Children of Dune

By: Frank Herbert

Narrated by: Scott Brick, Simon Vance

Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

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.

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©1976 Frank Herbert (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"Ranging from palace intrigue and desert chases to religious speculation and confrontations with the supreme intelligence of the universe, there is something here for all science fiction fans." ( Publishers Weekly)
"A major event." ( Los Angeles Times)

Good but operatic in flavor

As I run through Frank Herbert's original Dune stories, I think the best adjective for the flavor and pace is "operatic"...a good story with great color and flavor, but paced slowly. Much of the book is spent with people talking about what will before much of anything does happen. That doesn't mean it's boring...understanding the motives and machinations of the principals really are the story, but it's an unusual flavor for sci-fi.

For those who are not familiar with the previous works, this won't make sense. You need to do them in order.

This story centers around Leto II and Ghanima Atriedes (the children of Paul Muad'Dib and imperial heirs presumptive, now aged 9), Alia (their aunt and imperial regent) and the Lady Jessica (mother of Alia and Paul). Alia is struggling against the inner voices from her ancestral memory, while Leto and Ghanima try to avoid the same fate. The mysterious, blind Preacher only adds to the mystery.

Part of the vast Duniverse tapestry, Children of Dune doesn't live up to the high standard of the original Dune (few books by any author do), but improves on Dune Messiah.

Excellently narrated by Simon Vance with an assist from Scott Brick.

great story, more production problems

So the producers seem to have completely given up on the entire dramatization thing that they were doing in the first book of this series, Dune (see my review there). Simon Vance does a good job of narrating this story, but towards the end of the book it becomes very clear that he wasn't available to do some re-dos and missed text. So they end up getting some random guy to finish the project. Its actually the case that sometimes one word in a sentence is dubbed in by this other narrator. Bothersome.
The story in and of itself is good, not as good as Dune, but certainly worth listening to or reading. My only critique is that Herbert sometimes goes on far too long about relatively minor issues or expanding upon points that were made well enough earlier in the text.

Back to the good stuff

So, I LOVED Dune, and was really disappointed by Dune Messiah - but Children of Dune gets back to the grand, empire defining space opera I was craving.

A great job continuing the story of Dune

This is my second favorite of the Dune series. Frank Herbert does an excellent job tying the events in this book to the previous two. He also treats all characters, except a few, with sympathy. The narration of this one is much better than the previous two.

Storyline drags

What did you like best about Children of Dune? What did you like least?

The story is very pedantic, dragging out and repeating story lines. Not near as good as the original Dune.

Continued Good Work

Scott Brick and Simon Vance do a remarkable job bringing the characters and places to life in the Dune series. It has been a while since I have read "Children" and I am impressed with the layers of the Dune world that Herbert describes. I hope Audible continues to translate the original series into the audible format. My second favorite book after "Dune" is the "God Emperor," so I hope the trend continues. "Children" is an enjoyable listen for fans of Herbert.

Brilliant story, brilliant narration

If you're a big fan of Dune, don't hesitate to get the audiobooks. It really adds a whole new level of understanding to the storyline and paints a picture that reading a paper copy alone won't do. I've read the physical copies of the entire series and now listened to the first three. It's truly the best way to solidify the incredible experience that is Frank Herbert's masterpiece.

I was suprised.

I was surprised to find this book to fit so well with the previous two. Even though you are following a new main character, I found the transition was natural and the story flowed very well.

This is the US!!!

I have known and loved Herbert's Dune Saga for many years, read all the books, watched the movie(s). Now, listening to tge story I find ut bothers me enormously to gave to listed to some British accented individual butcher the proper pronounciation of names and places I have known for years!!! Leto, is pronounced Leetoh, not Lea-to, Alia is Ă- lee-ah, but A-ľeah, to just mention a couple of examples!!! It is jarring and annoying!!! This is an American book, by an America author!! That is the way it should be heard by the audience!!! This is, after all, THE US!!!!

Fabulous readers, compelling story.

As is the case with all of the Dune texts I’ve read, this one stuns in its capacity to tell a compelling story while using challenging language that asks the reader to think. There’s something to be said for simple and imaginative books such as Harry Potter and for series like the Enders Game series, which was compelling and inventive and yet scattered, because of Orson Scott Card’s self-professed carelessness in sketching out his fictive worlds. Yet there is something more profound about Herbert’s works, which hint that the author was a bit of a madman and a genius. His worlds are brilliantly demarcated, consistent, and inventive. In this book—which is fabulously narrated—we see the consequences of some of the actions taken by our favorite characters from Dune. As with all of the books in the series, it is interesting to read Herbert’s philosophical science fiction, which often challenges us to think through murky moral territory and imagine what actions we’d take in a similar universe. It is also fascinating to read about a fictive world with concerns that are so different from our own, while still resonating with our political situation (such as how water and spice is used and consumed, and the parallels in our world of water rights and the sale of drugs and weapons).

A different experience

Dune is possibly my favourite book of all time and opened my eyes to many things completely unexpectedly. The Dune saga is something I have read over and over. Listening to Children of Dune was actually a completely new experience of the text for me and I think I absorbed so much more than reading it by hand that I feel I've almost read a different book with a different thrust and am happy to have done so as some side characters seemed to jump into the limelight when before I had almost glossed over them and the following novel has a new gravitas for me that it didn't before.

Fantastic

I was a bit let down by the second book in the series but this one just blew me out the water. The story is great and I love how the world is evolving more and more.

The audio book performance is on point as usual.

Another great read

I have all the books in this series and have had them for many years, if your in to sci-fi then you can't go wrong.
I must have read this book 10 or more times over the years and never get board of it.

Rambling at times but a worthwhile listen

The series continues its downward trend with this book. Definitely interesting, with some fascinating chapters but the narrative is rambling at times and hard to follow. Not as engrossing as the first two books and I'm not happy with all the character paths. Feels like all the characters are only capable of two emotions: fear and anger. Strangely, though I would definitely recommend it as a read as it closes off the story. Good that it has the same narrater as the first two books too.

Slightly Bizarre but will read #4.

I loved the first two books, but this one made me wonder if Frank had lost the plot a little. It has the usual great machinations of state and family along with some decent action, but in what must have been the last hundred pages, the plot takes a turn, which I will not spoil here, that reveals to some part the destiny of Leto, the child of Paul Atreides. For me, the revelation seemed slightly ridiculous and not in keeping with the previous two books universe. Despite this, it is as well read as ever and the story kept me interested enough to move on to the fourth in the series.

Hard Going. Need a break from Dune after that.

Worth a listen if your trawling through the entire story universe but it’s a labour to do it.

Convoluted and drawn out in places with slow pacing and little movement... and the ending feels like someone just said “that’s enough, close the loops and wrap this up now, make this the last chapter”. The waffle sections are getting more disconnected and ‘out there’ as the story slogs on.

What ever gave Dune it’s magic is quite diluted here. Characters are discarded like disposable napkins. It took me a long while to get al the way through to the end of this one - and it’s left me feeling like I need a break from the whole Dune scene. Better things could have been done with the material in a better way.

But... it does carry on the story. It does revisit the locations and the people. If you absolutely have to have more Dune at any price - I guess this ticks that box.

D+

A wonderful book but it is slow in places

Maybe it is because I was so enamored with the first two books that I am a little disappointed with this book. It still has the intrigue but without Pail as a driver for the plot it feels a little lacking to me. I still love the other characters and feel warmly towards them but by its nature the plot is separate in each of them. I have already bought the next book in the series and I would still recommend this book but I would say that you will need to be more patient this time around.

WOW!

What a fantastic trilogy! it's taken me a long time to get round to get started with it, wish I had done so sooner. An absolute masterpiece of a story, highly recommend it to anyone!

Change

To say Herbert writes well is like saying Newton was clever. Honestly brilliant in its complexity from human nature and connection within and beyond ourselves. Herbert also makes interesting points on how adversity is required to help society progress, and how long term vision and flexibility is required to pull the species forward. And yet he also points out that one must not change to much too quickly, without considering the consequences or such change on society and ecological systems, both are of course entwined. Whilst probably accidental it pertains significantly to our current issues in politics and there environmental impacts.

Creme della Creme

The best of the best - Especially good if you want to try & approach an understanding of political intrigues & pragmatism's - Also Fun in an Adventure,,,