My Latest Read: Children of Dune

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Dune was such an epic book. It has rightfully earned its place as one of the most cherished science fiction stories ever told. The subsequent sequels have a history of dividing fans.

Spoilers for Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune. Although it's been long enough so no one should be complaining. We all know exactly why Jason Momoa had to shave his beard.

Years ago, I saw the excellent Dune mini-series from HBO, so I knew the basics of what would happen in Children of Dune..

I understand that there are rich layers of political intrigue all throughout the Dune novels. It's no secret that the spice melange was and allegory for oil and the rise of Muad'Dib was a study in the messianic leader. But Children felt like a slow game of chess where the outcome is already known. And maybe that was my fault, for watching the movies and mini-series before reading the book.

The book had a deliberate slowness to it and it always felt like I was playing catch up when I tried to figure out what was going on. Yes, I knew the outcome, but I only had a vague sense of what the end of the story looked like. The fates of many characters such as Duncan Idaho and Alia were all unknown to me. Also, everyone in the book seemed to think Lady Jessica had some grandiose Bene Gesserit plot, but it didn't really amount to much by the end.

I think my biggest complaint was a lack of action. Dune saw the Harkonnens going after the Atreides with no restraint. I mean c'mon, the final battle was a straight up Sarduakar versus Fremen free for all. However, in Children, there was a cool chase scene with the twins and the final confrontation with Alia. And that was about it. Everything else revolved around political maneuvering and trying to figure out if the Preacher was Paul or not. Call me basic, but I want my Dune to have more worm riding, Fremen popping up out of the sand, and knife fights.

Now, I'm not so stuffy as to think that Children was not a good book. It was. It just wasn't as compelling to me as I was hoping or expecting.

One of the big questions I have concerns the Spacing Guild. If Arrakis is the only place in the universe you can get spice, and if spice is the only things that allows the Navigators to navigate through hyperspace, then why wasn't the Guild worried about terraforming? How did they not know that the sandworms were the ones making the spice? Spice production would've taken a huge hit once the sandworms started dying off. This spice must flow, right? So, why weren't they freaking out? It only kind of got glossed over with mention of spice hoarding, but that felt like a muted response. I dunno.

Do I recommend this book? Yes. I know I just spent most of this post criticizing it, but it's still a part of a fantastic saga. I recommend Children of Dune, not because I enjoyed it, but because the rest of the books make little sense without it. But hey, if you really like reading about different factions trying to outmaneuver each other then Children is for you.