Book Review: "God Emperor of Dune" by Frank Herbert
*Spoiler alert!*
I gotta say, the Atreides are one exhausting bunch. I thought the Skywalkers were bad, but at least they only messed with a galaxy. The Atreides have a whole universe. God Emperor of Dune encapsulates the 3,500-year reign of Leto II, who at the end of Children of Dune, merged his consciousness with that of a sandworm.
“‘For what do you hunger, Lord?’” Moneo ventured.
“‘For a humankind which can make truly long-term decisions. Do you know the key to that ability, Moneo?’”
“‘You have said it many times, Lord. It is the ability to change your mind.’”
The transformation of Dune into a humid world full of water—the deserts in retreat aside from the carefully preserved section Leto inhabits as his seat of power—is mostly complete, as is Leto’s transformation into a sandworm, the last one on Dune. No new spice mélange is being produced, so everyone is hoarding it and doling it out for favors.
To get back to a world with a new desert—and spice-producing cycle—Leto has taken it upon himself to be god-emperor, shepherding humanity along the Golden Path, the future where humanity doesn’t go extinct. He casts himself as a beneficent ruler but is often brutal in response to what he sees as threats to the Golden Path.
“I know the evil of my ancestors because I am those people. The balance is delicate in the extreme. I know that few of you who read my words have ever thought about your ancestors this way. It has not occurred to you that your ancestors were survivors and that the survival itself sometimes involved savage decisions, a kind of wanton brutality which civilized humankind works very hard to suppress. What price will you pay for that suppression? Will you accept your own extinction?”
Another Atreides is seeking to end Leto II’s reign forever, and that is Siona, daughter of Leto’s loyal major domo Moneo. Leto is aware of Siona and the rebellion she’s fomented against him and is actively encouraging it. (What is it with the Atreides and death wishes? Paul himself went out actively decrying the imperial bureaucracy and state religion he helped create so Leto II could craft his own imperium. And on and on the cycle goes.)
“In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are sometimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness. These fleshy sensoria which we call self are ephemera withering in the blaze of infinity, fleetingly aware of temporary conditions which confine our activities and change as our activities change. If you must label the absolute, use its proper name: Temporary.”
Part of Leto’s Golden Path involves a selective breeding program (Bene Gesserit-style) to produce Atreides with the strength and intelligence to survive the coming upheaval. Again, seriously, there’s so much eugenics happening in this literary universe, and it’s gross. Perhaps there’s a profound reason for it on Herbert’s part, but I don’t see it. Speaking of breeding programs, Leto wishes Siona to breed with the latest ghola version of Duncan Idaho.
I don’t get the reason this character has to be brought back again and again. Yes, he’s intensely loyal to the Atreides and a fighting legend—I mean, he did take out 19 Sardaukar to defend Paul and Lady Jessica in Dune—but he’s also apparently a raging homophobe. He can’t get over Leto’s army being completely women, let alone some of those women existing as part of the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, I get the “villain” of Dune being gay as Exhibit A, but I thought Herbert could have grown as a person at least, and perhaps Duncan Idaho by extension.
I guess not. But I was surprised, considering all the big ideas about society, religion, justice, human nature, and the corrupting injustices inherent in power he has put out there throughout the series. Not to mention, Leto is both male and female at once, possessing the memories of both his male and female ancestors.
Well, at least we have the characters of Siona and later, Hwi Noorie, Ixyian ambassador sent to woo the God Emperor. Both managed to be their own characters and largely prevented God Emperor of Dune from getting a record-low review by me because of the utter monopoly on narration by Duncan Idaho and Leto II in particular.
Overall, I think I see what Herbert was going for, but his ideas don’t necessarily come through as I think he wanted them to. Not to mention his often-backwards ideas on gender and homosexuality. It’s hard for me to quit in the middle of a series, especially one with a mostly interesting universe, so I’ll read until the end, but I need to take a breather for a bit.
Happy reading!
--BookOwl
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