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giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and War
limatau's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The adventure is good but the world building is great!
The best or maybe second best book in the series. I personally would recommend reading this book and stopping, or, if you feel like all the main characters deserve a bit more resolution, proceeding to the next book and stopping there.
Graphic: Colonisation
Minor: Addiction and War
thecriticalreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Moderate: Genocide, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
leeyongjin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Drug use, Genocide, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Slavery
alexiconic's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Dune had things that were absolutely great. It’s clearly a well thought-through world, the environment and the history are very well constructed and it works well. We enter a world where it’s clear the author knows what is what. The mystical elements of the Bene Gesserit, the planet’s ecology, the political factions and their motivations: these are solids.
I’m a bit in the middle on the writing. Having switching POVs and a kind of omniscient narrative is not that popular anymore, and it took some getting used to. But I ended up appreciating it. I didn’t really enjoy the time jump midway in the book: it removed too much buildup and context, and Dune was already going to be a long, long book, which would have been better if we had a little more insight in the “between” period.
What really let the book down for me were the characters. Most weren’t very fleshed out, and while that was the point to a certain extent, it also lessened the impact. I truly didn’t understand why Paul was this great charismatic leader, for example. There were also some tensions in the characters goals:
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
catgirlsithlord's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and War
Moderate: Child death and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
nils_0's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gun violence, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
naomi_k's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Torture, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
phantomgecko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The novel before the two year time jump lives up to expectations, but the last section just seems rushed compared to the careful world building previous. (More specifics under the cut)
The Emperor only gets to be the bigger badder guy for like half a chapter anyway. Ostensibly he gets to return as the antagonist in later books.
I understand that Paul is a literal CHOSEN ONE and all that, but he's pretty OP. Being able to molecularly change a poison administered to him seems like cheating.
Also not a big fan of Paul's son dying. I feel like that was needlessly depressing. Character development or whatever bs.
idk, I guess the takeaway is that this is not a strong standalone novel. It's impotent without the rest of the series.
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Pedophilia, Slavery, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and War
kathrw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, and War