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Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles #3)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 38,330 ratings · 654 reviews

The desert planet of Arrakis has begun to grow green and lush. The life-giving spice is abundant. The nine-year-old royal twins, possesing their father's supernatural powers, are being groomed as Messiahs.
But there are those who think the Imperium does not need messiahs...

Mass Market Paperback, 408 pages

Published April 15th 1987 by Ace/Berkley Publishing (first published 1976)

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Jul 17, 2012 Josh Cutting rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 07, 2013 Eric Allen rated it 3 of 5 stars

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 ye...more

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May 06, 2008 Richard Houchin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, philosophy

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!

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Feb 22, 2013 Megan Baxter rated it 4 of 5 stars

This may be heresy, but I think this is my favourite of the Dune books so far. I found Dune interesting, but oddly opaque. The second book was more accessible, but didn't really grab me.

But Children of Dune manages to combine some of that accessibility with the complex ideas of the first book, and I was quite frankly captivated by the central dilemma of the Atreides twins. While I've enjoyed this other Dune books so far, this was the first that I was genuinely eager to get back to every day.

The...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Drew Athans rated it 5 of 5 stars

The conventional wisdom seems to be that only the first Dune book is good and that the rest of them are awful, but I've found this to definitely not be the case. This 3rd book in the series was gripping and exciting...I literally couldn't put it down! Don't listen to what everyone else says, read these books for yourself and make your own decision...you won't be disappointed! This one focuses on the children of Muad'Dib, as well as his sister Alia, wife-in-name-only Irulan, and the return of his...more

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Oct 28, 2008 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

The classic biblical conundrum - are the sins of the father really inherited by the son?
Yes, CoD went a lot further in analyzing religion and society than the previous book which I found interesting, but more interesting was the current day metaphor with society's "progress" without regard to the costs involved. Who is going to pay for our excesses today, and how will they go about fixing them?
The Preacher seemed a powerful figure at the beginning of the story, but by the end I almost felt sorr...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Michael Tildsley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This one is officially my favorite of the series. Herbert's narrative style has been honed and refined in this sequel. The result is a novel with a lot more showing and a lot less telling. The telling that remains now is there mostly to help the reader bridge the nine year gap between novels.

What can I say about the plot without giving anything away? It was far-reaching, character-filled, and cerebral. There is a short slump in the middle where I felt like Herbert could have cut this into two n...more

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Jul 03, 2010 Bryan added it

A Masterpiece Revisited: ---
Why review a book in 2007 which originally came out nearly a half-century ago?

Because I just reread it this week, and now I remember why it has always been my favorite of all the Dune books.

In the unlikely event that you don't already know the story, herewith a very brief plot summary: About ten thousand years from now, on a planet that used to be an almost-uninhabitable desert but which is now slowly turning green, two nine-year-old children, a boy and a girl-- tw...more A Masterpiece Revisited: ---
Why review a book in 2007 which originally came out nearly a half-century ago?

Because I just reread it this week, and now I remember why it has always been my favorite of all the Dune books.

In the unlikely event that you don't already know the story, herewith a very brief plot summary: About ten thousand years from now, on a planet that used to be an almost-uninhabitable desert but which is now slowly turning green, two nine-year-old children, a boy and a girl-- twins-- set about to rescue this world from the well-intentioned but disastrous consequences of their father's changes to its climate and government. Aided and abetted by that father himself, in disguise, this attempt at reworking history and changing the future, by in some sense changing the past, surmounts nearly countless pitfalls to set humanity on a Golden Path which will hopefully result in a philosophical paradise for meaningful growth and life.

It's a far-from-perfect book, just as the entire series contains some dreadful flaws, but the series has become so classic, in spite of its flaws, that the only possible rating is the full five stars. Especially since, as stated, this is my favorite of the whole pile.

The titular youngsters are Pre-Born. That is, they have almost since the moment of conception and long before birth come to full awareness not only of their own personalities but of every ancestor who ever preceded them, all the way back to ancient Greece on the original home planet. It's a real struggle to keep from going insane with all of that consciousness swimming around inside their heads constantly, and in fact their dad's sister, also Pre-Born, has succumbed to the lure of madness.

