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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
A completely different tone from the first book, Dune Messiah focuses much more on the political intrigue and internal struggles of the characters put in motion at the end of the original Dune. I get what Frank Herbert was going for, and I could appreciate much of it, but the overall storyline seemed much more messy and less clear than the first.
The scope of this book is far smaller, really only taking place in Arrakeen. I appreciate how the story fleshes out the ideas at the end of Dune, talking about the death and destruction brought about by Paul’s Jihad and making more clear that Paul is not the “hero” of this story. One of the more striking moments in the story was in the first chapter, where a historian is tortured for writing a critical history of the Emperor. While Paul is clearly desperately seeking a way out of the Jihad, he still allows these things to happen and is therefore responsible for them.
I also like that we get more lore, like seeing how fucked-up looking the Guild Navigators are and learning about all the other weird shit that goes on in the universe. Thought the Tleilaxu were pretty cool. Herbert is obviously a great world-builder, and I enjoyed living in the world he constructed again.
I did think however that the story seemed a bit sloppy. The plot against Paul seemed a bit convoluted at times, though I guess it all made more sense at the end. I think it was dumb to bring Duncan Idaho back (apparently people were really upset that he died in the first book? He barely did anything lol). It also seemed a bit half-finished. To me, this book is like if you took the Part I of Dune, made it a bit more convoluted, and didn’t include any of the action of the other parts. It was still enjoyable, but it just didn’t hit the same as the first book. From my understanding from Dune heads, this book needed to happen but is the worst in the series. Looking forward to continuing the story and hopefully it picks back up again in the 3rd book.
The scope of this book is far smaller, really only taking place in Arrakeen. I appreciate how the story fleshes out the ideas at the end of Dune, talking about the death and destruction brought about by Paul’s Jihad and making more clear that Paul is not the “hero” of this story. One of the more striking moments in the story was in the first chapter, where a historian is tortured for writing a critical history of the Emperor. While Paul is clearly desperately seeking a way out of the Jihad, he still allows these things to happen and is therefore responsible for them.
I also like that we get more lore, like seeing how fucked-up looking the Guild Navigators are and learning about all the other weird shit that goes on in the universe. Thought the Tleilaxu were pretty cool. Herbert is obviously a great world-builder, and I enjoyed living in the world he constructed again.
I did think however that the story seemed a bit sloppy. The plot against Paul seemed a bit convoluted at times, though I guess it all made more sense at the end. I think it was dumb to bring Duncan Idaho back (apparently people were really upset that he died in the first book? He barely did anything lol). It also seemed a bit half-finished. To me, this book is like if you took the Part I of Dune, made it a bit more convoluted, and didn’t include any of the action of the other parts. It was still enjoyable, but it just didn’t hit the same as the first book. From my understanding from Dune heads, this book needed to happen but is the worst in the series. Looking forward to continuing the story and hopefully it picks back up again in the 3rd book.
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Muy bueno.
Nuevamente el autor te da pistas de lo que pasará, y aún así no deja de ser doloroso cuando finalmente sucede.
Definitivamente la saga ya entró a mi lista de favoritos de la vida .
Paul ❤️❤️❤️
Nuevamente el autor te da pistas de lo que pasará, y aún así no deja de ser doloroso cuando finalmente sucede.
Definitivamente la saga ya entró a mi lista de favoritos de la vida .
Paul ❤️❤️❤️
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
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
like kinda hard to read but also reading the introduction at the end made it much better if i could give half stars I would
I'm not sure why people complain about the lack of drama here. The shift from planetary conflict to domestic troubles yields no less intense conversations and events - assassination plots and marital harmony are the subjects of the day. That said, perhaps Herbert felt Paul Atreides a character impossible to sustain. Regardless, I enjoyed this shorter work fine, fine, fine.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
No
Frank Herbert’s writing is amazing. I loved the first book and this one was another great read, though much shorter. It felt more like a set up for the third book. But the deep old sci-fi feeling Dune is intoxicating.
Dune Messiah has themes of the danger of government and religion mixing together realised that was built up in the first novel, and a mix of fallen hero and hero’s sacrifice. Though this book has the same critique of the first, that the enemies intentions are revealed to us first, though this time Paul sees it all coming. Another critique is the character of Alia. Not really sure of her purpose, as she is built up to be such a powerful character, yet we don’t see much of her actual long doing anything. I guess this is more set up for the next book.
Dune Messiah has themes of the danger of government and religion mixing together realised that was built up in the first novel, and a mix of fallen hero and hero’s sacrifice. Though this book has the same critique of the first, that the enemies intentions are revealed to us first, though this time Paul sees it all coming. Another critique is the character of Alia. Not really sure of her purpose, as she is built up to be such a powerful character, yet we don’t see much of her actual long doing anything. I guess this is more set up for the next book.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated