Reviews with content warning for Incest - Dune Messiah

Reviews tagging 'Incest'

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

66 reviews

lizzyjean's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

This was an absolutely underrated book. It is very politics-heavy, therefore can be hard to follow, but if you allow yourself to focus on the story as well as read between the lines, this book is fantastic. Dune and Dune Messiah are a fantastic pair, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Content Warnings

alterdd's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

maiabradley's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

apersonfromflorida's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

ssellwood's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

A lot of the problems I have with Dune Messiah are the same as with Dune. I find Herbert's writing style to be overly complex, with overuse of jargon that isn't well explained. I also find it quite jarring how he changes character POVs without warning. The plot is quite slow to start, and does grow in tension but I don't feel it had quite the same grand scale of epic as Dune. Highlights included development of Alia and Duncan's characters and their relationship, and Paul's changing visions and emotions.

Content Warnings