But that's the least of their worries. The primary concern they have to face is the fact that in order to carry out their plan for the Golden Path, one of them is going to have to give up their humanity, to become something alien, nearly immortal, nearly all-powerful, without forgetting all of that humanity they carry around inside them all the time. Quite a daunting task! In the fourth book [God Emperor of Dune] we will learn that the transformation doesn't go quite as planned, but for now, here in the third book, it goes pretty nearly as intended, and the results are riveting.

One of the many problems of this book is the inability of most readers to picture nine-year-old children with the insights, knowledge, and power that these two have. [When this book was turned into the final two thirds of an extended miniseries of the same title on the SciFi channel, this issue was circumvented by making the kids nearly-adult teenagers, played by adult actors, which made it much more palatable to most of the audience.] If you're willing to suspend disbelief in that regard, which I have always been, the story line works remarkably well, especially if you have already read the first two books in the series where you can see a foreshadowing of at least half of the plot of this one coming at you through the sands like a gigantic worm, ready to devour you. But wait, he won't eat you if you're related to him!

And thereby hangs a fantastic tale.(less)

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Mar 02, 2013 Benjamin Drucker rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Greatest Disappointment in the History of Literature
(described by me in an English assignment that I did at 5 AM while pulling an all-nighter)

Warning: Contains bad prose by a tired, annoying 11th grader from before he knew how to write well.

10/18/11 (22)
Children of Dune was a book that I wanted to read. Dune is among my most cherished novels, but I by and large disliked its first sequel (Dune Messiah) due to reasons that can be briefly summarized here for the sake of explaining why I looked...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Jason Hamilton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Book three of the Dune series continues the engaging ideological storytelling that we expect from Frank Herbert. My first impressions were that it was well written, but lacked a certain aesthetic quality of the first and second books. Perhaps, I was simply getting tired of the series when I read Children of Dune. I will admit however, that the story itself is a large improvement on Dune: Messiah

The book deals with Paul's twin children, primarily his son Leto. Due to the special nature of their f...more Book three of the Dune series continues the engaging ideological storytelling that we expect from Frank Herbert. My first impressions were that it was well written, but lacked a certain aesthetic quality of the first and second books. Perhaps, I was simply getting tired of the series when I read Children of Dune. I will admit however, that the story itself is a large improvement on Dune: Messiah

The book deals with Paul's twin children, primarily his son Leto. Due to the special nature of their father and mother the twins were both "pre-born," meaning that they were both self-aware before birth and that they contain the memories of ancestors long past. Their aunt Alia, Paul's sister, also possesses this gift yet for her the gift is a curse.

As the twins grow they must deal with many rising issues concerning their fate. Their aunt Alia is losing her mind by becoming possessed by the memories of a dead ancestor, and there are many that would see the twins dead. Thus the empire created by their father is in jeopardy, and neither of them are sure they are willing to do what is necessary to maintain it.

The plot for Children of Dune is vastly superior to Dune: Messiah. The characters are more intricate, the danger more immediate, and the need greater. While the plot is completely impossible in "real" life, it remains believable. The philosophy, theology, and ethics remain more or less the same as they have in the previous two books, impressive.

However, the ideology becomes perhaps too central to the book distracting the reader from the story and thus causing the reader to lose interest. I admit I had more difficulty getting through this book then either of the previous too. It simply contains too much thinking and less doing. Now this could only be a problem for me perhaps and I'm sure there are many people out there who would appreciate Children of Dune better. The characters, though intricate, are not very believable sometimes. However, this is simply a problem with the extreme circumstances that the characters are placed in, making it very difficult for us to guess what their reaction might be.

