and we'll say more about that here ...HB Jack, in the Chapterhouse ending thread, wrote: (There's the whole other question of whether this chapter is Frank's way of saying goodbye to Dune; that Daniel and Marty represent Frank and Beverly, and the no-ship's escape from D & M represents the release of the Dune creators' hold on their creation. As interesting - and, in a way, desirable - that idea is, it runs counter to the intention of this thread, I expect. So I'll say no more about it).
this issue needs to hashed thru, too; I've been one of those that've held to that line - Chapterhouse did not have a "cliff-hanger" ending
as much as an "open ending" - cf Frank's recorded talk with McNelly about "leaving things for the reader", the epilogue dedication to Beverly
that immediately follows the last chapter; the last line - "Gholas. He's welcome to them." - a disinterest in raising the dead ?
I think that Frank probably thought about another Dune book, may have even mentioned it to Brian, or someone else who might've
mentioned it to Brian ... he may or may not have begun the process of building notes ... certainly his publishers had broached the
subject, and it may have been something he was considering and would have done, had his health not failed .... he may also have
had every intention in the world of ending the series right there ... as he could have ended it at Children of Dune or God-emperor ...
obviously, Heretics & Chapterhouse were conceived as one "story" ...
if we are intending to come to some conclusions about what Frank Herbert intended for "Dune 7",
we must consider the possibility that he had no intentions at all ....