Children of Dune

Did You Know?

• Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were published in one volume by the Science Fiction Book Club in 2002.
• The novel is referred to in A Thousand Plateaus (1980) by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.

Plot

Nine years after Paul Atreides vanished into the desert, Dune's ecology has shifted enough that some Fremen now live without stillsuits and have left their sietches for villages and cities. Pilgrims flood the planet as old traditions fade, and the imperial high council has become powerless against the jihad. Paul's young twins, Leto II and Ghanima, believe their aunt Alia is possessed by their grandfather Baron Harkonnen—a state called Abomination—and fear the same could happen to them.

They also see that terraforming will wipe out the sandworms and the spice, which the Baron wants. A desert preacher, thought by some to be Paul, speaks out against the religious government's injustices. Princess Wensicia of House Corrino plots to kill the twins from Salusa Secundus. Lady Jessica returns, confirms Alia is possessed, but finds the twins free of Abomination.

Leto asks Stilgar to guard Ghanima. The Preacher visits Salusa Secundus and offers the Duncan Idaho ghola as an agent for House Corrino. Alia tries to kill Jessica, who escapes with Duncan, sparking a Fremen rebellion. The twins survive the assassination plot by faking Leto's death.

Leto searches for Jacurutu, while Ghanima uses self-hypnosis to believe and report her brother dead. Duncan and Jessica flee to Salusa Secundus, where Jessica trains Farad'n in Bene Gesserit ways. Farad'n denounces his mother Wensicia over the plot, allies with the Bene Gesserit, and they promise him marriage to Ghanima and support for his imperial bid.

Analysis

Herbert saw his first three Dune books as a musical fugue: Dune was a heroic melody, Dune Messiah its inversion, and Children of Dune weaves more themes together. Paul gains power by controlling the universe's sole vital resource, melange, but Herbert then undercuts that victory with a series of defeats and philosophical contradictions.

Critical reception

Children of Dune was critically well-received for its gripping plot, action, and atmosphere, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1977. The Los Angeles Times called it a major event, and Challenging Destiny noted that Herbert adds enough new twists to the saga that familiarity with recurring elements brings pleasure. Publishers Weekly wrote that the novel offers something for all science fiction fans, ranging from palace intrigue to religious speculation. Spider Robinson found it unsatisfying, faulting the ending as unconvincing and thematically overfamiliar. David Pringle gave it two stars out of four, describing it as dark and convoluted stuff.