I'd say that Children of Dune is a fitting installment in the Dune franchise, one that definitely impacts the remainder of the series. I'd recommend that any fan of the franchise be sure to read it.

http://storyhobby.com/reviews/books/c...(less)

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Oct 21, 2012 Sam Bullard rated it 4 of 5 stars

I guess I should preface by saying that any of the following books in the Dune Chronicles will forever be in the shadow of the original Dune book. To continue reading the sequels, and to enjoy them, one must come to acknowledge this simple fact.

Children of Dune dealt very heavily with prescience-motivated-manipulation. Paul and Chani's twin, pre-born children -- Leto II and Ghanima -- basically run the show in this book. There isn't much that I can say without revealing the plot, except to say t...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

not really a review... but here are some things I wrote in 1978...

notes from college days...

death as theme, death was the ultimate philosopher. to kill is still the verb of decision/ of

the thought

embracing religion: to kill comes

from "the left hand of the damned"

Left hand is associated with the Devil.

"right hand of the blessed"

Jesus sits at the right hand of God.

Blessed is the Virgin Mary

Ayat=yin

Burham=yang

Messiah found: a reference to the Second Coming? the arrival the Messiah is the end of t...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Jilly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, I seriously doubt you can or should only read the first couple of books. I want to know what happens and so I will continue to listen or read these books. I listened to this one, hence, the "416" pages above. I am constantly amazed by the love of this series considering all the detail that Frank Herbert bogs you down in. Sometimes I feel like he wrote or put things down simply to fill the page though I admit it is interesting. I am; however, exceedingly glad that I listen rather than read...more Well, I seriously doubt you can or should only read the first couple of books. I want to know what happens and so I will continue to listen or read these books. I listened to this one, hence, the "416" pages above. I am constantly amazed by the love of this series considering all the detail that Frank Herbert bogs you down in. Sometimes I feel like he wrote or put things down simply to fill the page though I admit it is interesting. I am; however, exceedingly glad that I listen rather than read because I highly doubt I could get through the entire series otherwise.

I remember watching the movie and rather liking Ghani and Leto so I was intrigued to hear the whole story. It wasn't bad it just wasn't what I expected though I would guess the series will become more interesting as I have actually read a few short stories from farther on it the series and know things do change exponentially in the mythology.

I have to say that the new play of the characters was fun and I especially loved Leto's almost elder like view on every and the preacher (which I won't go into detail about because that would give too much of the story away). Alia always disturbed me and I'm glad to see the characters are just as disturbed.

The ending (which again I won't tell you about) disturbed me slightly even though I know what HE meant by it... and yet it was gross.

I liked the character of Feradin(sp?) as he was strong, compassionate, and intelligent to know how to play things. You tend to see little of that in characters that aren't of the Atreides.

I would say if you are interested in the series, try not to get bogged down in the first book and maybe listening would be easier than actually reading it. It is worth hearing or reading but will take a bit of effort as there is a lot of information Herbert gives you and expects you to remember as you move throughout the series.

I was going to keep this audio series but it would appear I lost it. How I did that, I have no idea. I'll keep looking though.(less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally published on my blog here in December 1998.

The third of Herbert's Dune novels marks the end of the first section of the series, with thousands of years now set to elapse before the next novel, God Emperor of Dune. With the exception of the classic first book, Children of Dune is probably the best of the series.

The psychological centre of this book is an investigation of what it would mean to be one of the "pre-born". These are three of the four descendants of Duke Leto Atreides and hi...more Originally published on my blog here in December 1998.

The third of Herbert's Dune novels marks the end of the first section of the series, with thousands of years now set to elapse before the next novel, God Emperor of Dune. With the exception of the classic first book, Children of Dune is probably the best of the series.

The psychological centre of this book is an investigation of what it would mean to be one of the "pre-born". These are three of the four descendants of Duke Leto Atreides and his concubine Jessica, the culminations of a centuries long breeding programme set up by the sinister Bene Gesserit sisterhood. The pre-born, their consciousnesses enhanced in the womb by the addiction of their mothers to the drug melange, break through into a new world as they gain access before birth to the accumulated memories of their ancestors.

