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.

Listening Length

16 hours and 51 minutes
Author

Frank Herbert
Narrator

Scott Brick, see all
Audible release date

February 5, 2008
Language

English
Publisher

Macmillan Audio
ASIN

B0013O8X60
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	16 hours and 51 minutes
Author	Frank Herbert
Narrator	Scott Brick, Simon Vance
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	February 05, 2008
Publisher	Macmillan Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0013O8X60
Best Sellers Rank	#899 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #22 in Space Opera Science Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #25 in Classic Literature (Audible Books & Originals) #27 in Space Operas

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4.6 out of 5

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Nicolas G. Hinestrosa

Great ending to the original trilogy

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 25, 2023

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Where messiah was lacking this final entry made up for. The twists and revelations made it a great send off for the Atreides story. Fully recommend reading the entire trilogy, and truly hope all three get novels get adapted to film.

2 people found this helpful

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Rob

phenomenal

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 30, 2023

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Loved it. All three books I’ve read are amazing. Bravo Frank Herbert. Can’t wait for the second movie to come out so I can see more of it on the big screen.

3 people found this helpful

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Providential

Things get weird

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 13, 2020

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Things get weird in Children of Dune. This book is definitely a turning point for the series, and is thus often a point of debate among fans.

What's the setup? Minimal spoilers. After the events of Dune Messiah, Paul-Muad'dib is missing and presumed dead. His sister Alia is effectively a religious emperor commanding the universe from Arrakis via Paul's church. Paul's Children Leto and Ghanima become the titular focus of the series. Their prophetic rise to power will define the shape of the universe to come. Children of Dune caps off the tale of Paul-Muad'dib, with the narrative clearly moving to follow other characters. Most fans therefore say that the first 3 books of the Dune series form their own, stand-alone trilogy. You may notice that I'm not really describing a villain or a plot here - I'm sure fans will argue, but there really isn't one. The central conflict of the book is Leto confronting his own future - and that of humanity at large. Can Leto stand up and confront his destiny, or will he take the easy path and doom the universe to a terrible fate?

Children of Dune starts to get weird. Not that the first two books were lacking in audacious concepts, but this one has a definite "jump the shark" moment toward the end. I won't spoil anything, but if you thought Paul-Muad'dib was overpowered, Leto takes quite literal leaps and bounds over him.

Should you read Children of Dune? It's been a long time since I've read the Dune series, and I'm rereading them now in preparation for the upcoming film. Right now I still stand firmly in the camp of saying it's okay to stop at Dune. Messiah and Children of Dune add a lot more philosophy than plot development, in my opinion. Not everyone who reads Dune is going to want to follow 4+ more books of philosophy and politics, as opposed to the more tech-heavy romp of the first book. It's definitely true that Children of Dune caps off the story of Paul-Muad'dib, so if you really want to see what happens to that character, you should read at least through the end of this book.

Should you keep reading past Children of Dune? The most divisive book of the series is up next - God Emperor of Dune. Some say it's impossible, some say it's the greatest book they've ever read. It's worth noting that the series continues much more in the vein of Messiah and Children. The dividing line is whether you're happy with the weird twists that the ending of Children takes. I'm buckled in, and I'll find out how I feel again. But so far my opinion is unchanged - Dune stands on its own, and its sequels are more interesting for people who enjoy thinking about politics and philosophy than for the narrative itself.

82 people found this helpful

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Joe G.

The writing is so poetic and ethereal that it takes me to another world.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 16, 2021

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I think I just keep reading these books because they offer my mind an exercise. The writing is so poetic and ethereal that it takes me to another world. Frank Herbert's unique voice and one of a kind tone are hypnotizing. The whole experience is like grasping at a dream. Every step gets you closer and yet every step takes you farther away. Toward what? The Golden Path maybe?

In this, the third in the epic Dune series, we follow the story of Paul Atreides' twin children Ghanima and Leto Jr. These are not average children. They were conscious inside the womb and have the memories of thousands of people including their mother, father, and grandmother. The key to this is a combination of genetic manipulation from thousands of years of breeding programs and a high dose of melange, the addictive substance that in the right circumstance can unlock the secrets of consciousness and time. Ghanima and Leto are the heirs to the Empire that their father left behind, possibly dead but maybe not.

