Frank Herbert

Dune Saga

Children of Dune

Book Three in the Magnificent Dune Chronicles--the Bestselling Science Fiction Adventure of All Time The Children of Dune are twin siblings Leto and Ghanima Atreides, whose father, the Emperor Paul Muad'Dib, disappeared in the desert wastelands of Arrakis nine years ago. Like their father, the twins possess supernormal abilities--making them valuable to their manipulative aunt Alia, who rules the Empire in the name of House Atreides. Facing treason and rebellion on two fronts, Alia's rule is not absolute. The displaced House Corrino is plotting to regain the throne while the fanatical Fremen are being provoked into open revolt by the enigmatic figure known only as The Preacher. Alia believes that by obtaining the secrets of the twins' prophetic visions, she can maintain control over her dynasty. But Leto and Ghanima have their own plans for their visions--and their destinies....

Gosse

Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.

Jasper

Leto, staring at his sister, felt a sudden wrenching sense of loss. It was a deep pain which shot through his breast. He and Ghanima must separate now. For all those years since birth they had been as one person. But their plan demanded now that they undergo a metamorphosis, going their separate ways into uniqueness where the sharing of daily experiences would never again unite them as they once had been united.

He said: 'Some actions have an end but no beginning; some begin but do not end. It all depends upon where the observer is standing.'

High Fidelity

"I've spent much of this night reviewing the mistakes I made with my daughter," she said. "There were many," Idaho agreed, "and I shared in most of them." She saw now that his jaw muscles were trembling. "It was easy to listen to the arguments which led us astray," Jessica said. "I wanted to leave this place . . . You . . . you wanted a girl you saw as a younger version of me." He accepted this silently.

When I am weaker than you, I ask you for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles. -Words of an ancient philosopher (Attributed by Harq al-Ada to one Louis Veuillot)

Alia's fingers moved in a tapping rhythm -- little finger twice, index finger three times, ring finger twice, little finger once, ring finger twice . . . and back through the tapping in the same order. 

And he said: "Goodbye, beloved." She did not hear the finality in his voice, even kissed him lightly as he left. And all the way down through the sietchlike maze of Temple corridors, Idaho brushed at his eyes. Tleilaxu eyes were not immune to tears.

The dead should remain dead. It was correct to find one's immortality in children, but children had no right to assume too exact a shape from their past.

Why do you prattle about Abomination?" "Prattle? Don't give me your Bene Gesserit cant, grandmother. I'll feed it back to you, word for word, right out of your own memories. I want more than the fluttering of your lips.

The joy of living, its beauty is all bound up in the fact that life can surprise you," he said. A soft voice whispered in his ear: "I've always known that beauty." Leto turned his head, stared into Ghanima's eyes which glistened in the bright moonlight. He saw Chani looking back at him. "Mother," he said, "you must withdraw." "Ahhh, the temptation!" she said, and kissed him. He pushed her away. "Would you take your daughter's life?" he demanded. "It's so easy . . . so foolishly easy," she said. Leto, feeling panic begin to grip him, remembered what an effort of will his father's persona-within had required to abandon the flesh. Was Ghanima lost in that observer-world where he had watched and listened, learning what he had required from his father? "I will despise you, mother," he said. "Others won't despise me," she said. "Be my beloved." "If I do . . . you know what you both will become," he said. "My father will despise you." "Never!" "I will!

Agnes Johansson

Didn't my grandmother warn you about infinity? It attracts us like a floodlight in the night, blinding us to the excesses it can inflict upon the finite.

It would be that softly lighted desert world with its persistent solitude, its saturated sense that each creature in it was alone in a new universe. 

A skeleton butterfly flew in and out of the shadows, its webbed wings a transparent lacery against the light. How delicate that butterfly was to exist here, he thought.

I fear the blind, Stil. I fear them. They can so easily crush anything in their path.

Oily shadows along the base of each dune reached out like rays of the night just past. They linked one time with the other.

My sister and I desperately need a time of freedom when we can learn how to live with what we are.

How could he tell her what was happening to him? Within his head were wars, uncounted lives parceling out their ancient memories: violent accidents, love's languor, the colors of many places and many faces...the buried sorrows and leaping joys of multitudes. He heard elegies to springs on planets which no longer existed, green dances and firelight, wails and halloos, a harvest of conversations without number. 

Were Muad'Dib's twins responsible for the reality which obliterated the dreams of others? No. They were merely the lens through which light poured to reveal new shapes in the universe

Ghanima doing her girl boss shit💅🏻💅🏻

…if it were explained to them, could only be explained in terms of beginning here. And ending here.

Austin Wagner

The last good dune book, if your reading the series my suggestion is you end it here. 

Lukas

So many political power plays, definitely rereading.

Susan

The epic that began with the HUGO and NEBULA Award-winning classic DUNE -- now a major motion picture from the director of Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival -- continues ... 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 ...

The Third Dune Novel

Alex Reino

Chris Dailey

Third part of the sci fi saga and the first to deviate from following Paul Atriedes as the primary character while expanding the universe to his twin children and beyond. Following multiple story lines but focused on Paul's "pre born" twins and sister, we're faced with plots to maintain and/or seize the throne. Destiny, morality, fate, religion, power and politics dominate leaving prose and sometime plot in its dust. Hit and miss space adventure that is just weird enough to keep you engaged until the quick paced conclusion.

"Children of Dune" struggles with its ambitious premise of a character who knows everything. The plot is incoherent, presenting confusing vignettes instead of a coherent story. Leto, the main character, is particularly problematic, with his vague visions and inexplicable decisions.

The book is hard to follow, with unclear character motivations and unexplained concepts. The Preacher subplot feels predictable and unnecessary. While the world remains interesting, the constant use of Arabic and Islamic references can be tiresome.

Despite Herbert's good writing style, the book is disappointing. It's necessary to read for series continuity, but it's not enjoyable.

Liana

"Children of Dune" struggles with its ambitious premise of a character who knows everything. The plot is incoherent, presenting confusing vignettes instead of a coherent story. Leto, the main character, is particularly problematic, with his vague visions and inexplicable decisions.

The book is hard to follow, with unclear character motivations and unexplained concepts. The Preacher subplot feels predictable and unnecessary. While the world remains interesting, the constant use of Arabic and Islamic references can be tiresome.

Despite Herbert's good writing style, the book is disappointing. It's necessary to read for series continuity, but it's not enjoyable.

this one took years…… but it was good!! My attention went in and out a lot during this one even though so much was happening all the time I couldn’t get super invested!!! There are some kick ass moments though and the this-skin-is-not-my-skin thing is probably one of the most insane sells I’ve ever seen attempted and I know it’s about to carry on for at leastttttt another 400 pages in the next book and I can’t wait

Bailee Strong

Imagine reading this book in 1976, reading THAT ending, and then hearing the title of the next book in the series. What the fuck Frank

Paige LeBook

On the planet of Aurakis, men, nature, and time attend the messianic and evolutionary growth of Leto and his twin sister Ghanima, children and successors of the mighty Muad'Dib.

Het blijft een erwarrende goede serie. Ik heb ondertussen het idee dat de boeken voor mij hetzelfde lezen. Aan het begin is het allemaal vaag met allemaal geplot( a feint within a feint within a feint) wat allemaal moeilijk te volgen is soms. Om vervolgens heel snel te gaan, en heel open te eindigen. Ik ben nu wel benieuwd naar het vierde boek dus ik ga snel door.

Bart Veldhuijsen 

Parts of this book make me so upset it’ll never make it into the movies. Other parts make me so relieved it won’t 

Zachary Roberts

Doesn't have the same mysterious allure of the first one, but solid intrigue and characters. Sounds like this is where shit starts to get weird.

Simon Crocker

Quinn Tenorio

I would have liked to give this a 4.5 but it certainly isn't as strong as Dune and Dune Messiah. While it is an almost perfect third book to round off this trilogy, I struggled with the insane amount of internal monologue in this book. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I found myself struggling at times. Additionally, it was rough getting past the first 20 pages. I admittedly had to restart after a hiatus when I couldn't make it past page 20 or so.

As the book progressed, I found myself caught in Herbert's world. And by the time I made it to the end, I was excited to read God Emperor of Dune while ordering it online.

wild, bizarre, ruthless. familial and planetary drama, the best kind. a philosophical mind fuck. what a ride. i’m intrigued to see how the coming political changes unfold and affect the whole. 

also (slight spoiler?) not that she’s the most critical character but i just realized there was zero mention of what happens to irulan in the final chapters lol. i assume she’s doing just fine.

Kat Albanese

wild, bizarre, ruthless. familial and planetary drama, the best kind. a philosophical mind fuck. what a ride. i’m intrigued to see how the coming political changes unfold and affect the whole. 

also (slight spoiler?) not that she’s the most critical character but i just realized there was zero mention of what happens to irulan in the final chapters lol. i assume she’s doing just fine.

Cathy Trình

Family drama, but it's really, really sad.