There are distinct problems with this idea. Clearly, there is no feasible mechanism to pass on memories following the conception or birth of the child - which depends on the sex of the ancestor - but Herbert often seems to assume that all the memories from the whole life of the ancestor becomes available. Apart from this, it is difficult to think of a way in which the memories could be stored physically in the body and become part of the genetic inheritance of the children - it's a Lamarkian rather than Darwinian form of evolutionary biology. Also, the total number of ancestors would be huge - even going back a thousand years would produce tens of thousands, and the pre-born have memories from several millennia in the past. Just to store a full set of memories physically would be a feat, but being able to sort through, access and comprehend them is even more unlikely.

For the purposes of the story, these difficulties are virtually ignored. The main concern of the characters is with "abomination", where the pre-born personality is taken over - possessed - by one of their ancestors from what is described as "the clamour within". One, Alia, sister of the former emperor Paul and regent to his children, has fallen victim to the strong personality of her grandfather, the evil Baron Harkonnen who was the villain in the first novel in the series. The other two, Paul's twin children, undergo a variety of tests and rituals designed to find out whether or not they are abominations.

An important character in the book is the Preacher, a blind old man who comes to the capital to preach against the policies of Alia's regency and the way the religion centred around Paul has decayed in the few short years since the Emperor was blinded and walked out into the desert. Most people, including Alia, believe that the Preacher is Paul himself.

The fact that the pre-born and Paul also have a degree of prescience, knowledge of important possibilities in the future, is the other main mystical element in The Children of Dune. The conflict between their visions and the failure of Alia to receive new vision cause them to be the subject of many political plots and schemes, which are elements common to every book in the Dune series.

The two elements in which Herbert interests himself in most of his novels, not just the Dune series, are politics and psychology (particularly the psychology of religion). Here, these elements are skilfully woven together, the peg of the general abhorrence providing a natural way to do this. This is why the book works rather better than some of his others, which make the weaving together seem rather artificial.(less)

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May 04, 2011 Demerzel rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Science fiction fans, and to ones who seek an unorthodox way to delve into intensive philosophy.

This review won't make sense if you haven't read the book.

The problem with this part of the Dune series is the fact that a classic has evolved into a family story without much of a plot. Riding on the comfort of knowing that most of his characters are already well-established and well-loved (I do not add equally well-hated as all of the 'bad guys' tend to be wiped out at the end of every book in this series), Herbert proceeds to throw in another tale to preach to us more inspiring ideals. I wish...more This review won't make sense if you haven't read the book.

The problem with this part of the Dune series is the fact that a classic has evolved into a family story without much of a plot. Riding on the comfort of knowing that most of his characters are already well-established and well-loved (I do not add equally well-hated as all of the 'bad guys' tend to be wiped out at the end of every book in this series), Herbert proceeds to throw in another tale to preach to us more inspiring ideals. I wish he'd waited for a better plot to strike him before penning this book down though.

My parentheses above add a subtle point: the story does NOT have an over-arching enemy. In this book, as in the last, the main enemy is internal: Dune Messiah had the leading character resent and regret whatever he had created, whereas Children of Dune take it to the 'internal voices' level, something which entertains as well as bores the reader.

One thing that Herbert has done all too well is to turn a character around by 180 degrees, and yet do it so slowly and carefully that no one sees the impact. Alia, once a much respected and loved character, is possessed by her inner demons, namely her old ancestor, the Baron Harkonnen. While this may sound interesting, it is a concept unused to its potential. Pardon me for being a gore-seeker, but I expected something truly BRUTAL once the identity of her possessor was revealed. There was no torture, no merciless and bloody murder, and not enough tyranny. Alia always seems to be in enough control, only a bit strangulated by the Baron. If one wants to introduce a concept such as this, he ought to give it enough of an impact by cultivating its potential.

