Reviews - Dune Messiah | The StoryGraph

10.4k reviews for:

Dune Messiah

Frank Herbert

3.77 AVERAGE

longhorn396's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

_raegun's review against another edition

4.0

I think I like this more than Dune, which is a little shocking to me, as I genuinely enjoyed Dune quite a lot. Honestly, it might be as simple as this was the quicker read. The world was already largely set up, so there was less to learn and absorb, and also of course the page count is significantly less.

I liked the drama and the increased cynicism, and I enjoyed getting more into

Spoiler

the mechanics of prescience, how it works and how it doesn't. I often found myself frustrated by Paul's seeming inability to do anything. For all his vaunted skill and destined chosen one-esque build up in Dune, he seemed as trapped in the maze as the rest of the rats. I think Alia's character perspective helped really flesh out the limitations of the kwisatz haderach prescience,

and that felt more grounded to me.

I will say, the one thing this book could have easily done without was the introduction. I came so close to not even starting this book, after I read that. Not only did it literally contain spoilers, it also insulted the reader's ability to understand the content of the previous book and of this one. When an introduction to a book talks down to you, you really question the wisdom in deciding to keep reading. I, for one, did not actually ever deify Paul in my head, think him a 'hero', nor did I anticipate some perfect world manifesting under his rule. I found it pretty obvious in Dune that Paul feared what he would become, and saw no way to avoid it that did not lead to further and worse consequences. I never anticipated seeing him become a benevolent ruler, and frankly, any reader who did was, in my opinion, supplying story where there was none. The intro did solidify for me that from now on, unless it is clearly part of the book, in some artistic fashion, I will not read introductions.

When an introduction (yes, I'm still on this, it's THAT bad) has the reader asking themselves, in all seriousness, 'is this satire?', and then concluding that it is not, you've messed up. In addition to my above complaints, Brian also writes in direct contradiction to his father's wishes, and seems incapable of self-reflection or realization, to the extent that it begins to feel like dramatic irony. Here are a few quotes from the intro that illustrate some of why I disliked it so much:

"Frank Herbert told interviewers that he did not want to be considered a hero", followed by, "In Dreamer of Dune, the biography I wrote about him, I described him as a legendary author" and, perhaps most hilariously, "If he had been a politician, he would have undoubtedly been an honorable one, perhaps even one of our greatest U.S. presidents." Umm, wtf? And they still publish new printings with this at the beginning?!