You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
In rereading the Dune series, I never imagined that God Emperor of Dune would be the installment I would recommend most highly after the original, and for the times we are living in, at the beginning of the 2020s, the installment that speaks most directly to our times. Herbert’s exploration of power structure, justice, equality, and history speak directly to our current struggles for racial justice and reform/removal of current systems of justice. Here are a couple of the quotes that felt like Herbert clearly said what many of us are trying to work out right now:
The story itself is not as clear, nor as well-paced as the original, but for the thought alone, it is worth it. On the other hand, I want to clearly warn that Herbert’s homophobia, very obliquely touched on to this point, comes into full bloom. It’s embarrassing to watch his logic, used to so effectively dissect social issues, come apart at the seams here. Here is my understanding of his argument: the idea of racial/human memory on which his series relies so heavily, he would argue, is part of all human beings, and that not carrying on that genetic memory is a twisting of the genetic drive. He sees homosexuality as a natural but adolescent drive which is then overcome in the mature adult, or if left as is, it twists into a drive for pain. I’m not saying it makes sense; I’m just saying that’s what I got from it. Knowing that Herbert left his younger son to die alone of AIDS makes his twisted logic that much more painful to deal with. Despite this, I would urge you not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. This is a page or two in an expansive novel that has so much more to offer.
“The social forms by which cities make the attempt are worth study. Remember that there exists a certain malevolence about the formation of any social order. It is the struggle for existence by an artificial entity. Despotism and slavery hover at the edges. Many injuries occur and, thus, the need for laws. The law develops its own power structure, creating more wounds and new injustices. Such trauma can be healed by cooperation, not by confrontation. The summons to cooperate identifies the healer.”
Privilege becomes arrogance. Arrogance promotes injustice.
Systems incorporate the unexamined beliefs of their creators. Adopt a system, accept its beliefs, and you help strengthen the resistance to change.
“It has always been one of your flaws to seek hysteria,” Moneo said. “I warn you that ignorance thrives on hysteria...The undeserving maintain power by promoting hysteria.”
The story itself is not as clear, nor as well-paced as the original, but for the thought alone, it is worth it. On the other hand, I want to clearly warn that Herbert’s homophobia, very obliquely touched on to this point, comes into full bloom. It’s embarrassing to watch his logic, used to so effectively dissect social issues, come apart at the seams here. Here is my understanding of his argument: the idea of racial/human memory on which his series relies so heavily, he would argue, is part of all human beings, and that not carrying on that genetic memory is a twisting of the genetic drive. He sees homosexuality as a natural but adolescent drive which is then overcome in the mature adult, or if left as is, it twists into a drive for pain. I’m not saying it makes sense; I’m just saying that’s what I got from it. Knowing that Herbert left his younger son to die alone of AIDS makes his twisted logic that much more painful to deal with. Despite this, I would urge you not to throw out the baby with the bathwater. This is a page or two in an expansive novel that has so much more to offer.
More Dune. More dialogue and diatribes with original thought and references to our own history. More themes and motifs that I will be slowly pulling apart over time, because I could not do the book justice so soon after finishing it. An interesting premise that follows through with interesting commentary on our own society.
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Closer to 3.5 as the last quarter of the book does a lot to bring the score up as the middle portion becomes a bit of a slog. There are extended sections wherein all sorts of vague statements and ideas are thrown around (mostly by Leto II) and whilst I could grasp the majority some where just a bit too baseless and odd for me to get my head around.
I still really enjoyed the book as I'm very much committed to reading the main series but this feels like a different book to the the first 3. Friends and shop assistants alike told me "it gets weird here" and I wanted them to be wrong but they were in fact correct. Not the book I was expecting at all and I have so many questions as the pacing and themes are all over the place. I'm hoping some of these will be answered in Heretics and Chapterhouse
I still really enjoyed the book as I'm very much committed to reading the main series but this feels like a different book to the the first 3. Friends and shop assistants alike told me "it gets weird here" and I wanted them to be wrong but they were in fact correct. Not the book I was expecting at all and I have so many questions as the pacing and themes are all over the place. I'm hoping some of these will be answered in Heretics and Chapterhouse
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Layers and messages. Analogies and parallels and morals and fables. So much in the book and so much to learn for today’s society from the place and actors within Herbert’s mind in this fourth book of the series. Better and better as it progresses.
challenging
dark
reflective
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes