Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles #3) by Frank Hebert

"Though the storyline is a bit more intriguing than Dune Messiah, Children of Dune is still full to bursting with theoretical, rhetorical, grandiose thoughts that are just confusing and the prescient vision of ALL the characters gets really old, really fast."

2 STARS

Pros: Again, Herbert uses all the senses to bring the planet of Arrakis to life/Alia's issues and that whole "abomination" thing made for a good ending/After an unnecessarily long time, all the multiple threads of the story came together.

Cons: Prescient vision is so confusing/A lot of the characters just seem kind of soulless and empty at times/Leto and Ghanima's relationship was just...creepy at times.

Full Review:

It has been nine years since the events of in Dune Messiah. Leto II and Ghanima, the twins that Chani bore Paul have been afflicted with the same "preborn" consciousness" of their Aunt Alia. They became aware of themselves while still in the womb, so they are able to tap into multiple lives in the past and draw upon those experiences. This makes them frighteningly intelligent and mature for their age.

Alia has been running the Empire since Paul's disappearance. And unfortunately, she's not been doing a very good job. Unable to handle the many memories of being "pre-born" she has latched onto a singular personality and is letting him control her. Jessica, meanwhile, had fled to Caladan once Paul became Emperor, frightened of what Alia was, so it doesn't help that Alia had no one to turn to for guidance.

Jessica has chosen to come back to Arrakis, to meet her Grandchildren and to see what kind of creature Alia has become, so tensions are high. Meanwhile on Salusa Secundus, the descendants of the late Emperor Shaddam IV are cooking up devious plots of their own to deal with the Atreides line.

As Herbert is fond of saying, there are plots within plots within plots. And I have to be honest, this book was a struggle. The last 100 pages were exciting because all the threads started coming together but Herbert's concentration on prescience and his rhetorical, hypothetical, lofty thoughts at the beginning of each chapter get really old, really fast. Yes, there were some exciting parts and I'm interested to see if God Emperor of Dune will be any better, but for now, the book is done and I am happy to put it on my shelf and take a break from Herbert and his world of Dune for awhile.

Comments

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