Children of Dune

I read the first three Dune books in a row.

I think the best summary of my review is that I had to read a recap of the book when I finished it as I got really lost in the plot this time. This book, as seen in the previous volume, expands on the struggle for power over the galactic empire between the main characters I didn’t get lost in the different plot points, but I was just very confused in understanding what each character was plotting for and why they were taking the actions they were taking. I couldn’t break that wall to understand the character’s psyche and in a way could not identify with them in any way. Once again, it felt to me like the main characters had very similar personalities though I can note the development of Alia and Paul/The Preacher. To me those character developments came in too strong and in too stark contrast with the previous books which, once again left me at a loss of understanding them and their motives. This was particularly true when Herbert was describing Leto’s spice trance. I could feel what the character was going through, but I couldn’t understand anything else, especially what he saw in the future and why it made him change course or keep the course he had planned for himself. Him meeting with his father made Paul seem like a token character placed for fan service as I assume a lot were upset with his death at the end of the second book.

Overall, I still praise the world building by Frank Herbert and the way he expands on it but despite the depth it still felt to me like this book fell a little flat.

So...I'm gradually working through the Dune books, and this was the first one that really felt like a slog. All of the books require a certain amount of faith, that this prophecy you've never heard of until now will somehow become important later, or that these six characters referenced in this conversation will make an appearance later, or whatever, but this was the first one where it just felt like chapters and chapters went by in which I had little sense of what anyone's actual aims or motivations were. Leto II refers to the "Golden Path" throughout the book as his primary driving motivation, but exactly what that was remained unclear until the closing pages. The book retains the incredible scope and mythology of the previous installments, but that scope feels like it's starting to weigh the whole enterprise down.