Before Ghanima and Leto can take the throne they have to contend with everyone thinking they are the age they look, as well as their aunt Alia who is the regent in control of the empire and doesn't want to give it up, as well as a growing plot from the Corrino Family who was displaced by Paul Atreides when he took over Arrakis in the first book. To make matters worse the Preacher is running around sowing doubt about the moral authority of Alia and the path that the government is taking the people down.

As the fight for the Empire rages on a new threat emerges from the sand. A threat that is destroying the infrastructure that has brought water to the desert planet and is creating a new mythology. Is it a god or just another passing contender?

If you like epic sci-fi worlds with fantasy elements and can handle diving into a world with its culture and language then I recommend reading the Dune books. Obviously, you have to start with the first one but once you get into this epic story it does not disappoint. It continues to intrigue and mystify. The series is like the additive melange. While it might be confusing at times its allure is undeniable.

12 people found this helpful

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Technophobe01

An astounding book of many levels - highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 23, 2022

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Frank Herbert is a rare author, his Dune series is both a beautiful story, a science fiction masterpiece and a deep analysis of the formation, operation of human mass movements. The book Children of Dune has a plethora of levels and each chapter is led by a reference to some specific aspect of human organization, or observation of innate humanity and our incentives. A wonder - highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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Kingston Kingston

A story about an angry nine year old who dreams of being a wormgod.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2023

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It's better than Messiah but worse than Dune. 10/10. Would read again.

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TCFENHOLT

Amazingly Unexpected

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 1, 2023

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The entire Dune series is amazing, and Children of Dune is one of the best. I will not post any spoilers, but the conclusion was unexpected and quite mind blowing. A great read!

One person found this helpful

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Martin Gardner

Don't buy this edition!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 27, 2016

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Children of Dune rounds off a trilogy of what is still the best science fiction I have ever read. I re-read it every few years, always finding something new in this complex and cosmic narrative. However, this series of Kindle editions is just awful! There are terrible word substitutions on every page. 'Leto' frequently becomes 'Leo', 'morning light' becomes 'moaning light', 'Golden Path' became 'Golden Paw'!! Dune Messiah from the same series had the same problem. These are not simple books, dealing as they do with so many esoteric subjects, but these Kindle versions become almost unreadable with their idiotic and distracting errors. It's like trying to read YouTube subtitles in novel form. Don't waste your money on this edition or this series!

39 people found this helpful

Alan D

This is where it starts to get weird.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 3, 2023

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There’s a lot about Frank Herbert’s writing that’s really grown on me as I’ve continued through the series. As a writer who finds it difficult to fill space without dialogue, I am constantly in awe of writers such as Herbert (and Robert Jordan, and Ursula K Le Guin, etc…) who can fill out thousands of words - pages and pages - with character introspection and movement through the scene with very little dialogue at all - especially when it’s paired with a fairly conservative amount of description (Robert Jordan wasn’t very good at this bit - nor was Tolkien). I’ve also come to appreciate Herbert’s dropping of the superfluous “and” in his prose; it’s surprising how cutting out that one word speeds along an action sentence, jarring as it is at first. Though, I’m still in two minds about the deep philosophising: I love it because it feels like the author is having a lot of fun going in-depth about the heady concepts and themes of the book, and often they’re the kind that stick in the mind long after reading and unconsciously unpack themselves as time goes on. But I equally hate it because I barely understand the metaphors at the time of reading, and it makes me feel stupid.

I’ve heard from many people that the Dune Saga gets weird, and here in Children of Dune really is where that begins. We have children who are not children - the pre-born, filled with the genetic memories of their entire ancestry - and Herbert really goes to town exploring the implications of that setup on the human psyche. One of the great things about sci-fi is how authors will often invent a topic that seems, on the surface, to be a benefit (how often do we say “if only I had known then what I know now”? A vague yearning to go back to a younger time in our lives but retain the maturity we’ve gained since, so we may make better decisions), and then probe them for all the ways in which they can be utterly terrible things. Pre-birth is something that is introduced at the end of Dune and sort of appears in Dune Messiah with Paul’s sister, Alia. But Children of Dune is where the concept really gets a thorough and rigorous examination. Through Alia, Herbert examines the pitfalls, and through Leto and Ghanima, the possible solutions to avoiding those pitfalls. It’s really very fascinating - especially as it gets incredibly strange towards the end.

