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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Not reviewing the whole Dune series because that would take forever, but do let me say that this book only gets three stars because I thought it was the most exciting of all of them. Too bad it wasn't exciting enough for me to almost fail out at 98%.
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
medium-paced
Deeply unsatisfying (), and very laborious to get through.
Hardly anything seems to happen. We are led through meandering passages of heady dialogue and "realizations" of plans, concoctions, schemes, all of which seem to happen without us present. In this way it reads much like a stage play: "Did ya hear? The king was killed in battle!" "Oh my!" Also, introducing Jews? An odd choice to say the least.
The expository master was not on his best game; he died a year after this was published. The only way he seemed to have to build a universe was for people to ruminate or to openly talk about the repercussions of proposed actions. I just wish they'd act! Can't we see some of this play out? Can't we be told things a little less directly? He was great at building a world; not as great with the plot on this one. It was clear to me Herbert was forcing a plot onto existing characters; he was much better at starting anew in the same universe with virtually all new characters, in the previous installments. He faltered right when he "revived" more than just by including them in a follow-on novel.
I'll certainly continue the series; but I frankly didn't want these characters to be the ones that would span multiple books. I don't care about them... Hopefully the two sequels by Frank's son are not about the same characters; it would be cool to see though.
This was the hardest one for me to get through.
Spoiler
ends on a cliffhangerHardly anything seems to happen. We are led through meandering passages of heady dialogue and "realizations" of plans, concoctions, schemes, all of which seem to happen without us present. In this way it reads much like a stage play: "Did ya hear? The king was killed in battle!" "Oh my!" Also, introducing Jews? An odd choice to say the least.
The expository master was not on his best game; he died a year after this was published. The only way he seemed to have to build a universe was for people to ruminate or to openly talk about the repercussions of proposed actions. I just wish they'd act! Can't we see some of this play out? Can't we be told things a little less directly? He was great at building a world; not as great with the plot on this one. It was clear to me Herbert was forcing a plot onto existing characters; he was much better at starting anew in the same universe with virtually all new characters, in the previous installments. He faltered right when he "revived" more than just
Spoiler
the odd ghola or twoI'll certainly continue the series; but I frankly didn't want these characters to be the ones that would span multiple books. I don't care about them... Hopefully the two sequels by Frank's son are not about the same characters; it would be cool to see
Spoiler
Sheeana make a new religionThis was the hardest one for me to get through.
While it would be impossible to form an opinion of this novel without the context of the entire Chronicles, it is also important to consider how wonderfully well-written Chapterhouse: Dune was. The conclusion might baffle a casual reader, but it is difficult to fathom that anyone would approach any of Herbert's Dune novels with naivete or even without the ability to immediately recognize how masterfully crafted every component was. The prose, being the dialogue and the story and characters, is rich with imagination and intelligence. Setting, too, is just as much a part of the plot and drama of it all as in every prior novel. Often dizzying, and thusly rewarding revisit, Chapterhouse: Dune is a masterwork of a genius not just of the science fiction genre, but of fiction itself.
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
Where did the plot go? Seriously, what happened? Dune is widely considered a great story but what is this absolute bullshit? Herbert's first mistake was killing Paul off in Messiah and implementing a three thousand year time jump between Children and God Emperor, then more time jumps of inconceivable length afterwards. There was no need to go past three books, let alone two. Why did this get to eight? I didn't even understand what was happening by the time I got to Heretics and I didn't care at all about the characters because they weren't Paul or his sister or his children.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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
Couldn’t get back into the dune universe