If Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune are the three parts of a trilogy, then God Emperor of Dune is the novel that connects that trilogy to a second (unfinished) trilogy that starts with Heretics of Dune.
It’s a strangely problematic novel in that it’s set 5000 years after the events of Dune in a universe that, some superficial differences aside, has remained remarkably static.
The other thing I had a lot of trouble with, which also relates to the amount of time that has passed, was extent to which the various characters’ continually talk about their Atreides heritage. By this point pretty much everyone would be descended from Paul Atreides.
Either one of these would have been somewhat problematic for me, but together they left me really struggling to suspend my disbelief.
And I am finding the endless reincarnations of Duncan Idaho to be a tad wearing.
It’s not all bad, though, and we do get to see more of the Bene Tleilax, their homeworld, how they see themselves and what motivates them. We also have a much expanded backstory with the references to The Scattering and it’s the return of the scattered humans that drive the plot.
On the whole, though, Heretics of Dune feels like it is spending a lot of time setting things up for the next novel and, once this set-up is done, everything stops rather abruptly.
I am still planning to re-read Chapterhouse: Dune before too long, but after Heretics I’m not in a great rush to do so.
https://blog.lightlyseared.online/2024/08/07/revisiting-arrakis-heretics-of-dune/
#Dune #HereticsOfDune
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