4 ⭐
***SPOILERS AHEAD***

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n  Alia Abomination – Dune FanArt by Strega.Azuren


A 500-page Spice Trip!

At best, you'll come away with an adult beefswelling in [your] loins pleading for, "More Herbie! For the love of Shai-Hulud, give me more!"
At worst, you'll feel as though you've just emerged from a private rendezvous in the Baron's chambers and wish for nothing more than your flesh to be enveloped in sandtrout membrane so you never have to experience anything like it again.

This is not just my personal opinion, it’s been proven. Proven by the broad range of community ratings and reviews; proven, in practice, to me through the wildly varying results of my buddy-read with the always lovely Sister Adina and Nastya-Hulud. A DNF 1-star, a 4 star and another yet to be seen.
If you’re to have a good time with this entry, it seems to me you’ll have to approach it with a healthy reserve of good grace for ol’ Herb, likely accrued from the first book! Luckily, I still had an abundance of this, even after the slightly sketchy ‘Messiah’ left me with a few concerning scruples.

Fact is, n  there are big areas of this that don't check outn. Puzzling character motives, inconsistent personal morals/characteristics and seemingly important character arcs/story elements that never eventuate to anything largely due to the dominating nature of Leto2’s path. The characters are, across the board, unrelatable. In some cases, intellectually superior to the point that they are hardly human and, in others, no longer human at all and with a level of prescience that our puny minds could never fathom. It can also be difficult to correlate the Galactic-scale implications of the decisions being made by these now God-like characters with the rather small setting in which it all plays out; The Dune Universe (our Universe) never quite feels as big as we are told it is.

n  Despite all thatn, in almost all cases, somehow, I was able to unabashedly, and unapologetically put on my critical blindfold, hold my white cane out in faux ignorance and conjure up some meagre but plausible reason why this non-sensical thing occurred or why this person made such an uncharacteristic decision… Almost.Every.Time!! It was as though I, myself, had become abomination and the inner voice of Frank Herbert had conquered, possessed, and convinced me that this was the greatest thing ever! Hell, it just occurred to me that I might not even be the author of this review!

n  It wasn’t all just about turning a blind eye though! I loved most of this.n For one thing, it is weird, man! Herbs is not afraid to let his freak flag fly and my enjoyment may partly be attributed to this freak show factor. Be it Alia the abomination with a sublimely grotesque selection of inner-voice in the Baron Harkonnen; Leto2’s transformation from Ancient boy-man to Sand trout (controlled-state Abomination) Demi-God; the still unshakeable eeriness of Ghola Idaho… The list of bizarro elements goes on and on and, frankly, I could not get enough of the slightly sinister and off-putting wrongness of it all.

I loved everything related to the pre-borns: The totality of genetic memory and the battle against these inner voices; the threat of abomination. Leto2’s arc to the ‘Golden Path’ and how his trajectory crossed that of his father, “the Preacher”! And how about that crystal-clear depiction of his forced Spice trance. The manageable but progressively more elusive blend of Metaphysics, philosophy, theology, and ecology that it all entailed, staggering! Character dialogue: the way Herbert consistently creates tension between characters through both their internal processes and the perpetual suspicion that one or more characters, at any time, are being subliminally maneuvered, sublime!

If I didn’t have other priorities, I’d open up the next one right away but, regardless, I’ll be back to finish off the final 3 at some point!
Many thanks to Nastya and Adina of the Buddy-Gesserit for joining me and consolidating some of my own thoughts while offering some welcome alternatives along the way.

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n  Leto II Evolution – Artwork by ErikShoemaker at Deviant Artn

Children of Dune
Book 3 of the Dune Chronicles
By Frank Herbert

A Dune Retrospective by Eric Allen.

This book is a bit of a hard one for me to rate, because parts of it are so good, while others are so not. Everyone likes to say that  Dune Messiah is a bridge between the events of  Dune and Children of Dune. However, most people do not realize two things about this series. First was that Herbert meant to stop after Dune Messiah. And Second, when he finally decided he had more story to tell, seven years had passed. Looking at the series as a whole, now, it seems that way to some people, but at the time that these books were published, it was not the case. Dune Messiah was meant to be the end, not a bridge of any sort between better books in the series.

Children of Dune follows many swirling plots throughout the empire to remove the titular Children from their places as heirs to Paul "Muad'dib" Atreides. His sister Alia has become possessed by the old Baron Harkonen, and is actively trying to bring the monarchy down and take power for herself. The heir to house Corino is plotting to take the throne in other ways. The Bene Gesserit have their own plots, as do the Spacing Guild, and a hundred other people or groups.

In the midst of all of the chaos and plotting, a blind preacher appears out of the desert, calling down the religion that worships Paul as a god, and preching defiance of Alia, and a return to Fremen tradition. Many think that he is Muad'dib returned to them from the desert where he wandered off to die, but many question why he would return only to tear down the religion and empire that he, himself, built.

The twin Atreides heirs plan... something, and in carrying out their plans accomplish... something, but the book never really bothers to tell us what, so it's probably not all that important.

Everything comes together when all plots fail, and young Leto assumes the throne after doing... something, which allows him to do so... for some reason... I guess, bringing about changes that will change the face of Arrakis for a time, bringing a storm through the known universe, but which will result in peaceful calm once it is through.

The Good? There is a lot to like in this book. The political intrigues, all the back dealing, and plotting, and maneuvering are really well done and play out to a wonderful conclusion. There's a lot of real tension through many scenes as various factions play off each other for control of Arrakis, the spice, and the empire. Alia's fall into insanity is really well played out, and she makes a very good villain. The story is epic in scope, much like the first book, encomassing huge changes in the empire, and there are a lot of great character interactions throughout the novel.

The Bad? The twins are, frankly, not characters. Hell, they're barely even plot devices. They're not even that, they're more like stage props. They have absolutely no personality of their own. Their motivations are, for the most part, a complete mystery to the reader. They just... do things, without explanation of why, or how, or why it's important to the plot. They don't act like real people. They merely exist within the plot to facilitate the needs of the story and for no other reason. AND HALF OF THE ENTIRE BOOK IS FROM THEIR POINTS OF VIEW!!!

The twins are creepy, and weird, and say and do things that just make no sense, because they have no context, because the author couldn't bother himself to give us one. For example, there's one part where the twins, who have access to the memories of all their ancestors, "play the mother father game" wherein they take on the persona, from those memories, of their parents... for some reason. And this serves some purpose... I guess. Now, I could see if they were curious about the parents that they never met, and wanted to know more about them. But that would require them to show something resembling human emotion, or motivation, two things that they do not appear to have. They constantly complain about being treated as children, and constantly show themselves by their behavior to BE children. And that is the extent of their personalities, and the vast majority of their dialog in the book.

When the main protagonists of the story are so lifeless and devoid of personality that they are basically only props wheeled out when the plot needs something to happen involving them, it's very hard to care. Any tension and drama revolving around the twins is completely meaningless, because they're not characters. They don't act like real people. They have no personality or motivation. So why should I care when they are in danger, or when a big choice is placed before them that could impact the entire empire... for some reason? I don't, because Herbert failed to realize that just because these are Paul's children, does not automatically mean that I care about them. They are not developed as characters at all, and because of that, each and every scene that they appear in is awkward and creepy, and all tension revolving around them is non-existent. If you want me to care about your characters, you need to treat them with a little more care than you do the scenery, and expounding upon their motivations and plans even just to the point of showing that they even HAVE motivations and plans would go a long way toward making them sympathetic. I mean, all I'm asking for is a paragraph here and there that makes these children feel like real people, with real emotions and motivations, and plans that aren't completely left to my imagination. Is that so much to ask? I mean, I'm the reader here, not the writer. I'm not supposed to be filling these things in myself. That's the writer's job, and he failed spectacularly to do it.

All the epic events in the universe, frankly, become boring and a chore to read through when the people at the center of everything have to take twelve steps up just to be considered wooden. When you have no connection to the characters, the story itself becomes meaningless and dull.

In conclusion, while this book does have some MASSIVE flaws in the characters and their motivations, it is still an exciting book full of some very excellent political plotting and intrigues, as well as inner turmoil within the empire. Alia slowly going insane and power hungry is really well done, and the Preacher wandering out of the desert to try and right the wrongs that were done in the name of Muad'Dib gives a really interesting view on the way mob mentality and religion sometimes go hand in hand for the worst possible outcome. There's a lot to enjoy in this book, but on the other hand, there's a lot that's hard to get through, and so I can only give this book three stars. It was far from a horrible book, but at the same time, the main protagonists don't even qualify as plot devices most of the time, so it's also far from a great book. It was merely ok. I just felt that, being the followup to two such well crafted stories with a strong central protagonist, this book was a little weak with the lack of one.

P.S. Thank you to all my faithful readers out there for putting up with this review not quite making it out before my end of the month deadline. The ice on the stairs up to my front door proved to be rather treacherous, and I slipped and broke four bones in my right hand, making typing up my column for you all this month a very painful and frustrating experience. I ended up having to dictate it to my brother who is now typing it up for me, so if you see any typos, blame him or my eidtor. Haha. Thank you all for reading, and I will try to have a few more reviews written up for you this month than I was able to get up last month.

Check out my other reviews.

The Dune series is remarkable in that each sequel gets progressively worse until it's unreadable.

The first book is truly excellent. It's mantra on fear alone makes it great.

The second book a very good sci-fi novel.

The third book is merely okay.

The fourth book is sub-par, but still interesting.

The fifth book is a pain in the ass to read.

The sixth book will leave you concerned about the author's health, so terribad is the writing.

But hey, the first book kicks ass!

Great political intrigue but not very fun.

I found the third installment of Dune to be a worthwhile read. I really enjoyed the first two and was eager to jump in. Herbert has strengths but more weaknesses as a writer. The world of mysticism and political brinksmanship that he deftly fosters is often blunted by flat story telling. Dune itself is a fantastic book but the storytelling suffered with too many POVs that crashed over one another as well as mysticism itself serving as both plot device and resolution which doesn't really work.

Children of Dune was an improvement in these weaknesses seen in the first two book but I'm afraid new problems have arisen: it wasn't very fun to read. I was really engaged in the first half. I loved discovering the new characters and how the old characters fit into new developments. Lady Jessica, Alia, Duncan and the rest as well as the Preacher--all great characters with tons of political intrigue. Arrakis itself has undergone a good bit of development which is fascinating to read.

The issue is that there is just too much mysticism. Herbert hits you over the head with it until it's kind of too ethereal to even enjoy. The crux of the plot is based on such an intangible timeline that it kind of feels futile to even pay attention to. And then the pacing really drops off in the second half and I was struggling to even want to finish.

Overall, this is a good book but it wasn't very fun. I'm not sure if I'm going to be finishing the series.

Grāmata mēģina atbildēt uz jautājumu - ko tālāk? Ko darīt pasaulē, kur revolūcija ir veikta, Impērija sagrābta, bet Imperators pazudis? Arī fantastikas pasaulēs vieta nepaliek tukša un uz troni pretendē gad Paula bērni, viņa māsa un pat vecā imperatora radagabali. Ben Geseritas māsas turpina savu programmu. Izskatās, ka Impērija lēnām sāk atgriezties vecajās sliedēs. Šādā visnotaļ interesantā politiskā situācijā uz skatuves uznāk Paula bērni un mēģina saglābt sava tēva iesākto darbu.

Skaidra lieta, ka rakstīt grāmatu par tēmu kā būtu labāk ir diezgan nepateicīgs process, it sevišķi, ja labāk ir bijis jau katras iepriekšējās grāmatas beigās. Šoreiz autors eksperimentē ar ideju labāk bet citādāk. Izrādās, ka iepriekšējie labāk bija labi, bet varēja vēl labāk. Var jau runāt, ka Leto, Paula un dvīņu redzējumi atšķīrās savos pamatos un tādēļ arī viņu labāk redzējums.

Leto bija parasts cilvēks, cik nu parasts var būt starpzvaigžņu civilizācijas augstmanis ar vienkāršu taisnības redzējumu. Pauls savukārt redzēja visas iespējamās nākotnes un tādēļ no tām izvēlējās labāko pēc sava saprāta. Paula bērni (Leto II un Ganima) ir mantojuši visu iepriekšējo paaudžu atmiņas un tādēļ viņu labā redzējums ir vairāk kā senču balsojums. Kā jau grāmatu sērijās pieņemts, katra nākamā iterācija teorētiski nesīs lielāku laimību Impērijas pavalstniekiem. Paula māsa Alija savukārt uzskata, ka visu pasauli var vadīt ar reliģisku dogmu palīdzību, bet viņu jau pārņēmusi Negantība un no tā neko labu nevar gaidīt. Skāde tikai, ka grāmatas autors īsti nesaprot ko viņš vēlas panākt un tādēļ arī varoņi izskatās tādi apjukuši un izvēlas Secher Nbiw. Zelta ceļa pamatkoncepcija manī radīja pamatīgas šaubas, kādēļ, šis Leto II cilvēces attīstības modelis būtu dzīvotspējīgs, vai tad ekspansiju nevar ekonomiski simulēt, un ko tad dara tās planētas, kas atrodas Impērijas nomalēs.

Lai visas filosofiskās pārdomas pārāk nenomāktu lasītāja prātus, autors grāmatā dod labu piešprici ar darbību, kaujām tuksnešos, sazvērestību pinekļiem un visi uzmet visus scenārijiem. Tā ka netrūkst ne izjādes ar smilšu tārpiem, ne dažādu fremenu testu aprakstu.

Nedaudz maitekļu: Īsti nepatika, ka veco Paulu atvilka atpakaļ no tuksneša, labi aizejošā laikmeta simbols, cilvēks, kas nespēj pieņemt realitāti, jo redz tās sekas. Neteikšu ka viņa pasaules skata pretnostatījums ar Leto II skatījumu daudz ko iedeva.

Grāmatai lieku 9 no 10 ballēm. Neskatoties uz to ka Paula II nākotnes vīzija es redzu vairāk caurumus nekā tīklā. Bet nu man no spaisa nav zilas acis un nākotni redzējis neesmu.

Jejku jejku jejku jakie to było dobreee (i poryte jak cholera). Kocham jak Herbert robi mi wodę z mózgu żeglując bohaterami, miejscami i nazwami.

Ps. Jak jeszcze raz zobaczę „skóra, która nie jest moją skórą” wyjdę z siebie i stanę obok

There are two schools of thought on the Dune series. One is that they are epic, revelatory scifi all the way through, one is that after the glorious first book you traverse a lonely, winding path of diminishing returns in the sequels. I'm going to throw in with the latter group. Herbert created a fascinating, fully realized universe with Dune, and it was a joy to dive back into it: the Fremen, the litany against fear, the melange, the Atreides Battle Language. The point of Herbert's whole series is the inevitable corruption of power in the institutions of government and faith. There's never a happy ending, or never one that lasts from one book to the next.

While I loved the immersive nature of Herbert's world, and appreciated the thoughts behind it, this book is a bit of a grind. There are chapters full of conversations that are so difficult to follow. The two main characters are Paul Atreides' deeply weird young twins who are pre-born, thus they have the memories of hundreds or thousands of ancestors (one accepts a large amount of mystical shenanigans when reading Dune.) They are not very likable, or dislikable. They are just. There. Talking. So. Much. Many characters from the first book show up, and I was glad to see them as a reader, but I just wasn't invested in much of anything. I loved the atmosphere, but if a giant sandworm would have eaten the Atreides twins 100 pages in, I would have been very much not sad.