The plot is highly engaging and enjoyable. As expected of Dune at this point, there’s a lot of intricate political manoeuvring and court intrigue - unique assassination plots, and feints within feints within feints. We see Alia’s slow descent into madness, and the utter chaos that ensues as she almost destroys her brother’s empire from within. We also see Leto and Ghanima constantly underestimated, since they’re bodily nine-year-olds with minds that reach back tens of thousands of years. And we see a lot about the corruption of religion and dilution of core doctrines. And it’s all set against a backdrop of the misguided ecological rejuvenation of Arrakis. I actually felt a deep aching sadness about this, because it was something of Liet Kynes’s legacy from the first book, and to see it turn out to be a huge problem is somewhat upsetting. But alas, Arrakis must remain Dune if humanity is to continue traversing the galaxy.

There’s not a great many new characters this time around (technically). With the exception of side characters, and the Corrino heirs, most of the others are present in the previous two books, like Alia, Stilgar, Jessica, Leto and Ghanima (though they were only mentioned briefly at the end of Messiah), Duncan Idaho and Gurney Halleck. Each one’s continued development is excellent, in particular, Stilgar. In my review of Messiah, I bemoaned the way that Stilgar transformed from intimidating, commanding Fremen leader into Paul’s lapdog, but here in Children of Dune we see him reclaim his former mojo and it’s great. I loved the storyline of the enigmatic Preacher as well; so much uncertainty and mystery surrounding him, and it was very satisfying to find out his true identity. Leto and Ghanima were fantastic characters, but I did feel that Ghanima got the short shrift in favour of her brother. There was more that could have been done with her, as she turns almost passive in the latter half of the book. Farad’n Corrino was pretty refreshing in his earnestness - I really liked his arc and how it concluded. I think generally all the characters were on top form throughout.The pacing is good. Chapters vary in length quite a bit, and there’s a lot of places in which Herbert takes substantial space going through the intricate philosophies at play, but it never felt like it dragged too much. I think this might be more because I’m used to the writing style at this point, because it can be incredibly dense at times.

Now, the ending. Without going into spoiler territory, it was a bit mind-blowing in its weirdness. I really enjoyed the blend of action with novel usages of concepts Herbert primed us for in the previous books, like the Bene Gesserit ability to manipulate the chemical makeup of their bodies to become Reverend Mothers, or to nullify poisons etc… Let’s just say it got turned up to eleven here! And I am very intrigued to see where this goes with the next book, God Emperor of Dune. I know a little bit about that one already, and I’m told it’s the peak of weirdness for the series. I’m thoroughly looking forward to it.So, I highly recommend going ahead and picking up Herbert’s original Dune Saga at this point. It’s a wild ride, and well deserves the veneration it receives in my opinion.

2 people found this helpful

Alyssia Cooke

Better than book 2

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 21, 2021

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It's taken me the better part of a week and a half to get through this book and I can't even blame the length of the title for my slowness. That said, this is a far better book than its predecessor, Dune Messiah, which lacked in plot and character development. However, it still doesn't stand up against the original Marvel that was Dune. It's a far slower, more introspective book than Dune was and perhaps relies a little too much on plots within plots that take forever to get moving. But despite the slow pace, I still found myself enamoured with the writing and the narrative.

The characters here are far stronger in their own right than Messiah, which relied far too heavily on the initial book. This is perhaps because several of these characters are new; Muad'dib's twin children for instance and even those who were present in previous novels have undergone changes and development. This made for some fascinating character studies, particularly within the children who have a wealth of experience from previous lives and yet have not physically developed past adolescence. I also enjoyed Alia's descent into possession and madness, even as she clings fast to the power her regency gives her. A lot is made of this throughout the book and I had hopes it would play more of a role in the finale than it actually did, but it was well done regardless.

All in all, there is a lot to love about this book. Is it as good as Dune? No. But then that would have been difficult considering that novel is as close to a masterpiece as I have had the pleasure to read. It's slower pace does seem to drag at points, and Herbert seemed to delight in feeding you snippets of information in small increments. In the vein of Messiah, there are also long derailments about philosophy, religion and the meaning of power. Where this really shines though is in the writing and the characterisations, and it is definitely helped by having a far more cohesive plot than Dune Messiah.

4 people found this helpful

FictionFan

Just say no!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on July 7, 2015

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(This is the third book in the Dune series and therefore the review will contain spoilers for the first two, Dune and Dune Messiah. And maybe even some for this one. You have been warned!)

