I finished the book a while back and I’m about to start god emperor, but in the time between the books, I found myself hating this certain choice the author made. So full spoilers for children of dune I guess.
It’s the fact that Leto is becoming/becomes a worm. I understand that the author wanted to experiment with ideas of how far humanity could be stretched before we stop considering them human and the such but I feel like dune is definitely not the series to do that with. (I guess it was done a bit with the idea of the kwisats haderach but at the end of the day, Paul is still human with abilities)
I just don’t understand. Why make him a worm? I suck at describing it but like just why?
I feel like dune was at its best when it was about the struggles of humanity and tyranny. But now it just feels like I’m reading poorly written body horror. Maybe if Herbert wrote something else and explored these topics it would be ok. But exploring the topic through this manner in dune just feels out of place. And useless because it’s already being explored with the gholas.
Also why a worm specifically? It has a deific aspect to the fremen, but from a writing standpoint it doesn’t make sense. Leto and his father were already deified. I don’t understand why the author would replace one deific image for another. Especially when it has no effect other than giving him temporary abilities. I wish the author had just left Leto alone in terms of his transformation.
He could have replaced the powers Leto used to destroy the qanats with anything. A rogue group of fremen that decide to follow Leto due to exteme zealotry. Leto riding a worm through the qanats. Leto making a bomb with a shield generator and a lasgun to destroy the qanats. Anything. The powers he got from the sand trout are so useless idk why they’re even in the book
Also I feel like the bene gesserit training allowing for a human to live in symbiosis with an animal is completely an ass pull. It’s literally not even mentioned a single time in the previous two books.
It felt like I was watching a movie or something where an athlete wants to become stronger and he’s training throughout the whole movie, but at the end just randomly turns into a bull with no foreshadowing or the topic being related to the movie and says “Guess I’m stronger than a human now”
by Feisty-Treacle3451