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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
slow-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
I don’t see Paul as the bad one. Am i the problem?
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
At first I had trouble with this book because I thought it would be a follow up of Dune, this book felt like its own novel its different from the original.
At first when I started reading I was rooting for Paul ofc cuz of all the plotting by his enemies but as this book progresses (and it took me a while until the last few chapters) is that I understood things, I started rooting for Paul but at the end you just feel bad for him even tho he had won, he lost everything even tho he had everything. He was emperor, he had the power but he never wanted any of that. He knew everything that was going to happen and that’s why he did everything he did, to set the future of people on a golden path.
Frank wanted to portray Paul for what he really was, he was never meant to be a hero. IMO this book was about Paul not about anything else, not religion or dictators/emperors being bad but for showing Paul for what he was was.
Anyways my thoughts are all over the place so this review might not make sense so imma leave it here.
"Here lies a toppled god. His fall was not a small one. We did but build his pedestal, A narrow and a tall one"
Completely different tone compared to Dune and I like this one more
Completely different tone compared to Dune and I like this one more
I hated this, until I loved it.
It is a much sadder book than the first. Gone are the epicness, the revenge, the grandeur. We are left in a world where there is torment, anguish, regret, plotting, and betrayal. It is honestly boring and hard to engage in for roughly half. The tendency of Herbert to leave important events off camera and to indulge in long conversation with a philosophical penchant do not help the reader to get engaged to the book.
Which is a shame, as the events of the first would have called for a "the rise and fall" kind of story. We are left only with a slow fall, with only hints of the rise. I believe the movie, if it happens, will fix this.
Yet, no matter how dark and depressing Dune Messiah can be, the end is beautifully sad. It redeemed the rest of the book, even if I needed a few hours to assimilate what I read and comprehend it fully. It did not make total sense on a first read, but then it clicked, and it fits perfectly with the rest of Paul's story. Not a hero, neither a villain, rather a victim of fate.
It is a much sadder book than the first. Gone are the epicness, the revenge, the grandeur. We are left in a world where there is torment, anguish, regret, plotting, and betrayal. It is honestly boring and hard to engage in for roughly half. The tendency of Herbert to leave important events off camera and to indulge in long conversation with a philosophical penchant do not help the reader to get engaged to the book.
Which is a shame, as the events of the first would have called for a "the rise and fall" kind of story. We are left only with a slow fall, with only hints of the rise. I believe the movie, if it happens, will fix this.
Yet, no matter how dark and depressing Dune Messiah can be, the end is beautifully sad. It redeemed the rest of the book, even if I needed a few hours to assimilate what I read and comprehend it fully. It did not make total sense on a first read, but then it clicked, and it fits perfectly with the rest of Paul's story. Not a hero, neither a villain, rather a victim of fate.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I watched Dune part 2 yesterday, and the ebullient reception of the film and my own mixed feelings left me cold and confused. I just didn't understand what was enjoyable about the story. Decided to read Dune Messiah, 10 or 11 years after reading the first novel, to see what I'd missed. As it turns out, nothing.
This is a less a review of a book than a plea from those who liked it to tell me -- why? How was this an enjoyable story? How did you manage to give a shit about paper thin characters and relentless midwit philosophising and nothing making any sense? The stakes are so high that the deaths of billions are utterly inconsequential to the stilted, meandering conversations of the characters. Nobody really gives a shit, so I don't either. And no-one in the films every really acted like a human.
I've never understood the "imaginative appeal" of a sci fi world invented by a writer with such a narrow and limited understanding of human emotion. Without the stunning visuals of the films, there is nothing in this book to recommend at all.
This is a less a review of a book than a plea from those who liked it to tell me -- why? How was this an enjoyable story? How did you manage to give a shit about paper thin characters and relentless midwit philosophising and nothing making any sense? The stakes are so high that the deaths of billions are utterly inconsequential to the stilted, meandering conversations of the characters. Nobody really gives a shit, so I don't either. And no-one in the films every really acted like a human.
I've never understood the "imaginative appeal" of a sci fi world invented by a writer with such a narrow and limited understanding of human emotion. Without the stunning visuals of the films, there is nothing in this book to recommend at all.