Children of Dune (original 1976; edition 1991)

One thing is for sure - as Dune saga progresses you get less and less actual action and more philosophical discussions.

This book follows the journey of Paul Atreid's son Leto. He has to decide whether to take drastic action his father feared so much and bring enlightenment to the humanity or falter and let entire human civilization crumble.

As always there are some interesting points on religion, state, inner fatalism of every individual, way masses think and act, civilization and how to steer people to the greater good for all.

I find it funny that author cannot make up his mind when it comes to religion - he mixes a lot of philosophies and is rather preachy when it comes to that, but is very specific when he talks about bad sides of religion - I can only guess who he took to portray the baddies (taking into account organizational structure he portrays). I guess it is popular approach to that subject. Maybe it would be better if he didn't make any relations to the existing religions at all and truly created something of its own.

Otherwise interesting and highly recommended book but be wary - although there is action in here and plots and sub-plots, great deal of book is dedicated to philosophical discussion (less than in sequels to this book but nevertheless) so make sure you are in a mood for a rather long read. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-of-children-of-dune-by-frank.htm... ( )

Hmm, I'm not sure what to say about this book. Was it "good"? Yes and no. I found it interesting mainly due to the immersion in the world of Dune. But I sometimes found myself bored by the actual plot and some of the writing. Herbert does love to slather on the mystical pseudo-philosophy a bit thick. And the plot was about as exciting as The Phantom Menace. It comes nowhere near Dune in terms of readability. The last few chapters were definitely a nice payoff for getting through some of the slower parts. I'd mainly suggest reading this book if you're goal is to read the entire series. ( )

I love that the author is brave enough to make protagonists that are detestable, as was the case in the previous book--for me, at least! This book eases some of that harsh judgment on the character. Either way, I find this series and its amazing world-building to be fascinating. ( )

Apart from the storyline, I liked the book. I was compelled to keep reading it and was reluctant to put it down until I finally reached the end. Having said that, I'm still quite befuddled as to what all was going on. I understand bits of it, especially the part where Leto succumbs fully to the mythos/fate/whatever-you-call-it that his father tried to run from and his aunt, Alia, was too scared to face, a course which robs him completely of his humanity. But to what end? Who is the enemy and who is the victor? What exactly is going on? I'm sure Herbert explained these things in the book, somewhere amidst the heavy wordplay he uses to explain the workings of the Dune universe, but those explanations escape me. Perhaps my perplexed psyche will be up to another reading to search for those answers...in a few more years. ( )