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gremlingorl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Saint Alia of the Knife, you will always be famous (to me).
Moderate: Body horror and Pregnancy
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Incest, and Abortion
laura_nel13's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Infertility, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Incest, Slavery, and Death of parent
annikathereader's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Child death, Death, Incest, Infertility, Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
draven_deathcrush's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infertility, and Pregnancy
Minor: Ableism and Incest
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood and Medical content
zellnermatthew's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
In summary, the book has colorful imagery and the stories about
Minor: Death and Pregnancy
trvs49's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.5
Paul's character development is impressive and genuinely satisfying, and it stays true to the character. However, where this book lacks is in the writing of the female characters, which is considerably weaker, although Alia does present as a really cool, complex character. The incest stuff and the age gap between her and some of the characters, as well as the stuff about her dad being her lover, are not necessary, in my opinion.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
jelliclejules's review
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Xenophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Classism
Minor: Incest, Infertility, and Suicide
sarah_tani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and War
gvstyris's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Religion, too, is a weapon. What manner of weapon is religion when it becomes the government?
Dune Messiah is strikingly more didactic than its predecessor, jumping twelve years to follow a conspiracy against Paul's now-established rule over the empire. I'm struggling a bit to rate and condense my feelings about this novel, primarily because of how different it is to Dune.
Dune Messiah is theoretically right up my alley: it explores the corrupting influences of power and the inherent problems faced by a government built on religious worship and fabricated idolatry. Herbert is not intending to replicate the first novel's epic sense of adventure, but I would still argue that this sequel suffers a little without it. Its slow-burn is a bit painful, yet it ultimately still offers a much more nuanced (and needed!) character analysis of Paul, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I also really loved the discussion surrounding the Fremen's loss of cultural identity with 'modernisation.'
I'll definitely be considering continuing the series, but am mainly just hyped to see how Villeneuve chooses to adapt this story given his changes to Chani's character.
Moderate: Death, Infertility, Grief, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy
Minor: Incest