Reviews with content warning for Religious bigotry - Dune Messiah

Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

icarusandthesun's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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? Yes

2.0

dune—but it felt like a cheap knock-off.
there are some bigs twists in this book that should've thrown you off, made you put the book down for a few seconds to comprehend what just happened; should've, but it didn't.

even though the book ends on chani's death and the main character PAUL ATREIDES' LITERALLY DISAPPEARING/DYING, i was left more confused than shocked and unimpressed, too.

it was the writing, mostly. i don't know where frank herbert went wrong (& perhaps i am the problem), but the narration was dry and all the 'political intrigue' a yap-fest.
how the conflict was resolved in the end felt rushed and a little silly.
wasn't a fan.

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jelliclejules's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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aileron's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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lqne's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The second installment of the Dune series managed to be more confusing to read than the first. Perhaps that is due to the more recent movie being available by the time I decided to have a crack at the first volume, in which many of my questions regarding concepts of the story were explained. Dune Messiah carries over the philosophical questionings of power and destiny, but within an overachieving arc of oracles,

people being brought back from the dead and only in the last pages of the book you can understand they are in fact, those people, visions from a blind Paul, and more

. I appreciate Herbert's musings, and I think I have gained more respect for his ideas, but I can't condone such a difficult writing for the subject of science fiction. And not that this genre shouldn't be subjected to a serious tone, as sci-fi has allowed humanity to explore the limits of infinite possibilities, but having to decipher your own plot through cues at the beginning of each chapter is perhaps a hint that your readers need all the help they can get. And in the spirit of learning, if an entire class fails to understand the assignment, the blame shouldn't be deposited at the student's feet, but rather at their teacher's.
In the end, I think the overall desert aesthetic of the first book was more enjoyable, rich with ecological understandings, but the second one lost me a bit with all the talks of politics and an Emperor afflicted with the immutable position of his role.

And honestly the weird vibes of having Alia 'remember' having sex with her father (as her mother), and the mere indication of the possibility of Paul and Alia having a baby together to lock in their genes was enough for me to lose some of my interest. The fact that Herbert considered essential for a young woman to be 'mated' just because she started to feel her young woman body was also offputting text

. On and all, Dune Messiah was an interesting sequence to Dune, but all the meanderings and confusions from the writting have me almost firmly decided in not reading the rest of the series.

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