Scan barcode
peggy_racham's review
4.0
By far my favorite in the series, so far. Loved Miles Tag and his view, enjoyed Duncan for the first time since the first book. Overall a good read, filled with existential questions answered in a true Frank Herbert fashion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Colonisation, Sexual assault, War, Death, Gun violence, Sexual content, and Misogyny
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Incest
sir_willyam's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
A return to some of the fundamental story telling in previous Dune books found in Messiah, and Children, Heretics is a lot more character-based than the philosophy-heavy slog that God Emperor sometimes felt like. Despite Arrakis being recognizable again, aspects of Frank Herbert’s story telling doesn’t. The inclusion of sex-driven plot was the single most disruptive part of the entire series, and is a big factor in why I DNF the last book in the series, Chapterhouse: Dune.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Torture
Moderate: War, Murder, and Death
Minor: Addiction, Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Drug use
revolution666's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.0
Took me long enough to continue reading these. I've been loving the series up to this point, including the more divisive God Emperor of Dune, and I finally decided to get to this next one recently, and I have to say...it's easily my least favorite so far.
Herbert's prose has always been very unique, sometimes being a bit detached and slightly difficult to follow, but it definitely hits that peak with Heretics. The flow of this novel is somehow simultaneously slogging and erratic, with individual scenes taking significantly longer to get through than ever before with constant interruptions of internal dialogues and reflective musings, as well as regular flashbacks to previously unvisited scenarios to give context in certain situations, which is an interesting storytelling choice that can admittedly work in some cases but doesn't really come off well in such a deeply detailed and elaborate work as this, making it rather messy and sometimes unfocused.
Another aspect that really annoyed me ALL throughout is the fact that, unlike the more naturally unfolding (yet still very complex) plots of the previous novels, every character seems to be able to read every person they interact with and divulge and demystify just about every aspect of every conflict and conversation they're in in just the right way to conveniently move the plot along in the way Herbert needs it to, or in some cases we have just the right kind of change happening or character showing up at just the right time for just the right purpose, all resulting in a very awkwardly forced story progression (this is all at its very worse in the final chunk of the story as well). I can't tell you how many times I sighed or rolled my eyes at a character coming to get another immense revelation that felt totally unnatural.
Despite these glaring issues, though, Herbert's prose in of itself is still very good, albeit at its most difficult to penetrate yet, the story in general is still decent enough despite its progression problems, and it has some otherwise interesting and unique characters, especially Miles Teg who I found myself liking very much. It's not a bad book, and I had no real issues getting through it, but its easily the most flawed of the Dune novels up to this point.
6/10
Herbert's prose has always been very unique, sometimes being a bit detached and slightly difficult to follow, but it definitely hits that peak with Heretics. The flow of this novel is somehow simultaneously slogging and erratic, with individual scenes taking significantly longer to get through than ever before with constant interruptions of internal dialogues and reflective musings, as well as regular flashbacks to previously unvisited scenarios to give context in certain situations, which is an interesting storytelling choice that can admittedly work in some cases but doesn't really come off well in such a deeply detailed and elaborate work as this, making it rather messy and sometimes unfocused.
Another aspect that really annoyed me ALL throughout is the fact that, unlike the more naturally unfolding (yet still very complex) plots of the previous novels, every character seems to be able to read every person they interact with and divulge and demystify just about every aspect of every conflict and conversation they're in in just the right way to conveniently move the plot along in the way Herbert needs it to, or in some cases we have just the right kind of change happening or character showing up at just the right time for just the right purpose, all resulting in a very awkwardly forced story progression (this is all at its very worse in the final chunk of the story as well). I can't tell you how many times I sighed or rolled my eyes at a character coming to get another immense revelation that felt totally unnatural.
Despite these glaring issues, though, Herbert's prose in of itself is still very good, albeit at its most difficult to penetrate yet, the story in general is still decent enough despite its progression problems, and it has some otherwise interesting and unique characters, especially Miles Teg who I found myself liking very much. It's not a bad book, and I had no real issues getting through it, but its easily the most flawed of the Dune novels up to this point.
6/10
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Confinement, Slavery, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
More...