Tossing up between 3 or 4 stars.
I gave the first 2 books 3 stars, but enjoyed this one more. Probably 3.5 but rounded it up to 4.
I have the next 3 books, plus some prequels, etc, but think this is a good point to leave Dune for a while. ( )

This the second time I have read this book. The first time was in the 1979s when I was in high school. Back then I didn’t appreciate or understand what Frank Herbert was trying to do. I think I understand a little bit better rereading it now as an adult.

Dune is the classic Hero’s journey. Dune Messiah is the hero struggling to manage the results of the journey. This book, Children of Dune, details how the people around the hero work to redirect the result of that original hero’s journey.

This makes Children of Dune a very challenging read because the nature of the characters changes. The aims and aspirations of the characters are different in Children of Dune than they were in Dune. In addition, the nature of the past voices in those characters who partake in the drug melange makes it difficult, but not impossible, to follow the nature of the character’s desires. Indeed, one (or two) characters purposefully lie to themselves in order to protect their own sanity. This makes it difficult to follow whose aims we are following with so many of the first-person narratives being potentially unreliable. But this is what makes the reading challenge worthwhile because to some extent it reflects real life: we are all the unreliable narrators of our own lives.

One of the other things that I found make Children of Dune a difficult but still interesting read is that many of the characters sometimes seem like they may be protagonists but then end up working against other protagonists. Often times simply because they do not know what those around them know and are thinking. In addition, some protagonists do reprehensible things all in the name of a god, of a faith, and an assumption that the ends justify the means. And I wonder if that is one of the issues that Frank Herbert was investigating when he wrote his Dune Chronicles. The nature of religion as seen in history seems to be that awful acts are justified as doing the will of a god or a messiah or charismatic leader. That seems to be a good reflection on the current state our world. Frank Herbert is still relevant 40 years after publishing these books. ( )

Coming fairly late to the series (mainly due to the excellent Denis Villeneuve film). I loved the first and that drove me to the next two. I've heard the refrain that the second book is just ok, while the third one (Children of Dune) is almost as good as the first. I'm going to disagree with that. I really enjoyed the second book (Dune Messiah), while this one is just ok. Dune Messiah is really a study of power corrupting and the forces arrayed against the all powerful. The son realizes the damage his power had wrought and walks away, to reappear in this book as the mysterious voice of reason.
Children of Dune is, in essence, is a generational battle to clean up the mess and save the empire. More soap opera than a commentary of human nature. I enjoyed this book, Dune Messiah is just a more interesting story. ( )

The third in the "Dune" series by Frank Herbert. I enjoyed this so much more than I did the second book. We meet up with many of the characters from the previous books, and also some new ones. My favorite character was Farad'n. Admittedly, some of the conversations and themes were so over my head, but they were still interesting enough for me to read on.

The world building is absolutely astonishing, and I can't wait to continue on with this amazing series. ( )

I have to admit, I was really looking forward to the concluding book of Herbert's original trilogy (and, in my opinion, where the whole damn thing really should have ground to a halt).

But, interestingly, in this version, it's illuminating that Brian Herbert, untalented son of Frank and destroyer of Dune, talked at length in the first books intro about Dune, and again, talked about how Dune Messiah was the most misunderstood of the Dune novels. In the intro to this one, Brian...talks about his dad. He doesn't really talk about this book at all, as though even he doesn't know what to say about it.

Is this one a hot mess? Yes. Does it feel like Frank is trying to pull back all of the key players from the first book? Yes. Does he forsake action for talking, talking, thinking, talking, and more talking for about the first 75% of this novel? Also yes. But is it interesting talk? Sometimes, yes, but not always. Much of the time it's dense and dreadfully boring.

But now, here's where it actually got interesting for me. As I was going through this one, I kept thinking that this book was failing because Dune wasn't really Dune anymore. Much of the land was not supporting plants. Fremen were turning their backs on the old ways. Stillsuits are fashion items now. And there's not a sandworm to be seen in the first half of the novel.

The more I look at it, though, and the more I got into the second half, the more there was a push for a revolution, for a return to the old ways. Leto II actually does a lot in the last bit to achieve that. And there's sandworms.

The second half of the book actually does feel successful. I wonder if this was what Herbert was doing. "You're not gonna dig the first half, because Dune isn't Dune. But hold on..."

By the end of it, I was actually quite enjoying this novel. And Herbert pointed the way to where it was headed. Which really doesn't hold a lot of charms for me, having read the next three follow-ups a couple of times.

So, this is where I'll stop, happy with how it ends. ( )