But those are just the sidelines. The lead characters, Leto and his sister Ghanima, are just BORING. They aren't fascinating - Frank could have written another chapter from Alia's perspective about recalling her ancestors, Abomination, etc. instead of introducing these two characters who make a quick read into a long and drawn out mess (yes I know Leto is needed for the series to continue, but it still annoys). The chapter wherein Leto countered the Lady Jessica with her own self was, admittedly, rather interesting, as was his transformation, but the rest of him was dull. His character isn't really developed (I garner that it will be in the next book). The part when he roams around the desert on sandworms and encounters various varieties of Fremen as well as a much less interesting Gurney Halleck was just a waste of time. Imagining him travel probably to the other side of the planet on a worm was awe-inspiring, but not something I could carry on doing through 60 pages.

Ghanima's role is reduced much of the time and is shown as the weaker of the two. Consequently, she is also more boring than Leto. I'm glad Herbert didn't invest too much in her.

A really interesting duo were Farad'n and his Bashar (I forget his name, just Tyek is all I recall). They added a bit of something to the book. I was hoping that there'd be more chapters wherein more of the Lady Jessica's lessons would be illustrated, but alas, there weren't. I had hope in Farad'n, expecting him to play some major role. But ultimately, he fails as Feyd-Rautha of book one does. By 'fail', I don't mean just fail in his mission, but also fail as to deliver something substantial. He ends up submitting peacefully to the now transformed Leto, working as a scribe and historian (plus points for the historian bit, Harq-al Ada's excerpts were fun to read, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out who he/she was).

The entire religion concept is, as always, strong. This is perhaps why the book gets three stars out of me instead of two. Paul's return makes his character even more amazing: from an emperor, to a defeated man, to a weak rebel(yes indeed, the Preacher didn't really have much of an impact as he'd have desired), and finally to an insignificant death. In making Paul a tragic hero, Herbert achieved a great deal. Naturally I cannot continue on the religion and philosophy ideals: one must read them to grasp them.

Stilgar remains the strongest character. In him, Frank Herbert actually shows a character who was human! No superpowers, just a patriarchal nature, and an intense loyalty to his friend and lord, Paul Atreides. He showed a fair amount of weaknesses - his conflict about Muad'Dib was interesting: he revered and adored Paul, but he disliked his religion and what it had done to the world of Dune. The very start shows him contemplate upon killing the twins for a greater good (some may wish he did), but ultimately he decides to stick to his one strength, i.e. loyalty instead of venturing into the unknown.

Duncan Idaho is another strong character, but he ends up doing way too much. He dies quite unnecessarily in my opinion. Stilgar's flight with sixty rebels from Stiech Tabr didn't really affect the main plot, if that's what you'd call it.

The story introduces countless new characters who have a hopeless future to ever be developed further. From a Fedaykin called al-Lib or something to another called Buer to an amazon called Zia to some exiled Fremen/Smuggler mixup (I never really cared to clarify) called Muriz to another god-annoying, chapter-eating Fremen called Namri.

The end of the book left me considering the awesome power which Leto would behold, and also left me thinking: how much better this plot would have been if Farad'n managed to cause enough trouble to give the story a more dynamic finish. As I said at the very beginning, the book doesn't have an all-culminating purpose or plot. It just adds some more details to characters we already know and introduces new characters like Leto and Ghanima who we didn't really want to know much about. All-in-all, it was a better-than-average read, yet nowhere close to its prequels.(less)

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Apr 10, 2011 Jing rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People already reading the Dune series and wish to continue

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I think this was the best of the Dune books by far. I loved the idea of the twins being a little like paul and a little like Alia only not victims of their unique traits. At least in this book they are not as much victims as both Paul and Alia. The most facinating thing about this book were the plans within plans within plans. For most of the book I had no idea where the author was going but couldn't wait to find out. The tests and torment that Leto II had to go through at Jakurutu (sp?) were ve...more

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Mar 09, 2011 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Dune Fiends

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction, novels

This is the third novel in the Dune series, so you should at least read Dune and Dune Messiah before tackling this one--the question is if having done so you should continue on at all.

I loved the first book, Dune and rated it a full five stars. After the epic sweep of the first book, the immediate sequel might seem underwhelming. Even just looking at both books, the first looks very slender compared to the first book's doorstopper thickness. The second book is far more intimate really in its the...more This is the third novel in the Dune series, so you should at least read Dune and Dune Messiah before tackling this one--the question is if having done so you should continue on at all.

