Product Description

The sand-blasted world of Arrakis has become green, watered and fertile. Old Paul Atreides, who led the desert Fremen to political and religious domination of the galaxy, is gone. But for the children of Dune, the very blossoming of their land contains the seeds of its own destruction. The altered climate is destroying the giant sandworms, and this in turn is disastrous for the planet's economy. Leto and Ghanima, Paul Atreides's twin children and his heirs, can see possible solutions - but fanatics begin to challenge the rule of the all-powerful Atreides empire, and more than economic disaster threatens . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96992 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

About the Author
Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first sf story was published in 1952 but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication in Analog of 'Dune World' and 'The Prophet of Dune' that were amalgamated in the novel Dune in 1965.

Customer Reviews

An astounding piece of SF literature
Children of Dune is a great epic continuation of the storyline, with mindblowing decisions and schemes. It fascinates both through its story and through its complicated cvasi-philosophical ideas. The monumental figures of the original book are becoming more and more complex and the Dune universe reveals itself to be every bit as intricate as the real thing. Overall an excellent choice for any reader, regardless of age . A+

Slowest in trilogy but worthwhile
It took me a while to get into this but once it gets going the intrigue that Herbert always creates comes to life once more. The twists intoduced are genuinely novel and there is no hint of cliche. I would not give it to someone who had not really enjoyed the previous 2 novels and as a stand alone book it does not function but as a part of the Dune trilogy it makes a mark, it is probably the most theological of the three books and provokes in me deeper thoughts than the others.

Children of Dune // Frank Herbert
The continued story of the Dune saga follows, chiefly, the exploits of Paul Atriedes' sister, Alia, and his two children, Leto II and Ghanima, as the empire that he created begins to tumble. This is definitely a book about House Atriedes as its main concern is evidently the relationships between the surviving members of this family, their retainers and servants. There are sources of conflict from outside the family -- House Corrino's attempt to regain the throne, frex -- but these are dealt with early and it leaves the book at times feeling slightly off balanced.

Plot threads are seemingly forgotten for long stretches and it's only when certain characters are referred to that you realise you haven't seen or heard from them in a hundred pages or so. I can see why this happens; if it's not going to advance the plot, themes or characterisation in any way, then its pointless including scenes with these characters if they aren't actually doing anything. Unfortunately, this does mean that the last chunk of the book centres almost entirely around Leto II and what he's playing around with. This, coupled with the fact that sometimes months pass between scenes without much by way of comment, means that you do feel like you're losing track of what's happening.

That said, I liked this better than Dune Messiah, which I found to be just a little too short, a little too . . . easy. Whilst this book is a bit heavy and thoughtful at times -- I've read enough about Leto II debating the spice trance by now, thank you very much -- it's not enough to dissuade me or make me loathe to pick it up again each time I stop. The characters motivations and their reasoning behind why they do what they do are some of the most finely detailed in SF; everyone has their own aims and everyone is working towards something different. People question their loyalties and their plans change as they come into contact with others and as external events force them to reconsider what they believed as true.

Yes, it can be hard going, but it's worth it. I'm looking forward to reading the last three.