More than three thousand years have passed since the first events recorded in Frank Herbert's 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 . . .
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"I have learned from this book that is interesting to be a 3,000 year old worm that can see the future and contains the memories of multitudes. It's perfect sci-fi in the sense of re-imagining political and social situations/institutions. I think this is the best of all of the Dune books."
— Edmund (4 out of 5 stars)
“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.
— AudioFileHow 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 WeeklyVance 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" Perhaps the last of the truly solid "Dune" books, "God-Emperor..." goes light on the action and super-sizes the religious and political philosphy. Still, a good (and, frankly, kinda necessary) follow-up to the first three books. "
— Andrew, 2/12/2014" God Emperor was a good read, but definitely slower than the first three Dune books. I felt that, aside from the Lord Leo, the characters in this book were pretty devoid of personality until almost halfway through the story. Once the characters started to develop further and I actually became more interested in Idaho and Moneo, the story started to lose momentum. I also think it was difficult to empathize with Leto, which made the ending of the book ultimately anti-climactic. Still, I think it was worth reading and thought the overall story was somehow both creepy and endearing. "
— James, 2/7/2014" Loved this! It's 3500 years later and Leto II is transformed into basically a monster. Why? To live long enough to personally see to it that the Golden Path worked. Lots of philosophy in here (the God Emperor has had LOTS of time to think...) "
— Logan, 1/23/2014" This is a well-written series with interesting intense characters and a crazily-twisting plot full of political maneuvering and religious fanaticism. It makes you think. "
— Rachel, 1/21/2014" eeeh. this book sucks. "
— Wes, 1/13/2014" The first time I picked up God Emperor some years back, I put it back down pretty quickly. It got weird. Too weird. After re-reading the first three Dune books recently, I had a greater appreciation for Herbert's attempt to explore the meaning of humanity and the arc of future physical and cultural evolution. This is one of those rare books that has very little in the way of plot, and yet keeps you turning the page. Herbert has a way of exploring concepts in every day language that is unparalleled. "
— Stephen, 1/12/2014" Not as good as Dune & Dune Messiah. "
— Susi, 1/12/2014" Another good book, continuing this masterpiece of an series of sci fi books. "
— Kim, 1/8/2014" I see elements of the Arthurian love triangle mixed with a dark Terminator future. I don't fully grasp all of what happened, but I don't have the desire or time to read it again at this time (too many other books on my plate along with school work which is much heftier this term). "
— Karen, 12/30/2013" See review of Dune Messiah. "
— Bob(by), 12/13/2013" It starts to pick up again here...this one moves along at a quick pace (for a Dune book). It's mostly dialogue, with just a few action sequences. Can't wait to read Heretics of Dune...though I can't imagine that the series gets any better. "
— Rob, 12/8/2013" Great book, its really interesting how the figure of the god emperor is always right there throughout the story as an inescapable presence. "
— Nicolas, 7/4/2013" The DUNE series was good albeit strange in places. The ideas relating to destiny and the messiah theme are all quite intriguing as well as the social implications of various forms of slavery and bondage. "
— Josh, 6/23/2013" Tough to get through. The events of this book are so separated from the previous that it is tough to basically start over. "
— Jason, 6/3/2013" This is the last of the Dune books that I read. "
— Ron, 11/16/2012" This is my favorite science fiction book of all time. You have to read the first three books first, but this one is amazing. "
— Wood, 10/11/2011" totally blew my lights!!! "
— Petebaldry, 9/20/2011" The story continues with a passage of millenias. An interesting take on the consequences of empires. "
— Andre, 9/3/2011" My favorite of the Dune series. Easily the most bizarre of the series! "
— Jeremy, 7/6/2011" Of all the books in the Dune saga, this was the hardest to get through. The action is slow, and the author just goes on and on against governments ad religion. Very dry reading. That being said, it is a very important book in the series. It reveals the true golden path (which surprised me). "
— Mike, 5/19/2011" Wonderful continuation of Herbert's saga. The though provoking insights into the human condition kept me thinking while on vacation. <br/> "
— Jonathan, 4/11/2011" This one was ok. There wasn't much of a story, it was mostly allegory talk, it reminded me of the bible, which maybe was the authors intent. But it was still interesting. There were a few ideas that were really interesting to think about. "
— Jennifer, 4/7/2011" Along with DUNE, it's the best book in the whole saga......Absolute perfection. <br/> <br/>PS: Leto II is the coolest character of the entire series. "
— Draken, 4/7/2011" This book went too far. Things just got really strange. "
— Brian, 4/3/2011" Politics and Dune. This book carries both really well. Of all the Frank Herbert Dune books this one is one of the best. He covers the past 3000 years and you begin to understand the Golden Path and what it means for humanity. Excellent. "
— Barry, 3/31/2011" I've always had a fairly tenuous relationship with the Dune books. This one is a little too pompous and self-indulgent for me to finish. Maybe some other time. Maybe. "
— Ryan, 3/16/2011" Different and not as enjoyable as some of the Dune stories, but good overall. "
— Ruth, 3/15/2011" This was an incredibly hard slog. I can't imagine reading it more than once (let alone three times....RE: another review that I've seen). "
— Bev, 3/5/2011" It took me a long time and it was a challenge. What a boring, uninteresting and void of sense book. Really disappointing. "
— J., 2/15/2011" Um, just read the title. It's good to be the God Emperor. Less good to be a Duncan "
— Owen, 2/9/2011Frank Herbert (1920–1986), winner of the Hugo and Nebula awards and a #1 New York Times bestselling author, was born in Tacoma, Washington, and worked as a reporter and later as an editor for a number of West Coast newspapers before becoming a full-time writer. His first science fiction story was published in 1952, but he achieved fame more than ten years later with the publication of “Dune World” and “The Prophet of Dune” in Analog. The stories were amalgamated in the bestselling novel Dune in 1965.
Katherine Kellgren (1969–2018), narrator and actress, appeared onstage in London, New York, and Frankfurt, including in the role of Laura in a regional production of The Glass Menagerie and appearances on Comedy Central. In recognition of her mastery of audiobook narration, she received many honors, including the prestigious Audie Awards, with four for best female narrator; the Odyssey Award; Publishers Weekly Listen Up Award; dozens of AudioFile magazine Earphones Awards; an AudioFile Golden Voice Award; Booklist Voice of Choice award; and acclaim from press and listener reviews.
Simon Vance (a.k.a. Robert Whitfield) is an award-winning actor and narrator. He has earned more than fifty Earphones Awards and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration thirteen times. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and has been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009. He has narrated more than eight hundred audiobooks over almost thirty years, beginning when he was a radio newsreader for the BBC in London. He is also an actor who has appeared on both stage and television.
Scott Brick, an acclaimed voice artist, screenwriter, and actor, has performed on film, television, and radio. He attended UCLA and spent ten years in a traveling Shakespeare company. Passionate about the spoken word, he has narrated a wide variety of audiobooks. winning won more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards and several of the prestigious Audie Awards. He was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine and the Voice of Choice for 2016 by Booklist magazine.