I loved the first book, Dune and rated it a full five stars. After the epic sweep of the first book, the immediate sequel might seem underwhelming. Even just looking at both books, the first looks very slender compared to the first book's doorstopper thickness. The second book is far more intimate really in its themes, and in some ways can feel like just a bridge to this novel, so I took it down a notch in rating it. When we come to this third book, we once again find a novel epic in length and scope, intertwining themes of politics, religion and philosophy in an exotic galactic empire and desert planet and it's skillfully written. But for me where it fails is in its characterizations, and after this novel I just didn't care anymore about this series and no longer wished to continue.

A friend of mine, a graduate student in literature likes to tease me about my shallow wish to care about characters in books, and points out characters can still be unlikeable yet interesting, complex and lend you insight about the human condition. I admit it--that's not enough for me--I want to root for characters in a book. At least one character. I did in the first two volumes. I loved the young Paul and his mother Jessica in the first book--I found them easily relatable and I loved Alia in the second book. I don't like what is made of their characters in the third book--even admitting the development in their characters have their logic.

Moreover, I can't stand the characters that are the titular focus of this book, the children of Paul and Chani, the twin girl and boy Ghanima and Leto. Both (like Alia) are "pre-born." That is from birth they are adult in consciousness and intelligence with a knowledge of the lives of their ancestors. By the time we catch up to them in this book they're nine-years-old and seriously creepy. It's Leto who carries the book and loses what little humanity he has within it, and with that went my interest in the series.

Because this is well-written and does have thought-provoking ideas, I can't make myself mark this down to the one star that would reflect my loathing for it. But loathe it I did.(less)

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Aug 18, 2010 Synbiosee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm not going to go into a huge analyze of the book, I just want to give a quick opinion for those reading feedbacks trying to decide if they should read this book.

I absolutely loved the first two books, they were brilliant. This book was very good, but not as good as the first two. The main problem in my eyes is that the book felt like it was meant to be 800-1000 pages but ended up being cut by half or more. The result is that there is a ton of characters who all play a fairly minor part in the...more

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Jun 24, 2010 Daniel Stafford rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Feint within feint; plot within plot; backstabbing within backstabbing… These elements make up the driven words of Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. It was very difficult for me to put this book down. Where the first book of Dune was fascinating in plot, structure, and form, Children of Dune read like a tabloid and political manifesto joined together as one. I say tabloid because it is filled with political back-stabbing and musings into, "who is Alia sleeping with now?" And, "is Paul, our relig...more

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Jan 06, 2010 Dylan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone interested in science/religion/government fiction

Shelves: sci-fi

The end of what I consider the Dune Trilogy. The first three books of this story carry a pretty solid story through to the end... a story that get's lost in the millennia jump to the next book. However, it's usually by the time you read this book that you are thoroughly and completely invested in the world and story of the Atreides bloodline. So you keep going... and a tough slog it ends up being.

All that is to say while this book is a really good read, be warned: the story DOES NOT end here, an...more

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Nov 07, 2009 John Shumway rated it 4 of 5 stars

*Same review for the Dune Universe*
GREAT books! VERY time consuming! Worth the time!

Ok here is the deal. If your not sure about starting a series this big, here is what I would do.
1. -- Read the 1st one by Frank Herbert "Dune" if you like it...

2. -- Read the "Legends Of Dune" series. Its 3 books written by Frank's son Brian and a author I really like by the name of Keven J. Anderson. Its a prequel that is so far in the past that it doesn't spoil the Original Dune series in any way, and you could...more *Same review for the Dune Universe*
GREAT books! VERY time consuming! Worth the time!

Ok here is the deal. If your not sure about starting a series this big, here is what I would do.
1. -- Read the 1st one by Frank Herbert "Dune" if you like it...