It is 9 years since the blinded and heartbroken Paul Muad'dib walked off into the desert of Dune to die. His weird little children, Leto and Ghanima, take after their Auntie Alia in so many ways – prescient, gifted or cursed with the memories of all their ancestors, nuts. Until now I thought the horrid little kids who sing the duet in Polar Express were the creepiest children ever, but Leto and Ghani have them beat hands down! Alia, meantime, has overindulged so much in the spice drug melange that she has become what the Bene Gesserit feared – an Abomination! No longer able to control all the voices of her ancestors inside her head, she has fallen under the influence of the strongest of them – the evil Baron Harkonen. Leto and Ghani look on this as a warning and are assiduously avoiding doing the spice drug conversion thingy that Rev Mothers do, as they think this is what caused Alia to become Abominable.

Meantime Jessica has returned to the folds of the Bene Gesserit and has now been sent back to Arrakis (Dune) for reasons that remain somewhat hazy. Basically she appears to be trying to protect the genetic line by persuading Leto and Ghani (9-year-old twins, remember) to mate and breed. It's always good to have a supportive granny, isn't it? And has Paul really died in the desert? Who is the mysterious Preacher who keeps popping up and calling Alia names? If he is Paul, why is he trying to undermine his family's rule? Why do Leto and Ghani want to get to Jacurutu? How come Leto is having prescient dreams if he's not taking spice? What is the Golden Path that Leto keeps banging on about as the way to save something? Save what? Or who? Seriously – if you know the answers, do tell – personally I'm baffled!

The book starts off well, getting straight into the story. I was about to say that it's important to read these in order or you wouldn't have a clue what was going on but... I did read them in order and I still found this one almost completely incomprehensible! I can only assume that Mr Herbert too may have been sampling the delights of mind-altering substances while writing, and I wondered if perhaps it's necessary to be doped up to the eyeballs to follow the 'plot'. Unfortunately, having no illicit drugs to hand, I was forced to attempt it on wine only and that clearly wasn't strong enough. (I also tried sobriety – but that was so much worse!)

The thing is it seems as if it's going to be good. The writing is as good as usual and Herbert creates a nicely chilling atmosphere. The description of all the personalities within Alia trying to take control of her mind is brilliantly done, and Leto and Ghani channelling the thoughts of their dead parents is incredibly creepy. Herbert uses Leto's mullings on what he should do as a vehicle to indulge in a bit of philosophising about the Cold War concerns of his own time, concluding unsurprisingly that the American Way of Life is best. There are loads of conspiracies going on with everyone scheming against everyone else, and Herbert makes this a fascinating look at the loneliness and ultimate fragility of power.

But... Herbert forgets to tell us what's actually going on! Having a rotten memory, I usually jot down brief notes for review purposes – here's one of my notes... “About 2/3 now – haven't a clue what's going on, don't like anybody, don't care who wins (wins what?) and thoroughly bored with the psychedelic drugs, man! Lots of pseudo profundity that's supposed to be taken seriously and sooooo repetitive. Just want it to be over now.” You can tell I was really enjoying it!

The last third shows some brilliant imagination even if it's frankly weird to the point of laughable. I have to mention the sandtrouts...

(Spoiler!!! Spoiler!!! Spoiler!!!)

The bit where Leto and the sandtrouts merge is without a doubt one of the most inspired pieces of lunacy I've ever read, made beautifully squirmily disgusting by the quality of the writing. But when the process turns Leto into some kind of pint-sized superhero who can leap tall buildings in a single bound and destroy hardened warriors with one punch, I began to giggle. And, during the big dramatic finale, that giggling turned into uncontrollable, tears-running-down-the-face, hysteria when he picked up his Abominable Auntie Alia and swung her around his head! I'm not altogether convinced that was the effect Herbert was aiming for...

Great start, incomprehensible middle, unintentionally hysterical end. The last sentence of my notes reads “Right load of old tosh!” and I stand by that! Will I be reading more of the Dune books? Not for the foreseeable future... see? I'm prescient too...

2½ stars for me, so rounded up.

21 people found this helpful

Runions

Fabulous book - but don't buy this edition!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 20, 2020

Verified Purchase

I love this book but made the mistake of buying this edition (Gollancz; New Ed Edition (13 Mar. 2003)) to replace my old, tattered copy. Almost illegible in places. On the first page, you can't tell commas from periods and the words are so blurry that I thought it was my eyes. Smelling mistakes and incorrect weeds throughout. Why, oh why, isn't this 3rd book available from Hodder Paperbacks who have produced beautiful versions of the first two books?

4 people found this helpful

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