68 pages 2 hours read

Frank Herbert

Children of Dune

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1976

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Chapters 38-51Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 38 Summary

Jessica gives Farad’n his first lesson and instructs him to imagine his hands aging and turning young. The exercise requires patience, and in time, he will learn to view the universe’s stability as only relative to one’s mind. Farad’n gets frustrated but is determined to master the technique. Solemnly, Jessica notes that he reminds her of Paul.

Chapter 39 Summary

Gurney Halleck reveals himself to be Leto’s captor. Following Jessica’s orders, he injects Leto with a vial of concentrated spice essence, triggering the spice trance that the twins have been avoiding. Paul had undergone a similar process as a youth and nearly died, only to awaken as the Kwisatz Haderach. The ego-memory of Paul protects Leto from falling to Abomination during the trance. Leto repeatedly experiences a feeling that his “skin is not [his] own” (382) as visions of the past, present, and future converge in his mind. Of the many voices in his head, the ego-memory of Harum stands in distinction as the voice to lead him to his future. Leto proclaims in an old voice that “[u]niversal prescience is an empty myth” (385). Endowed with his new visions and awareness that Time and the universe are too vast and ever-changing to ever be formulated, Leto informs Namri that his father’s life was a trap he had made for himself.