Children of Dune

Last updated
Children of Dune
Children of Dune-Frank Herbert (1976) First edition.jpg
US first edition cover
Author Frank Herbert
Audio read by Scott Brick
Simon Vance
Cover artist Vincent Di Fate
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Dune series
Genre Science fiction
PublishedApril 1976
Publisher Putnam
Media typePrint (hardcover & paperback)
Pages444
ISBN 0-399-11697-4
OCLC 1975222
813/.5/4
LC Class PZ4.H5356 Ch3 PS3558.E63
Preceded by Dune Messiah  
Followed by God Emperor of Dune  

Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the third in his Dune series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1976, and was the last Dune novel to be serialized before book publication.

Contents

At the end of Dune Messiah , Paul Atreides walks into the desert, a blind man, leaving his twin children Leto and Ghanima in the care of the Fremen, while his sister Alia rules the universe as regent. Awakened in the womb by the spice, the children are the heirs to Paul's prescient vision of the fate of the universe, a role that Alia desperately craves. House Corrino schemes to return to the throne, while the Bene Gesserit make common cause with the Tleilaxu and Spacing Guild to gain control of the spice and the children of Paul Atreides.

Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field. The novel was critically well-received for its plot, action, and atmosphere, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1977. Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune were collectively adapted by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 into a miniseries titled Frank Herbert's Children of Dune .

Plot

Nine years after Emperor Paul Muad'Dib walked into the desert, blind, the ecological transformation of Dune has reached the point where some Fremen are living without stillsuits in the less arid climate and have started to move out of the sietches and into the villages and cities. As the old ways erode, more and more pilgrims arrive to experience the planet of Muad'Dib. The Imperial high council has lost its political might and is powerless to control the Jihad.

Paul's young twin children, Leto II and Ghanima, have concluded that their guardian Alia has succumbed to Abomination—possession by her grandfather Baron Vladimir Harkonnen—and fear that a similar fate awaits them. They (and Alia) also realize that the terraforming of Dune will kill all the sandworms, thus destroying the source of the spice, but Baron Harkonnen desires this outcome. Leto also fears that, like his father, he will become trapped by his prescience.

Meanwhile, a new religious figure called "The Preacher" has risen in the desert, rallying against the religious government's injustices and the changes among the Fremen. Some Fremen believe he is Paul Atreides. Princess Wensicia of the fallen House Corrino on Salusa Secundus plots to assassinate the twins and regain power for her House.

Lady Jessica returns to Arrakis and recognizes that her daughter is possessed, but finds no signs of Abomination in the twins. Leto arranges for Fremen leader Stilgar to protect his sister if there is an attempt on their lives. The Preacher journeys to Salusa Secundus to meet Wensicia's son Farad'n, and in return pledges the Duncan Idaho ghola as an agent of House Corrino. Alia attempts to assassinate Jessica, who escapes into the desert with Duncan's help, precipitating a rebellion among the Fremen. The twins anticipate and survive the Corrino assassination plot. Leto then leaves to seek out Jacurutu, a mythical Fremen sietch and possible holdout of the Preacher, while Ghanima, changing her memory with self-hypnosis, reports (and believes) that her brother has been murdered. Duncan and Jessica flee to Salusa Secundus, where Jessica begins to mentor Farad'n in the ways of the Bene Gesserit. He sidelines and publicly denounces his regent mother Wensicia over the assassination attempt on the twins, and allies with the Bene Gesserit, who promise to marry him to Ghanima and support his bid to become Emperor.

A band of Fremen outlaws capture Leto and force him to undergo the spice trance at the suggestion of Gurney Halleck, who has infiltrated the group on Jessica's orders. Leto's spice-induced visions show him myriad possible futures where humanity becomes extinct and only one where it survives. He names this future "The Golden Path" and resolves to bring it to fruition—something that his father, who had already glimpsed this future, refused to do. He escapes his captors and sacrifices his humanity in pursuit of the Golden Path by physically fusing with a school of sandtrout, the larval form of sandworms, in the process gaining superhuman strength and near-invulnerability. He travels across the desert destroying qanats to slow down the ecological transformation of Dune, and eventually confronts the Preacher, who is indeed Paul.

