Taking the golden path

Children of Dune by Frank Herbert

The continued story of the Dune saga follows, chiefly, the exploits of Paul Atriedes' sister, Alia, and his two children, Leto II and Ghanima, as the empire that he created begins to tumble. This is definitely a book about House Atriedes as its main concern is evidently the relationships between the surviving members of this family, their retainers and servants. There are sources of conflict from outside the family -- House Corrino's attempt to regain the throne, frex -- but these are dealt with early and it leaves the book at times feeling slightly off balanced.

Plot threads are seemingly forgotten for long stretches and it's only when certain characters are referred to that you realise you haven't seen or heard from them in a hundred pages or so. I can see why this happens; if it's not going to advance the plot, themes or characterisation in any way, then its pointless including scenes with these characters if they aren't actually doing anything. Unfortunately, this does mean that the last chunk of the book centres almost entirely around Leto II and what he's playing around with. This, coupled with the fact that sometimes months pass between scenes without much by way of comment, means that you do feel like you're losing track of what's happening.

That said, I liked this better than Dune Messiah, which I found to be just a little too short, a little too . . . easy. Whilst this book is a bit heavy and thoughtful at times -- I've read enough about Leto II debating the spice trance by now, thank you very much -- it's not enough to dissuade me or make me loathe to pick it up again each time I stop. The characters motivations and their reasoning behind why they do what they do are some of the most finely detailed in SF; everyone has their own aims and everyone is working towards something different. People question their loyalties and their plans change as they come into contact with others and as external events force them to reconsider what they believed as true.

Yes, it can be hard going, but it's worth it. I'm looking forward to reading the last three[1].

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[1] Altho', I've got so many books in my pile now that I imagine they'll be a long time coming. Eight books in a precarious stack on my bedside table, and that's not counting The Dark Tower, which I started last night [entry].