Children of Dune was my least favourite of the original three novels. If he does Dune and then Dune Messiah, I'll be happy.

It's kind of a downer, though. I think they'll need to press on to at least God Emperor.

If it's the current director guy then...yeah, I could go for that. I like his take on it all so far, as much as for the stuff he's omitted as what he's included. He's obviously studied the novels and knows what's going to work on screen in order to drive the narrative forward. I'm wondering if he'll even show us the Spacing Guild at all. I enjoyed what he did with the first one, anyway.

I felt that that Children of Dune had already concluded the narrative. I disliked God Emperor because I had read the others and when it came out, it felt like unnecessary bloat (and I still haven't read Chapter House Dune (I don't think - if I have, it left no impression on me)).

Whaaa? The ultimate plan doesn't really take shape until God Emperor? Am I wrong?

I'm sure you are not wrong, but I had read the book sequence as 'The Dune Trilogy' and as such then ending of Children.., while unsatisfying on some ways, felt in step with what Herbert had been trying to do with the narrative - set things up as a traditional 'hero' quest then subvert the hero journey and make us all look at our own reactions a little more closely. A year after I had finished the trilogy, God Emperor came out and it felt like it expanded the whole narrative (and made a grotesque monster out of Leto) so much that I kind of lost interest. I thought, well if he can go there (thousands of years into the future with an immortal sandworm protagonist) he can go anywhere, so what's the point?

I have re-read the first three books many times. I have never bothered to re-read God Emperor. It is entirely possible that I am missing something.

I just finished Children Of Dune and started re-reading God Emperor and it's well worth a look. Even if you decide you dislike it, it's worth reading at least once.

The last time I read any of these novels was between the ages of twelve (almost thirteen) and sixteen, during which time I read all six...I'd forgotten so much and, obviously, reading them at the age of fifty-two is an entirely different experience. It's somehow thrown my mind back into the manner in which I used to read at that age, though. I seem to have re-ignited my ability to read things extremely quickly and to retain what I'm reading in fine detail, which is something I thought University had completely killed off back in my twenties. By the time I graduated in 1995 I hated reading fiction with a passion that defied reason and became more interested in biographies, but even that interest dwindled by the time I was in my early thirties and I basically stopped reading books at all.

I've really pleased I decided to re-read these, it's helped me rediscover how much I loved reading when I was a boy.

Considering the fact that Scytale is a shape-changing Face Dancer who spends much of his time in the novel impersonating other characters (including Duncan Idaho, and a lengthy chunk of the story spent disguised as a teenaged Fremen girl), I'm not sure any of these Hollywood big shots would necessarily be vying for that role - and I've heard Adrian Brody's name mentioned in relation to Scytale as well...but we'll see, I suppose.