Duncan returns to Arrakis and provokes Stilgar into killing him so that Stilgar is forced to take Ghanima and go into hiding. Eventually though, Alia recaptures Ghanima and arranges her marriage to Farad'n, planning to exploit the expected chaos when Ghanima kills him to avenge her brother's murder. The Preacher and Leto return to the capital, where Lady Jessica and Farad'n have arrived for his betrothal to Ghanima, to confront Alia. Upon arriving, Paul is publicly murdered by agents of her government, to Alia's horror. Leto reveals himself in a display of superhuman strength and triggers the return of Ghanima's genuine memories. He confronts Alia and offers to help her overcome her possession, but Baron Harkonnen resists. Alia, whilst fighting Baron Harkonnen's possession, manages to take her own life by throwing herself off a high balcony.

Leto declares himself Emperor and asserts control over the Fremen. Farad'n enlists in his service and delivers control of the Corrino armies and his Sardaukar. In describing the Golden Path to Farad'n, Leto reveals that he will live for thousands of years due to the sandworm skin and genetics he is encased in. Leto marries Ghanima to consolidate power, but because Leto's sandworm skin destroyed his ability to reproduce, he allows Farad'n to be her true consort so the Atreides line can continue.

Publication history

Parts of Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were written before Dune was completed. [1] Children of Dune was originally serialized in Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1976, and was the last Dune novel to be serialized before book publication. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune were published in one volume by the Science Fiction Book Club in 2002. [2]

Analysis

Herbert likened the initial trilogy of novels (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) to a fugue – Dune was a heroic melody, Dune Messiah was its inversion, while Children of Dune expands the number of interplaying themes. Paul rises to power in Dune by seizing control of the single critical resource in the universe, melange. His enemies are dead or overthrown, and he is set to take the reins of power and bring a hard but enlightened peace to the universe. Herbert chose in the books that followed to undermine Paul's triumph with a string of failures and philosophical paradoxes. [3]

Critical reception

Initially selling over 75,000 copies, Children of Dune became the first hardcover best-seller in the science fiction field. [4] The novel was critically well-received for its gripping plot, action, and atmosphere, [5] and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1977. [6]

The Los Angeles Times called Children of Dune "a major event", and Challenging Destiny noted that "Herbert adds enough new twists and turns to the ongoing saga that familiarity with the recurring elements brings pleasure." [7] Publishers Weekly wrote, "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." [7] In a 1976 review, Spider Robinson found Children of Dune unsatisfying, faulting the ending as unconvincing and thematically overfamiliar. [8] The novel is referred to in A Thousand Plateaus (1980) by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. [9] David Pringle gave the novel a rating of two stars out of four and described the novel as "dark and convoluted stuff." [10]

Adaptation

Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune were collectively adapted by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 into a miniseries titled Frank Herbert's Children of Dune . [11] The three-part, six-hour miniseries covers the bulk of the plot of Dune Messiah in the first installment, and adapts Children of Dune in the second and third parts. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Harkonnen</span> Fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert

Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a fictional character in the Dune franchise created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel Dune and is also a prominent character in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson. The character is brought back as a ghola in the Herbert/Anderson sequels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007).

