• God Emperor of Dune

  • By: Frank Herbert
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 15 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (11,442 ratings)

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God Emperor of Dune  By  cover art

God Emperor of Dune

By: Frank Herbert
Narrated by: Simon Vance
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Publisher's summary

More than 3,000 years have passed since the first events recorded in Dune. Only one link survives with those tumultuous times: the grotesque figure of Leto Atreides, son of the prophet Paul Muad'Dib, and now the virtually immortal God Emperor of Dune. He alone understands the future, and he knows with a terrible certainty that the evolution of his race is at an end unless he can breed new qualities into his species.

But to achieve his final victory, Leto Atreides must also bring about his own downfall.

Don't miss other titles in the Dune series.
©1981 Frank Herbert (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"A fourth visit to Arrakis that is every bit as fascinating as the other three - every bit as timely." ( Time)
"Rich fare...Heady stuff." ( Los Angeles Times)

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What listeners say about God Emperor of Dune

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Performance
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Almost as good as the original

God Emperor of Dune compares well with the original Dune, better than the previous two sequels (Dune Messiah and Children of Dune). It doesn't quite measure up to the standard of the first book, but few books, anywhere, do.

Warning: God Emperor of Dune is the third sequel to Dune. Ignore this book until you are familiar with Dune and the first 2 sequels.

It is 3500 years since Leto II Atreides donned his living sandtrout armor. Leto is now a living deity as well as galactic emperor...prescient, super-intelligent, supremely strong, vengeful...and more sandworm than man. Arrakis is now lush and green; the sandworms (except for Leto) are all but extinct. There is no more spice, excepting centuries-old stockpiles.

This is Leto's Golden Path...the future for humanity that he foresaw and planned 3500 years ago.

Like most of Herbert's Dune books, this book has an operatic feel...it moves slowly and most of the book is taken up with dialogue. The story really is the people, their motives and their schemes. This book revolves almost entirely around the title character (more so than the prior books), but, then, the God Emperor is the dominant story of this time and place.

The narration is very well done; Simon Vance narrates most of the book, with Katherine Kellgren reading the occasional female-dominated chapter and Scott Brick delivering the epigraphs at the start of each chapter. Three excellent readers who did a great job.

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61 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The art of reading.

There is little need of me further commending the Dune series. My main purpose here is to praise Simon Vance's reading of this extremely long book - as it is perhaps most natural to think of all six of them as one book. He manages to balance an extremely clear enunciation with the right sense of emotion and complex character composition required. I'm eagerly waiting for Audible's publication of "Chapterhouse Dune" , and I certainly expect that Simon Vance will be entrusted with the whole project. He's given new life to a book which is already very alive.

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36 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent production

Frank Herbert's Dune series are among my all time favorite books. God Emperor is by far my favorite of the series. I have been waiting anxiously for the release of this production. I have not been disappointed. The story is at least as compelling in audio as it is in print. This production does the job excellently.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Heavy but excellent book

I was 15 when I first tried reading the Dune series. I quickly devoured the books until I reached God Emperor. Despite trying to push through, I had made it about 2/3 of the way before giving up. After going back to it all these years later, I understand why.
God Emperor of Dune is a book about how a person can choose to act in a way completely counter to how most feel that someone should act in order to bring about an outcome meant for the greater good. The novel is somewhat dense, highly political, and very introspective. After going through God Emperor today, it's easy to understand why my 15 year old self struggled with making it through, as I hadn't experienced enough life to prepare me for the subject matter the novel deals with.
The novel is seen from the point of view of the guide, rather than the adventurer. It's a more mature view that it rare in science fiction, and for those who can identify with that mindset, the novel is very natural and free flowing. This story includes preparing a protege, passing the torch to those that will follow, and the joy that comes from that experience.
All in all, the piece is well written, remains relevant, and worth reading for anyone who wants to understand mentorship. The reading was very well done. It uses the same cast from the previous Dune novels who keep up the same level of quality.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Must be a Dune fan

When asked my favorite book, I answer Dune. I understand that it is not everyone's cup of tea.
Of the series, God Emperor is my favorite and this audiobook brought forth other aspects to consider. I enjoy contemplating Frank Herbert's writings.
If you have interest, please be sure to have checked out the others prior to this in the series: Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Only for Frank Herbert devotees

The dyed-in-the-wool Dune fans give God Emperor of Dune very high marks. While I still enjoyed Frank Herbert's writing somewhat in this fourth book in the Dune series, I found the story unwieldy and too pseudo-clever its own good.

Much of the plot seemed implausible or even pointless. The characters felt shallow and impossible to empathise with. The endless philosophising was unconvincing and tiresome. And I was also mystified by the seemingly random switching of narrators. (That said, they were excellent narrators.)

For my part, I'm either done with the Dune series for good or at least taking a loooong hiatus before considering giving it another go.

If you're a hard core Dune fan you will like this book --judging by other reviews-- and probably anything else Frank Herbert wrote. If you're not, I can't recommend this book to you.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

My least favorite Dune book

I thought Dune was outstanding. The next two were good, but not outstanding. This last installment i just didn't get. I would skip multiple chapters just to get through it until i finally just listened to the last hour to know what happened. This is just one mans opinion, but I thought I should post it since all the other opinions seem to be contrary to mine.

I'd also like to say that Brian's prequels are all outstanding reads/listens.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great performance.

After I read God Emperor about five years ago, to me, it was one of the most engrossing book I had ever read.

This audiobook does the novel justice. Each of the voice actors match the mood and atmosphere nicely.

My one dislike I have with the audiobook, in my opinion, would have to be the woman narrator. She was great up until she did the voice of Leto. Having the male narrator do all the voices even the women kind of became stale. So allowing a lady to add a touch of feminism sure kept me listening. That being said, the male should have jumped in. Again that is my opinion.

I would definitely recommend this audio to all the fans of the dune novels for sure. Also, to individuals who may of had a hard time reading the novel.

And of course, to those who enjoy audiobooks in general.

My rating comes from my true opinions which I have just expressed.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Golden Path is obvious!

They are doing a great job with the production on these books, The readers are fantastic!
Of course they are the Dune books by Herbert so they are great. This one was as good as the rest.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful continuation of the Dune saga

Im working my way through all of the Dune books. While there is a significant amount of time passed between Children of Dune and this book the plot continues well with out the sense that a significant amount of the story is lost. This book is a little long in the tooth and IMO could have been a few hours shorter and not have lost the overall story. This book defiantly leaves me wanting to listen to the next part of the saga.

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6 people found this helpful