Ilse

This was really though to get through. Where I really enjoyed the first book (despite it’s issues), and still quite enjoyed the second, here things just got weird en complex to the point where the characters needed to be way more engaging then they actually were. There is so much stilted dialogue that I progressively lost more and more interest until I fully gave up. It’s a real pity, but this is the end of the series for me in terms of attempting to read it 🙈

Ryan LaFerney

Children of Dune was published in 1976, ten years after Dune and just six after Dune Messiah. By publishing Children of Dune Frank Herbert proved there was still more to tell regarding the House Atreides saga. I am not quite sure the story ever succeeds the original tale but Herbert does pick up the pieces left by Dune Messiah and creates a tale of inter-generational drama and ecological strife.

With our hero Paul having been cast blind into the desert at the conclusion of Dune Messiah, Children of Dune opens roughly a decade later with Paul's sister Alia on the throne and caring for Paul and Chani’s twins, Leto II and Ghanima. Fearing she is an abomination due to the ghost of Baron Harkonnen living inside of her, Alia’s psychological stability takes blow after blow, a fact not helped by the re-emergence of Paul’s mother, the Benne-Gesserit Lady Jessica, at court. Meanwhile, Arrakis terraforming continues rapidly, and the desert is being reclaimed, the planet greener by the day. Leto, realizing the threat this represents to the sandworms, goes into the desert in an attempt to save the spice producing beasts, leaving his family behind in the process. Topping all of this, House Corinno once again plots to retake the throne, nobody knowing how the chaos in the works will turn out in the end. And there is man in the desert they call the Preacher, who might just be Paul. Can Leto save the house of Atreides? Is the preacher his father?

The initial trilogy of novels (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) showcases Paul's rise of power and his failures and philosophical paradoxes. In Children of Dune the failures are reflected in the politics on Arrakis. Much of Children of Dune’s plot centers on Leto II and Ghanima and their struggles to survive in the politically and religiously tumultuous situation on Arrakis as a result of the actions of their father and aunt and the novel is better for it. I especially found Leto II to be an interesting character as he was burdened with the task of trying to bring peace and account for the sins of his ancestors. 

Many reviewers have claimed they didn't care for the fantasy aspects of this novel but I disagree. Prescience, soul-reading, pre-destination, shapeshifting, spice, possession (as in, by spirits) make the story mythical and fascinating. I'm not as interested in shifting alliances and a history lesson per se. For example, while I enjoy the politics and world-building of Star Wars, that isn't primarily what I'm interested in. It's the Force that compels me. The same holds true for the universe of Dune. And while it might seem convenient to have Leto gain superhuman strength and near-invulnerability similar to the way his father once had, I personally enjoyed it. I'm down with being able to see the future by fusing with sandtrout!

So why just 3 starts? Children of Dune is a more compelling story than Dune Messiah. I just can't get pass the plot holes and the jagged dialogue on politics and religion. Better than Dune Messiah, but only in that it is more ambitious, with a more cohesive plot, and some interesting passages.

andrea

no. no no. i wanted to push through this and be done with it, but i could only reach the 60% mark. i prefer to eat bricks than force myself to finish this.

the pacing is terrible. the plot... what's the plot? seriously. this might be one of the most tedious books i've ever (tried to) read. every event gets so twisted and ridiculously complex, for no reason at all, that i can't tell what's going on anymore or what the characters are talking about. i know some people make this very same criticism of dune, but i truly didn't felt it there nor in dune messiah. those two are genuinely great books for me, and i think the first one is a masterpiece. a story was being told, there was a purpose, a reason why those books existed. but children of dune lacks even that... god it's awful. i don't know if the author ever made a comment about this, but i refuse to believe this was a book planned from the beginning. children of dune is a clumsy attempt to keep the series going.

the book is unnecessarily long. frank herbert should've stopped writing. why did no one tell him to just stop writing. why wasn't this book more edited. did no one notice how repetitive the prose was, how absurdly empty some chapters were? readers don't need to be reminded of basic concepts concerning the world when it has been set up and assimilated for 2 books already. if i have to read again why the melange is fundamental for the commerce and power in this universe i'm going to scream.

this book is made of unnatural and over the top dialogues and philosophical, weird monologues. these and the pretentious writing already existed in the previous books, but paul's psyche, personality and overall his character arc made it interesting enough for me. which takes me to my next point.

paul atreides had personality, inner conflicts, and numerous flaws. he was what a main character should be, the backbone and essence of dune. he still is even if he's "not present" anymore and the main cast is now different; paul is present in every element that makes up this universe. 
paul was so good, and that's why it's so obvious how poorly constructed and developed are almost all characters in this book. leto and ghanima atreides can't be more bland. they don't have personalities when, funnily enough, their main conflict is to fight against the thousands of inner voices and personalities of ancestors that are inside them and want to take control of their bodies. good look to them trying to be dominant when they're so inconsistent and have 0 charisma. dune not only declines quality-wise regarding the plot and storytelling, it suffers in the character work section as well. 

