God Emperor of Dune [Hardcover]

Frank Herbert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1981

More than three thousand years have passed since the first events recorded in DUNE. Only one link survives with those tumultuous times: the grotesque figure of Leto Atreides, son of the prophet Paul Muad'Dib, and now the virtually immortal God Emperor of Dune. He alone understands the future, and he knows with a terrible certainty that the evolution of his race is at an end unless he can breed new qualities into his species. But to achieve his final victory, Leto Atreides must also bring about his own downfall ...

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Veterans of the entire series, narrators Simon Vance, Scott Brick, and Katherine Kellgren are so familiar and comfortable with the extensive vocabulary and world of DUNE that they effortlessly bring the many characters, philosophical discussions, and diary entries into an incisive sonic whole."

—AudioFile

 

Praise for the Dune audiobook—The First Installment in the New Multi-Cast Recordings of the Six Original DUNE novels:

“How does Herbert’s text come off when read aloud? Superbly!...The listener falls under the mellow sway of these talented voices. The production values here are top-notch. The sound is crystalline...But perhaps the most impressive thing about this production is the way all the neologisms and foreign terms sound so natural and flow so easily—and consistently—off the tongues of the performers.” —SciFi Weekly

 

“Vance imbues each character with a distinctive voice: his Duncan is a truculent Clive Owen sound-alike, while his Leto (suitably) has the stentorian tones of a self-absorbed Shakespearean actor.” – SciFiDimensions

Praise for the Dune series:

“One of the monuments of modern science fiction.”
 —Chicago Tribune on Dune

 

“Brilliant... It is all that Dune was and maybe a little more.”  
 —Galaxy Magazine

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

10 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 404 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Pub Group; SFBC edition (May 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399126228
• ISBN-13: 978-0399126222
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,760,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Frank Herbert (1920-86) was born in Tacoma, Washington and worked as a reporter and later editor of a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first sf story was published in 1952 but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication in Analog of Dune World and The Prophet of Dune that were amalgamated in the novel Dune in 1965.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the single best Si-Fi book of all time., May 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

A text whose depth of religious, historical, philosophical and emotional insights touch at the very essence of what humanity is. As someone who has read the 6-books of the Dune series more than 7-times each, I find God Emperor to be a gifted presentation set within the perspective of a truly unique point-of-view. As with the entire Dune series, Herbert forces us to focus within ourselves to answer the deeper questions and issues raised so masterfully in his book. The relationship and dialogues between the God Emperor Leto, and Moneo, his Majordomo has to be some of the most insightful, honest theater in Si-Fi history. From the silent obeyance of the massive Nayla, or the fostered rebellious attitudes of Siona, the shimmering `Golden Path' that will finally and forever perpetuate humankind in the Universe has been set into place personally by Paul Atreides' son Leto. With Leto's selfless sacrifice of an unimaginable 3,500-years, his metamorphosis of worm and man; man and God, legend and religion with his logical-brilliance of the all-female "Women of the Imperial Guard", the Fish Speaker Army that holds an iron-grip on the human universe- Herbert creates the single most enjoyable, readable, profound, and meaningful book in his timeless collection. This book also ties the Paul Atreides side of the Dune series to the Bene Gesserit-led books in a singular, keystone fashion. The development of the Ixians, and the Tleilaxu; the downgrading of the Guild, and the Bene Gesserit and the extermination of CHOAM and the Great Houses add a great deal to both the overall and continuing plot lines of the Dune series. More so than the rest of the series, this book forces a closer examination of religious, social and interpersonal beliefs, and in a truly long-term thinking frame. This book also stands unique among the Dune-sequels as being the only one that can be easily read, understood and enjoyed without having read the other books. It would be interesting to have originally read this book first, then Dune second. I will never bore of Leto's character or his integrity. Please read this book, and when you finish it, read it again. -Scott Craig "Religious institutions perpetuate a mortal master-servant relationship, they create an arena which attracts the prideful human power-seekers with all of their nearsighted prejudices! Ultimately, we must realize that we are all servants unto God, not servants unto servants." -Frank Herbert 1981

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Characters, not action., August 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

First, let me get this out of the way. If youwere annoyed by some of the abstruse and occasionally pretentious dialogue in the first three books (esoecially the third) then you won't like this book in all probability. If you love action and excitement and an intense plot, and thats what youre looking for, you won't like this book in all probabilty.

That said, this book is easily the best book in the Dune series (only the first can compete; and that is because it sets up the world). The setting is a quantum leap from the first one; there is virtually no connection to the petty feuding world of Dune, with the intense Fremen and their intense culture.

This book revolves around 5 characters: Hwi Noree, Siona, Moneo, Leto II and Duncan Idaho, the ever present ghola. The idea of Duncan Idaho being constantly resurrected struck me as as an interesting conceit, and it played well into the story (Leto's psychological analysis of Duncan based on his resurrections is also interesting).

Of these five characters, Moneo and Leto are easily the most interesting. They form a perfect foil- Leto, so intelligent and so far beyond the normal human awareness that his thoughts cant help being nearly incomprehensible, and Moneo, the former rebel who was converted by his visions of the Golden Path and is now staid in his duty and unquestioning in his belief.

Figuring out what exactly the Golden Path is- the path that Maud'Dib could not bring himself to contemplate and that Leto took upon himself in place of Ghanima- is a tussle.

It is an immensely enjoyable tussle, however. Leto seems to be saying, by being the ultimate power-holder and despot of this universe, I accomplish too things. First, I am freeing humanity of the craving for authority and reinforcing free will and action- I am showing people that despotism, even peaceful despotism, automatically creates tension and disturbance. Secondly, I am showing people that enforced peace leads to degeneration of the soul.

God Emperor of Dune is a complex book, one that needs to be reread many times in order to draw the juices of interpretation and understanding from it. Its about government, power, love, humanity. It also has the most interesting and one of the most complex characters created in sciencefiction. And that alone justifies reading it.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God Emperor of Dune., August 13, 2000

By 

Todd (Harrisburg,PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is what the whole series is all about right here. Paul Muad'Dib was a failed messiah. Failed because he locked himself into a future that he could not stand to be a part of. Like his father, young Leto II also saw the path that his father fled from. But in looking deeper into that future saw the only way to save humankind from itself. The Golden Path. This book is set smack-dab in the middle of that golden path. Deeply religious and philosophical undertones drive this book right to the top of my personal best list. If I had to pick only one book that truly changed my perspective and deepened my thinking it has to be this book. Leto is a very rich character unparalled in any other series. Frank Herbert took the ideal of a higher power and what it must be like to be that power, and humanized it for all to disect and study. True Genius. If you're looking for the action of the first book, God Emperor might dissapoint you. Though there is action, it is the dialogue of this book that makes it the timeless perfection that it is. So if you want to take your mind on a consciousness expanding ride, curl up with this book and enjoy.