2. -- Read the "Legends Of Dune" series. Its 3 books written by Frank's son Brian and a author I really like by the name of Keven J. Anderson. Its a prequel that is so far in the past that it doesn't spoil the Original Dune series in any way, and you could stop after that series and be done with Dune.. but if your not done....

3. -- Go and read the "Prelude To Dune" series its also 3 books and is a prequel to the original dune series but just prior so you will learn about some of the characters in the 1st book you read "Dune".

4. -- By now you have committed enough time in the series that you probably NEED to finish it. Go back and re-read Dune, (trust me you will want to) then go on and read the rest of the original Dune series (Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune) Your devotion to the series will help push you through some of the parts that I think are slightly. Its worth it though!

4. -- You will notice the series ends up in the AIR! Frank Herbert died before finishing the series. The authors of the prequel series (his son Bryan Herbert and Keven J. Anderson) finished the series from compiled notes from Frank, Brian's experience talking to his father about the series and both Brian and Kevin's love of the Dune universe. It is very well done. Its two books (Hunters of Dune, and Sandworms of Dune.)

OK so sum up here is the order I would do the series. (which ends up being chronological except for the 1st book, even though it wasn't published this way.
Dune (to make sure you like it.)
Legends of Dune (series of 3 books)
Prelude to Dune (series of 3 books)
Dune (again since your restarting the original series)
The rest of the Dune series
Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune

Ok have fun.(less)

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Apr 05, 2009 Alex rated it 2 of 5 stars

Man, I keep reading these things cause I hear number four is pretty f'd up in an entertaining way, but after this one I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible for Herbert to write an entertaining book. Well, won't that be egg on my face...

Also: You know how when you read any given fiction, no matter the quality, you manage to find one character who you like/can emphasize with/who you're sort of rooting for to not get totally screwed over by whatever's happening. Man, not the Dune books. I came t...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Will Caskey rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

For me, the great thing about Dune Messiah was how it captured so many big problems. It had historical functionalism v. intentionalism- how responsible was Paul for his own genocidal jihad, and could he have even stopped it? It had the instant corruption of absolute power- the sequence near the beginning when everyone who knelt before Jessica too slowly was killed on the spot, and everyone who knelt too quickly was arrested to be tortured for further information. It had the conspirators who were...more

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Feb 16, 2011 Andrew Georgiadis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy

The anti-George Lucas.

Frank Herbert, that is. His science fiction universe has come to embody everything that another seminal epic of our time, “Star Wars,” cannot: subtlety and mystery. “Children of Dune” is the third installment in the series and centers on the vicissitudes of a power struggle involving Paul Atreides’ sister and his children. This in a vacuum created by Muad’Dib since his disappearance into the desert at the end of the second novel, “Dune Messiah.”

Arrakis will ever be the st...more The anti-George Lucas.

Frank Herbert, that is. His science fiction universe has come to embody everything that another seminal epic of our time, “Star Wars,” cannot: subtlety and mystery. “Children of Dune” is the third installment in the series and centers on the vicissitudes of a power struggle involving Paul Atreides’ sister and his children. This in a vacuum created by Muad’Dib since his disappearance into the desert at the end of the second novel, “Dune Messiah.”

Arrakis will ever be the story’s home, but the increasing excursions made to other worlds like Salusa Secundus and Tleilax whet our appetite for myriad unexplored corners of this galaxy. That is to say: Herbert’s universe is even larger than ever. He is the anti-Lucas because to experience the world of Dune is to live in the thought-bubbles of its characters, constantly reading one another’s expressions, trying desperately to interpret nonverbal cues of zen-like figures like mentats and Bene Gesserit “witches,” wherein plots and schemes and indignation (the silent kind) abound. Noticeably absent are staccato, declarative descriptions of landscape, weaponry, technology, conflict, combat, or physical features and their like. Conversation and thought are the rivulets that feed every facet of the “Dune” universe, and that universe seems even larger because of the vast expanses unmentioned.

