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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
I love Dune for many many reasons too numerous to list here, but chiefly for the way it’s one paramount theme evolves over the course of the series. This book is often seen as the “horny” book, meant to be a derision, but calling it that is a disservice to, and a complete misunderstanding of, the Big Theme of the series: humanity’s fetishization of power and control will be our downfall, and those that seek to use power to control us will ALWAYS be destroyed by their own devices. After the death of the God Emperor and the great scattering, the “rot at the core” of humanity is still present, manifesting in our innate attraction and vulnerability to those shadowy forces that still exist and seek to control us. Sex has always been the tool used by the Bene Gesserit and the Tleilaxu to control the genetics, behaviors, psychology, and societies of Dune, but in this book it comes back from the fringe worlds as a weapon used by the Honored Matres. In this form, it is immediately gratifying, explicitly manipulative, slave-inducing, and non-consensual. It depicted as intensely pleasurable (hence the horny allegations), but the point of that is to illustrate the rot that the God Emperor prophesied. All other forms of species-wide control have died in the great scattering, and this is a win for humanity. But the last remaining one? The last remnant of the old tools that overpower us? It’s sex, or at least, Frank Herbert says it is. And I see why he posits this—It’s the base animal drive to continue the species, so of course it’s the one that survives the scattering. But in the process of surviving, it adapts and becomes perverted into a weapon. This is not a demonization of sex by the author, but completely in line with the theme of the series— a demonization then of those that seek to abuse our attraction to control. Sex is just the weapon used this time around, because it’s the only one that still works.
All things that linger will have adapted to changing circumstances over time, and not all changes will be beneficial, and some will even be actively harmful in ways that reveal our weaknesses. The fremen learned to survive in the harshest ecosystem of the universe, showing the best of human evolutionary capabilities, but became an unstoppable, dehumanized weapon of religious fervor when wielded by Paul, a single man corrupted by power. Now, that raw power consumes the act of sex, and reveals the weaknesses in our most primal, animal, deeply rooted behavior of reproduction and the act that ensures genetic diversity.
But the beauty of Dune is that it is never completely hopeless. Frank Herbert saw that despite our many many flaws as a species, the key to our survival is this: our ability to adapt and overcome centralized powers, despite our attraction to them. Those powers adapt, but so do we. The weaponization of sex becomes a double edged sword that harms both parties involved. It is symbolic of the rot at the core of humanity that spreads outward, gnawing at us until it cannot be ignored any longer. That power seduced the Honored Matres into becoming the last bastion of oppression. They seek to continue the negative feedback loop that defines our collective struggle. The destruction of Arrakis by the protagonists, who over the course of the book come to understand the True plan of the God Emperor, is a triumph, as they symbolically destroy humanity’s final tether: our innate, unconscious attraction to those that seek to control us. This is our rot, and this book is the revelation and destruction of that rot. Humanity may physically be free to follow any path in this world (a freedom ensured by the great scattering), but until the archetype of our oppression is erased, forces will continue to fill that role and we will continue to succumb to them, until we evolve the strength to liberate ourselves from that rot at our core
Seeing the book through this lens, it’s a continuation of the chronicle of humanity’s struggle for freedom, and I’m excited to see what happens in the final book now that the rot at the core has been destroyed and humanity liberated from the God Emperor’s designs. Will we survive, adapt, and evolve? Or will the last remaining agents of oppression evolve to enslave what’s left of us before we get there?
Or, and perhaps this is the true answer, maybe that struggle is endless, and it will always be.
All things that linger will have adapted to changing circumstances over time, and not all changes will be beneficial, and some will even be actively harmful in ways that reveal our weaknesses. The fremen learned to survive in the harshest ecosystem of the universe, showing the best of human evolutionary capabilities, but became an unstoppable, dehumanized weapon of religious fervor when wielded by Paul, a single man corrupted by power. Now, that raw power consumes the act of sex, and reveals the weaknesses in our most primal, animal, deeply rooted behavior of reproduction and the act that ensures genetic diversity.
But the beauty of Dune is that it is never completely hopeless. Frank Herbert saw that despite our many many flaws as a species, the key to our survival is this: our ability to adapt and overcome centralized powers, despite our attraction to them. Those powers adapt, but so do we. The weaponization of sex becomes a double edged sword that harms both parties involved. It is symbolic of the rot at the core of humanity that spreads outward, gnawing at us until it cannot be ignored any longer. That power seduced the Honored Matres into becoming the last bastion of oppression. They seek to continue the negative feedback loop that defines our collective struggle. The destruction of Arrakis by the protagonists, who over the course of the book come to understand the True plan of the God Emperor, is a triumph, as they symbolically destroy humanity’s final tether: our innate, unconscious attraction to those that seek to control us. This is our rot, and this book is the revelation and destruction of that rot. Humanity may physically be free to follow any path in this world (a freedom ensured by the great scattering), but until the archetype of our oppression is erased, forces will continue to fill that role and we will continue to succumb to them, until we evolve the strength to liberate ourselves from that rot at our core
Seeing the book through this lens, it’s a continuation of the chronicle of humanity’s struggle for freedom, and I’m excited to see what happens in the final book now that the rot at the core has been destroyed and humanity liberated from the God Emperor’s designs. Will we survive, adapt, and evolve? Or will the last remaining agents of oppression evolve to enslave what’s left of us before we get there?
Or, and perhaps this is the true answer, maybe that struggle is endless, and it will always be.
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Frank's Freakiest.
Kind of kick ass right at the beginning and right at the end but super slow in the middle.
Kind of kick ass right at the beginning and right at the end but super slow in the middle.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I’ve gotta stop gaslighting myself into thinking these books are genius when only the last chapter is good. The concept is there but it could be way better. Frank ate with the first 3 books but this last half is such a disappointment after how good the first half was. I still think they have potential for analysis with a second read bc I probably missed so much but the plot was so all over the place with this one. I’d rather listen to an atriedes yap
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed this book more than God Emperor, considering everything one hears online about the 5th and 6th books being significantly worse. I guess it's up to each one's taste.
I enjoyed it because it felt more like a space opera, with a bigger scope and more interesting POVs from characters, especially Miles Teg. Yet, it is very different when compared to the first trilogy.
I have to say that the weird sex stuff along the story is still very weird, but the way it actually fits the general plot makes enough sense to not make it unbearable to read.
I am looking forward to reading Chapter House!
I enjoyed it because it felt more like a space opera, with a bigger scope and more interesting POVs from characters, especially Miles Teg. Yet, it is very different when compared to the first trilogy.
I have to say that the weird sex stuff along the story is still very weird, but the way it actually fits the general plot makes enough sense to not make it unbearable to read.
I am looking forward to reading Chapter House!
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated