Books - God Emperor of Dune

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	Books - God Emperor of Dune

God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert —the fourth novel within the Dune series.

3,500 years have passed since Paul Atreides became the messiah of the Fremen and the Emperor of the universe. His son, Leto, seeing a different path than his father, accepted the mantle of godhead from the Fremen and began to transform himself into a monster of the desert, a sandworm, that has dominated the ecology of Dune for millennia. Leto is confident that his Golden Path — a course into the future in which humanity's survival is guaranteed — is now secure and he has started looking for a way out.

Synopsis

The novel, God Emperor of Dune, places us in a very different universe to that of Children of Dune. Leto Atreides II still lives and rules the Empire three thousand years later, owing to his decision in the previous novel, to merge his human body with sandtrout. Leto is now much further along in his journey to becoming a worm, retaining only useless flippers for arms and legs, he moves about on a mechanical wagon equipped with suspensors; the one physical remnant of humanity Leto has retained is his human face. From the beginning of the novel, our moral viewpoint is played with a fine hand. In Children of Dune, Leto II was a hero, but three thousand years on this view seems far more doubtful. Does Leto still retain his humanity? Does he remain a force for good?

Our action begins with a deadly chase, a band of rebel humans is pursued by a pack of deadly genetically modified wolves; and is being hunted down one by one. As we join the chase only three still survive and almost immediately another is brought down horrifically. The penultimate runner, hampered by an injury, makes a brave stand to try and give the last runner a few more precious minutes. The last runner, a woman on her last reserves, makes the safety of the opposite bank of the Idaho River; from this safety - Siona - looking across at the baying wolves, curses the Emperor of Arrakis, a curse made all the more meaningful, because we learn that she too is an Atreides.

Our sense of right and wrong is further challenged by the behaviour of Duncan Idaho. In order to ease the loneliness of the centuries, Leto has been bringing back Duncan Idaho gholas as a companion and leader for his army. Leto, prewarned by the Spacing Guild, is aware that Duncan has purchased a lasgun from an Ixian, and probably intends to try and assassinate him. Leto Atreides II is not particularly shocked, because we learn that most of the time the ghola Duncan Idahos eventually turn against him, a fact that makes us wonder how corrupt Leto must be to make Duncan Idaho turn against an Atreides.

However, Duncan, despite buying his weapon, has not fully convinced himself of his intentions and seeks further justification to kill Leto. During his meeting with Leto, Duncan acts as if nothing is unnatural, as if it was nothing more than a normal meeting between the two of them. In the midst of the meeting, we learn that the rebels have escaped with some of Leto's personal diaries and a map to his citadel. Leto II lapses into daydreams during the conversation, and Duncan takes this chance to try and kill him. However, Leto reacts faster than any human could, leaping instinctively in the air and crushing Duncan with his body, almost before Duncan gets off a shot. Leto is barely injured, losing only a seemingly unnecessary flipper in the process. The flipper is an important symbol, however, because it used to be one of his legs, and the fact that it was destroyed distances Leto still further from the human that he once was.

Moneo, Leto's chief minister, is called in to arrange the disposal of Duncan. Moneo, we learn, had seen similar scenes before and is mostly bothered by how it will affect the routine of government. To make our moral quandaries even more confusing we discover that loyal Moneo is the worried father of the rebellious Siona. During their conversation about her, we discover that Siona is in some way vital to Leto's plans.

We have, however, not seen the end of Duncan Idaho. The Tleilaxu were aware of Duncan's plans and send along a new Idaho before the previous version has even died. The latest Duncan is met by two members of Leto's personal guard (called Fish Speakers). They, being used to the arrival of Duncan, tell him as much as he needs to know and as little as Leto wants him to know, to best prepare him for his meeting with the God Emperor. Duncan is unsettled, not only be the fact he learns he has been brought back into a world three thousand years after his own, but also by the Fish Speakers. The fact they are female military offends Duncan's sensibilities, but in addition he can see that they have been heavily conditioned to obey without question, which is opposed to the original Atreides ideal.

The rebels on Arrakis give the encrypted diaries of Leto to the Ixian ambassador in a secret meeting. The Ixian ambassador mocks Siona for her disguise, asking why she bothers when it is well known she is the leader of the rebels. He goes on to mock her 'rebellion' by asking her when she intends to join the God Emperor, since one generation after another the young Atreides have 'played' at being rebels before being called into the loyal service of Leto. But Siona turns the tables on him by threatening blackmail. Also at the end of the meeting Siona unmasks a spy, sending him back to Leto with a message. Ironically, however, the spy is actually her father's, and it is Siona's closest companion, Nayla, who is Leto's true spy.

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