, hope to create a male who can survive the deadly ritual spice agony that changes a capable female acolyte into...
, and both sides in the great war between mankind and thinking machines wants him for their victory. The Oracle finds the Ithaca and transports it back to the Old Empire
Old Empire (Dune)
The Old Empire is a fictional galactic empire in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The term has been applied to two distinct eras in the fictional history of the Dune series.-The Padishah Empire:...
, telling passenger Duncan that he has a part to play in Kralizec. But with Daniel and Marty in pursuit, the Ithaca soon flees and the Oracle loses track of the ship again.
At the end of Hunters, it is revealed that Daniel and Marty are in fact reincarnations of thinking machine leaders Omnius and Erasmus, and that the Oracle of Time is actually the consciousness of Norma Cenva, somehow still in existence over 15,000 years after the formation of the Spacing Guild. She watches over humanity in order to prevent Omnius and the thinking machines from destroying the human race.
In Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Sandworms of Dune is the second of two novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson to conclude Frank Herbert's original Dune series of novels. They have stated that it is based on notes left behind by Frank Herbert for Dune 7, his own planned seventh novel in the Dune series...
— the 2007 sequel to Hunters and the conclusion of the original Dune series — the Spacing Guild has begun replacing its Navigators with Ixian
Ix (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
navigation devices at the prompting of Face Dancer infiltrators with their own plot to take over the universe. Their supply of melange cut off, the obsolete Navigators are dying one by one. As Edrik pursues alternate sources of the spice, he and the remaining Navigators seek the Oracle's assistance. She responds that their problem is trivial compared to her need to find the Ithaca and assure victory in Kralizec.
As the forces of mankind make a last stand against the thinking machine forces and ultimate Kwisatz Haderach Duncan faces Omnius, the Oracle gathers the last of the Navigators. The weaponry and navigation of the human ships fail due to Face Dancer manipulations, but the Navigators intervene and are able to hold back the first wave of the machine attack. The Oracle emerges on Synchrony, the capital of the new Synchronized Empire, and takes all traces of Omnius with her to an alternate dimension. This paves the way for Duncan Idaho to bridge the gap between the humans and machines and guide the two into a peaceful coexistence.