The plot picks up a few years after the last book. Paul's sister Alia is running a corrupted version of the cult of Muad'Dib on Arrakis. She's also been possessed by the inner ghost of Baron Harkonnen (there's those mystical shenanigans again!), and as a result is also in the only storyline I found very interesting. Jessica has been living off-world for some time, but returns to Arrakis on a mysterious mission from the Bene Gesserit. The twins are weird and make everyone uncomfortable, and Leto II has this plan for the future called The Golden Path which he will simultaneously not shut up about while never explaining what in the Hell it is. And there is a plot by the Corrino's to get back in power. So much plotting in this book, and so many conversations about plotting and thinking about plotting and counter-plotting. It was hard at times to figure out exactly what the purpose of some of the schemes were, other than to exist. Honestly, it probably didn't help that I would occasionally find myself zoned out mid-paragraph.

Am I too stupid to get this book? Yes, that is completely possible. The philosophical ideas are sometimes interesting and Herbert's world is so immersive I don't feel right giving this less than 3 stars. In between the inner and outer monologues, I really enjoyed the further world-building. I can't even say whether I recommend it or not. If you can't get enough Dune (and I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't), you can continue with this book, but you may not feel the magic of the original.

Having read a synopsis of God Emperor, I'm not sure I'll ever tackle that one. Leto babbling about his stupid Golden Path for several millenia. I think the point of this series' later volumes may be that Gods are boring af.

ETA: Got a shouty complaint that there were spoilers in this review with no specifics. I don't see any except a throwaway comment about book #4 and anyone who is trifling gets deleted. Come correct or don't bother.

Mozart supposedly said (though there’s a good chance he didn’t, or maybe the quote doesn’t exist at all :D):

“If you want people to applaud your music, either make it so everyone understands it or so no one can.”
Honestly, I might fall into the group that doesn’t fully grasp the greatness of Frank Herbert’s Dune series—and maybe that’s exactly why I like it.
[Just kidding. Or maybe not.]
If you think Children of Dune is all about action-packed scenes, epic battles, and flashy sci-fi powers paired with straightforward dialogue, you’re way off. Herbert’s work remains rooted in exploring big ideas: ecology, religion, and politics. The book doesn’t spoon-feed its philosophy or themes, and that’s where its charm—and its challenge—lie.

This installment deepens the saga, with its narrative orbiting around legacy, the consequences of power, and the future of Arrakis. It’s intricate, layered, and, yes, slow at times. But Herbert’s talent for world-building and his ability to weave deep philosophical threads into his storytelling keep it engaging.

That said, if you’re looking for something akin to Star Wars—with its fast-paced storylines and blockbuster energy—this series might not be for you after the first book. Children of Dune is not about instant gratification but about savoring the complexity.

For me, that’s what makes the Dune series so fascinating. It’s not here to entertain in the conventional sense; it’s here to make you think. Whether or not you completely "get it," it leaves an impression that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.

Do I have a spice addiction? Well, I have blue eyes so I'm halfway there.

Might work better as a version of Monopoly. Here are some suggestions for the Chance and Community Chest cards:

SOMEONE YOU THOUGHT WAS DEAD IS ACTUALLY ALIVE. ADVANCE 5 SPACES.

THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER IS SOMEONE YOU KNEW IN THE FIRST VOLUME. GO BACK 10 SPACES.

EVERYONE ELSE IS INVOLVED IN A CONSPIRACY AGAINST YOU. MISS A THROW.

PAY A ONE TRILLION CREDIT FINE OR HAVE A MYSTICAL INSIGHT.

TURN INTO A GIANT SANDWORM AND EAT ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS.

etc etc...

This series as a whole is mind bending. It is a tough read, with lots of complexity, an unprecedented amount of world/universe building and a tedious new vocabulary but it’s well worth it. I just finished Children of Dune and my brain feels like it’s cooling down from a hefty workout. In a good and satisfying way.

If you read the series, stick with it and prepare to be amazed.

Close to 3.5/5.0 stars. Didn’t connect with this as well as the first two, but still glad I read it.