<i>Dune Messiah</i> 1969 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert

Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by American writer Frank Herbert, the second in his Dune series of six novels. A sequel to Dune (1965), it was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969, and then published by Putnam the same year. Dune Messiah and its own sequel Children of Dune (1976) were collectively adapted by the Sci-Fi Channel in 2003 into a miniseries entitled Frank Herbert's Children of Dune.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Atreides</span> Fictional character in Dune

Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a main character in the first two novels in the series, Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969), and returns in Children of Dune (1976). The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson novels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007), and appears in the prequels Paul of Dune (2008) and The Winds of Dune (2009). According to Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son and biographer, House Atreides was based on the heroic but ill-fated Greek mythological house of Atreus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bene Gesserit</span> Fictional organization in the Dune franchise created by Frank Herbert

The Bene Gesserit are a group in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. A powerful social, religious, and political force, the Bene Gesserit is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and abilities that seem magical to outsiders. Members who have acquired the breadth of Bene Gesserit abilities are called Reverend Mothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan Idaho</span> Fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert

Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, he became a breakout character and was revived in 1969's Dune Messiah. He is the only character to feature in all six of Herbert's original Dune novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melange (fictional drug)</span> Fictional drug central to the Dune series by Frank Herbert

Melange, often referred to as "the spice", is the fictional psychedelic drug central to the Dune series of science fiction novels by Frank Herbert and derivative works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fremen</span> Fictional group of people in the Dune franchise created by Frank Herbert

The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis, which is the sole known source in the universe of the all-important spice melange. Long overlooked by the rest of the Imperium and considered backward savages, in reality they are an extremely hardy people and exist in large numbers. The Fremen had come to the planet thousands of years before the events of the novel as the Zensunni Wanderers, a religious sect in retreat. As humans in extremis, over time they adapted their culture and way of life to survive and thrive in the incredibly harsh conditions of Arrakis. The Fremen are distinguished by their fierce fighting abilities and adeptness at survival in these conditions. With water being such a rare commodity on the planet, their culture revolves around its preservation and conservation. Herbert based Fremen culture, in part, on the desert-dwelling Bedouin and San People.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spacing Guild</span> Fictional organization in the Dune franchise created by Frank Herbert

The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe which possesses a monopoly on interstellar travel and banking. Guild Navigators use the drug melange to achieve limited prescience, a form of precognition which allows them to successfully navigate "folded space" and safely guide enormous starships called heighliners across interstellar space instantaneously.

Arrakis —informally known as Dune and later called Rakis—is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is sometimes cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leto II Atreides</span> Fictional character from Dune

Leto II Atreides is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah (1969), Leto is a central character in Children of Dune (1976) and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune (1981). The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson sequels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007). Leto also appears as a child in the prequel The Winds of Dune (2009).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lady Jessica</span> Fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert

Lady Jessica is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. A main character in the 1963–65 novel Dune, Jessica also plays an important role in the later installment Children of Dune (1976). The events surrounding Jessica's conception, her birth and her early years with Leto are chronicled in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) and the Caladan Trilogy (2020–2022) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The character is brought back as a ghola in the Herbert/Anderson sequels which conclude the original series, Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alia Atreides</span> Fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert

Alia Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character was originally killed in Herbert's first version of the manuscript. At the suggestion of Analog magazine editor John Campbell, Herbert kept her alive in the final draft. Alia would next appear as a main character in both Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson conclusion to the original series, Sandworms of Dune (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaius Helen Mohiam</span> Fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert

Gaius Helen Mohiam is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She is a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother, and initially appears in the 1963–65 novel Dune and its 1969 sequel, Dune Messiah. Mohiam also has a major role in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) and the Caladan Trilogy (2020–2022) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chani (character)</span> Fictional character

Chani is a fictional character featured in Frank Herbert's novels Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969). Known mainly as the Fremen wife and legal concubine of protagonist Paul Atreides, Chani is the daughter of Imperial Planetologist Liet-Kynes and his Fremen wife Faroula, and later the mother of the twins Ghanima and Leto II Atreides. The character is later resurrected as a ghola, appearing in Hunters of Dune (2006) and Sandworms of Dune (2007), Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's novels which complete the original series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Princess Irulan</span> Fictional character in the Dune universe

Princess Irulan is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. She first appears in Dune (1965), and is later featured in Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). The character's birth and early childhood are touched upon in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy (1999–2001) by Herbert's son Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson, and she is a principal character in the Herbert/Anderson series Heroes of Dune (2008–2009).

