Children of Dune - Frank Herbert

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by hoodie_logi)

Ho. Ly. Crow.

What a Fricken book. I honestly was unsure if any of the subsequent books in the series would surpass the first but my goodness this one was good. It took a bit of time to get going, as it had to establish some new characters and dynamics, but once it got going IT GOT GOING. It fit the same description as the first two, where they are technically sci-fi books, but much more interested in ecology, politics and religion, but towards the end dove more into a traditional sci-fi-esque narrative with some wacky stuff happening.

This book also leaned heavily into the religious and the ecological side of the larger, overarching narrative, as takes place far enough into the future from the first book that we can start to see the ramifications of events that were put in place in the first book. For example, in the first book, there are rumours and early plans of inhabitants of Arrakis wanting to turn the planet from a desert wasteland to a green, water filled oasis. In this book, we see that this plan is actually thriving, but the unforeseen ramifications that this plan has led too threatens the entire universe. It changes the culture of the Fremen, is on the path to sending the universe into a recession which they would never recover from and more issues. Human manipulation of environment, even if good in nature, is explored thoroughly by Herbert and the dangers that we can pose to our world. As well, in the first book, the religion of Maud'dib is in the Jesus stage, where Jesus was alive and establishing it. In Children of Dune, a full generation has grown up under this religion, and already it has become a political tool and far more cultural than spiritual. The book features religious zealots, heretics, people reconciling the faults of the religion, those trying to discern how they got so far from the original teachings of Maud'dib and those desperately trying to continue wielding the power it affords them. It truly is amazing to see how Herbert has been able to evolve these themes through the first three books, to grow them and nuance them over time. It truly is one of the most masterful stories I've ever seen constructed.

And finally, the characters are awesome once again. Complex, genuine, manipulative, idealist and so much more. Every character is trying to play their own game to serve their own agenda, circling around all the other characters until it all masterfully comes to a head. The two new characters, Leto II and Ghanima, the Children of Paul, were absolutely spectacular.

I'm still just in awe of how good this book was. An absolute masterpiece. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Dune is quickly becoming my favourite literary universe.