8. God Emperor of Dune

by Frank Herbert (432 pgs)

Rating: 3

Leto II has inherited his father's empire but he inherited it hundreds of years ago. The consequences of his decision at the end of Children of Dune has extended his life and warped his body. With the long view of the nearly immortal, Leto has truly tortured his subjects economically among other things and has earned himself the title of tyrant. But being an Atreides, there's always a reason and it's always for the greater good.

God Emperor of Dune picks up after a significant lapse in time covering an economic crash and recovery. The plot is pretty straight forward but interesting. The writing style is a little dry. I did find it an interesting treatment of a nearly immortal character which strikes me as being fairly difficult to write. It's about as good as the previous book and worth reading if one's been following the series.

Recommend to those who are following the series