<i>Frank Herberts Children of Dune</i> Television series

Frank Herbert's Children of Dune is a three-part science fiction miniseries written by John Harrison and directed by Greg Yaitanes, based on Frank Herbert's novels Dune Messiah (1969) and Children of Dune (1976). First broadcast in the United States on March 16, 2003, Children of Dune is the sequel to the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, and was produced by the Sci Fi Channel. Children of Dune and its predecessor are among the highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel. In 2003, Children of Dune won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects, and was nominated for three additional Emmys.

This is a list of terminology used in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, the primary source being "Terminology of the Imperium", the glossary contained in the novel Dune (1965).

<i>Paul of Dune</i> 2008 novel by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Paul of Dune is a 2008 science fiction novel written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Released on September 16, 2008, it is the first book in the Heroes of Dune series and chronicles events between Frank Herbert's Dune (1965) and Dune Messiah (1969), as well as between Dune and its 2001 Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson prequel, Dune: House Corrino.

Organizations of the <i>Dune</i> universe Details of the Dune science fiction novels

Multiple organizations of the Dune universe dominate the political, religious, and social arena of the setting of Frank Herbert's Dune series of science fiction novels, and derivative works. Set tens of thousands of years in the future, the saga chronicles a civilization which has banned computers but has also developed advanced technology and mental and physical abilities through physical training, eugenics and the use of the drug melange. Specialized groups of individuals have aligned themselves in organizations focusing on specific abilities, technology and goals. Herbert's concepts of human evolution and technology have been analyzed and deconstructed in at least one book, The Science of Dune (2008). His originating 1965 novel Dune is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history. Dune and its five sequels by Herbert explore the complex and multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology and technology, among other themes.

We've a three-point civilization: the Imperial Household balanced against the Federated Great Houses of the Landsraad, and between them, the Guild with its damnable monopoly on interstellar transport.

References

  1. ↑ Herbert, Frank (1976). "When I Was Writing Dune". Children of Dune (2008 ed.). Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN   9781440630514 . Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  2. ↑ Herbert, Frank (2002). Dune Messiah and Children of Dune (1st SFBC Printing ed.). Science Fiction Book Club. ISBN   0-7394-2399-1..
  3. ↑ Herbert, Frank (July 1980). "DuneGenesis". Omni . FrankHerbert.org. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2014. Of course there are other themes and fugal interplays in Dune and throughout the trilogy. Dune Messiah performs a classic inversion of the theme. Children of Dune expands the number of themes interplaying ... That fits the pattern of the fugue.
  4. ↑ Touponce, William F. (1988). "Herbert's Reputation". Frank Herbert. Boston, Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers imprint, G. K. Hall & Co. p. 119. ISBN   0-8057-7514-5. When Herbert completed the third book of the series, Children of Dune (1976), it became an authentic hardcover best-seller with seventy-five thousand copies sold (not including book club sales). It was the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field.
  5. ↑ Jonas, Gerald (August 1, 1976). "Of Things To Come". The New York Times . p. 176.
  6. ↑ "1977 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
  7. 1 2 Herbert, Frank (1976). "Praise for the Dune Chronicles". Children of Dune (2008 ed.). Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN   9781440630514 . Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Spider (September 1976). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction . pp. 111–13.
  9. ↑ Deleuze, Gilles; Guattari, Félix (1993). A Thousand Plateaus. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 390, 559. ISBN   0-8166-1402-4.
  10. ↑ Pringle, David (1990). The Ultimate Guide To Science Fiction . New York: Pharos Books: St. Martin's Press. p.  58. ISBN   0886875374.
  11. ↑ Fritz, Steve (December 4, 2000). "Dune: Remaking the Classic Novel". Cinescape. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
  12. ↑ Asher-Perrin, Emmet (September 19, 2017). "SyFy's Children of Dune Miniseries Delivers On Emotion When Philosophy Falls Flat". Tor.com . Retrieved February 20, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.