limatau's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book starts so well and runs well for a long time. Following the grabs for power all the factions are making after the death of Paul is interesting and fun. All the religious aspects Paul hated are seen being leveraged by his heirs and we can see that the idea of Paul has definitely been manipulated as he feared/hoped. I personally love how Paul’s influence is being leveraged by people against his heirs, showing how people cling to mystery in religion. First 3/4ths is very good!
The last fourth of this book is so bad I can’t even begin to describe my disappointment without spoilers. All I’ll say is it gets so goofy it pulls me out of the book. The philosophy is flimsy and ultimately unacceptable.
I also think Leto vs Paul ideology isn’t fleshed out enough. Paul basically advocates a position of passivity where, sure terrible things will happen, but the engineering of a system that perpetuates evil is worse than letting the terrible things happen. Leto advocates for a brutal enforcement of oppression to mold a society where massive terrible events cannot occur. This might be an interesting thought experiment except it hinges on a very I’ll advised contrivance that as a reader I cannot bring myself to accept: Paul and Leto see with complete clarity. In order to side with either character the reader must accept that there is no other option than Paul or Leto provide. This is flimsy and also reveals that the author does not think very highly of people. Herbert seems to say that people are bad and that they should be left to being bad or violently beaten into behaving. This is way to much for me to accept and, if I let myself accept it just for a moment I feel that the unsaid third option is best. Humanity should go extinct and let the next species try to live better. This isn’t explored enough and instead we get the next book in the series which is even worse than this one.
The last fourth of this book is so bad I can’t even begin to describe my disappointment without spoilers. All I’ll say is it gets so goofy it pulls me out of the book. The philosophy is flimsy and ultimately unacceptable.
Spoiler
I think the super hero powers Leto gets along with the turn to madness of Alia are just so ham fisted. Alia being born bad at all is a limited way at looking at humans. Sure the author shows that a difference in conditions can vastly impact the way in which a person develops but it still accepts that people can be born bad which I think is a terrible way at looking at the world.I also think Leto vs Paul ideology isn’t fleshed out enough. Paul basically advocates a position of passivity where, sure terrible things will happen, but the engineering of a system that perpetuates evil is worse than letting the terrible things happen. Leto advocates for a brutal enforcement of oppression to mold a society where massive terrible events cannot occur. This might be an interesting thought experiment except it hinges on a very I’ll advised contrivance that as a reader I cannot bring myself to accept: Paul and Leto see with complete clarity. In order to side with either character the reader must accept that there is no other option than Paul or Leto provide. This is flimsy and also reveals that the author does not think very highly of people. Herbert seems to say that people are bad and that they should be left to being bad or violently beaten into behaving. This is way to much for me to accept and, if I let myself accept it just for a moment I feel that the unsaid third option is best. Humanity should go extinct and let the next species try to live better. This isn’t explored enough and instead we get the next book in the series which is even worse than this one.
the_bacon_mann's review against another edition
4.25
“The purpose of argument is to change the nature of truth.”
apt678's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
phiagrace97's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While the world building remains incredible, I found this to be on the weaker side of this series so far. The twins felt almost gimmicky. The parallels to our world while always prominent in the other books felt like they were being shoved in your face in this book. And the continued Increase of meta ideas and concepts just got to be a bit much for me. That said, I was still hooked for the last 150 or so pages and am constantly impressed by the creativity that went into this series. Very unique
hypatiasilver's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
sageofthe6pack's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
i love this fucking weird ass book, easily my favorite installment of the dune series. leto getting like, mario power up sand fish armor is the coolest thing to ever happen in the series. breaks my heart that the cowards in hollywood will never adapt this one to film.
i certainly get why this book would not appeal to others, but to me the grotesque relationships, behaviors, and developments of the characters is very compelling.
i certainly get why this book would not appeal to others, but to me the grotesque relationships, behaviors, and developments of the characters is very compelling.