Take, for example, the Lady Jessica’s travels to Salusa Secundus, a rare deviation from the political plotting and religious fervor of Arrakis. We are treated to none of the tired and typical expositions expected. We are not told how Salusa looks from space; what the travel involved to reach it; how many people live there; what differentiates its character from other worlds; its climate; its people; its proximity to Arrakis; its size; what city Jessica is in; we are not privy to innumerable things, rather getting to unpack it all under the auspices of our own imaginings. As a result, “Children of Dune” expands the Dune universe by an order of magnitude. I cannot help contradistinguishing this incredible style to the mundane plodding to which it might have easily fallen prey in more ordinary hands.

To say much of the plot of “Children of Dune” is to drain it of a beauty and mystery exclusive to your own mind’s eye. Its protagonists (admittedly not wholly protagonistic) are nine year-olds. They function with physical and mental prowess that could never be translated to the silver or small screens, and thus they belong entirely to you, to be made your own, as much as Arrakis and Salusa and Tleilax are yours. Herbert’s trust in Dune readers allows for something of the numinous.
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Mar 28, 2010 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Children of Dune is one of those books which is curiously surpassed by the movie (in this case, the SciFi/SyFy movie by the same name). Don't get me wrong: Children of Dune as a book is much richer in terms of musings about the nature of time, prescience, and depth, but the movie just captures the emotional nature of the primary storyline with greater clarity.

To give a brief synopsis, Children of Dune centers on Dune shortly after the time of Muad'Dib (Paul Atreides). A theocracy has taken over

...more

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Aug 19, 2008 Heather rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Dune books just got weirder and weirder and I didn't much like them. I LOVE the first one and have read it a bazillion times. I read each of the later books and never wanted to read them again. I didn't like what they did to the characters I loved (and hated) and I didn't like the new characters introduced.

I'm sure there are lots of Herbert fans out there who loves the rest of the series and think they are the most amazing things ever. I'm not one.

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May 03, 2013 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Thinky thinky thinky talky talky talky.

That kind of sums up my experience with this book. It doesn't have all the action of the first book, and it doesn't quite have the pathos of the second. It does have lots of scheming done by people who are trained to guess three steps ahead of their opponents, and I don't always follow the decisions these people make because I am not a Bene Gesserit witch (although I kind of wish I was). I did understand more about the universe this takes place in; at some...more

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Apr 10, 2012 David Mcangus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, nothing-but-the-best

About half way through Children of Dune I realised I was a Frank Herbert fan. Not that I just really like the Dune series, but that I respect and whole heartedly appreciate what he's trying to do with his writing. He communicates mysticism very eloquently, yet (at least to my eyes) this doesn't bog down the characters or the story. Indeed, the fact that he's employing such a difficult task as communicating spiritual understanding in fiction, brings very real application to the reality one return...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Kirsten rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-library, fiction, spec-fic

Paul Atreides is presumed dead, and his sister Alia reigns as regent in his place. Leto and Ghanima, the twins who were born at the end of Dune Messiah, are to be the new rulers when they come of age, but their lives are marred by dangerous political intrigue, superstition, and suspicion. Like Alia, they were born with the conscious memories of all of their forbears, and think and act like adults despite being only ten years old. Are they, as the Bene Gesserit believe, Abominations? Or do they h...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Evan rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Why do you bandy words this way?" -Jessica, pg. 98

Too much of this novel was Herbert bandying words with the reader. No matter how much I attempted to diffuse his diction, there were sentences/paragraphs/entire pages that I simply could not make sense of. That certainly detracted from the experience, hence the 4-star rating. I learned to skip the chapter-opening monologues as those seemed to be the worst offenders, and this significantly extended my patience for the novel without excluding too...more

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About Frank Herbert

Critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author.

He is best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. The Dune saga, set in the distant future and taking place over millennia, dealt with themes such as human survival and evolution, ecology, and the intersection of religion, politics, and power, and is widely considered to be among the classics in the field of...more

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Books by Frank Herbert

God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, #4)

Chapterhouse: Dune (Dune Chronicles, #6)

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“Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class -- whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.” — 107 people liked it

“The gift of words is the gift of deception and illusion.” — 102 people liked it

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Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles #3)

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