to add the cherry on top, the concept of 'abomination' was applied to the twins, leto and ghanima, in ways that i felt very uncomfortable with. i already had my issues when this was first presented with alia in dune messiah when she was a teenager, but here it was something else. 
i just think that the concept of a full-adult mind on a child's body is weird WHEN you insist so much on them having sexual thoughts and conversations focused on this kind of intimacy. leto and ghanima are, physically, 9 years-old; mentally, they say they're always the oldest people in the room. they have vivid memories of past lives and events that took place thousands of years ago. they are incredibly smart, well-spoken, and have better abstract-thinking skills than many of the adults. but somehow... this element always gets a weird turn when they talk to adults (or between them) about sex, about how they might have the appearence of children but they know everything about sexual intercourse. they even say this to their own grandmother, and that there is no secret in what she did with their grandfather when they were alone... what the FUCK. i can't be the only one creeped out by this. 

even the characters i already loved (alia, jessica, duncan, stilgar, halleck) couldn't save this for me and some of them were done very dirty, especially alia atreides. she was the main reason i wanted to continue dune even if paul wasn't the focus of the story anymore. i'm so disappointed at how she was written here.
i felt disconnected from all of them, i didn't feel anything.

this is why i'm dropping this series. i should have been happy after finishing dune messiah, but i was curious enough to want to see what was going to happen next. what a mistake. i will treasure my good memories of the first two books (which i still love, with all their flaws) and i'll pretend this one never got published.

(view spoiler)[i decided to go on and spoil myself the end of the book and the twins get married. leto and ghanima get MARRIED to preserve the atreides line. but don't worry, they don't have kids. ghanima's consort is farad'n and he is the actual father of the kids, not her twin. i'm literally screaming at this. also i don't know what the hell does it mean that leto turns into a fucking worm-like creature with superpowers and supernatural longevity and i don't want to know good luck to you all. (hide spoiler)]

Eventful family drama continues. There wasn't a moment that I might call boring. Lots of annotations have been made and I can't wait to pick up the next s̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ book.

Pavonini

I’m tapping out. These books have gotten worse and worse. I’d like to retain good memories of Dune.

Adam

Although Dune Messiah (Dune #2) wasn't one of my favorites, this one was much more interesting. The way the Atreides family evolves and works its way into the Dune planet went in some unexpected and interesting ways. The interesting parts for this one though, took a while to come out.

Nurlan Abdurahmanov

Bapbalaca boyları var...

"Dune" seriyasının universitetlərdə tədris edilməli olduğunu düşünürəm. Seriyanın bu kitabı bol adrenalinli, bol fəlsəfəli və kifayət qədər axıcı olması ilə diqqət çəkir. 

Kitabı oxuduqdan sonra ağlınızda bir sual yaranacaq: "Görəsən, dördüncü kitabda nələr baş verəcək?!"

Kyle Phillips 

Plotting, counterplotting, scheming, conspiring, political maneuvering, tigers!

Brianna

”I’m Leto, the child of Paul Muad’Dib. If you slay me, you and your people will sink into the sand. If you spare me, I’ll lead you to greatness.”


This book cements my love for Dune. Truly a well-deserved classic. Atreides drama is my new obsession and I am an absolute sucker for following the rise and fall of a hero. And Leto. My god Leto.

I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this series, but it’s a difficult one to do a proper review for if it were my habit to do proper reviews. 

You can read and appreciate this series on multiple layers. Character, environment, philosophy — it’s all here. I truly believe Dune offers something for everyone and rewards in ways not many series can from rereads.

The Dune universe is just so darn interesting. I prefer this book to Dune Messiah mostly because of the characters of Leto and Ghanima. In the first half of the book I adored their sibling dynamic and, as with Alia in the first book, something about children who act like adults just fits right in with the atmosphere of Dune. I also found the Preacher to be a really interesting character because he seemed so full of regret. The writing is just amazing and I liked that this book explored the environmental consequences of Paul introducing water-rich environments to Arrakis. It worked really well as a simile to the environmental crisis we’re facing today. What made this book a four star read for me was that the political intrigue and motivations for all of the characters were really confusing at times and I would’ve appreciated some more explanation of what the characters were trying to do. My confusion made the ending kind of anticlimactic. However, I’ve heard that God Emperor of Dune is like a finale to this storyline and explains it some more so maybe i’ll just have to wait until I read that one. Another thing I didn’t really like was Leto’s transformation to non-human because it didn’t really seem credible to me. Like he just lets sandtrout stick to his skin and he suddenly can jump 50 meters??? I mean I know that it’s sci-fi but that just seemed like it came out of nowhere. 

Children of Dune Dune Saga

Reviews

Highlights