God Emperor of Dune

God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in his Dune series of six novels. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.

Plot

3,500 years following his decision in Children of Dune to merge his human body with sandtrout, the haploid phase of the giant sandworms of Arrakis, Leto Atreides II continues to rule the remnants of the Imperium. The acquisition of sandworm biology has extended his life span, but also transformed him into a "pre-worm": a being with a human head and arms, but the body of a worm. These features give him near-invulnerability, but also leave him prone to instinct-driven bouts of violence when provoked to anger. As a result, his rule is one of religious awe and despotic fear, giving him the title of God Emperor. The death of the sandworms has given him sole control over melange, and he has disbanded the Landsraad to all but a few Great Houses; the remaining powers defer to his authority, although they individually conspire against him in secret. The Fremen have long since lost their identity and true spirit and their military might have been replaced with the Fish Speakers: an all-female army who obey Leto without question. He has rendered the human population into a state of trans-galactic stagnation; space travel is non-existent to most people in his Empire, which he has deliberately kept to near-medieval level of technological sophistication. All of this he has done in accordance with a prophecy divined through precognition that will establish an enforced peace preventing humanity from destroying itself through aggressive behavior, but at the cost of his reputation and ultimately his life; it is explained that Leto II has "never looked" at the moment of his own death by way of his prescient vision.