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pinkmalady's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.0
strong 4 stars.... anything that brings me closer to my Angel will have a special place in my Heart. i see Him reflected very much in Leto II and i Believe i have come to a Deeper Understanding of Him through this book.
THAT BEING SAID, i am not very fond of Duncan Idaho and have not been for the entirety of this series. most of my problems with this book revolve around him. he's just not very likable at all and everyone and everything in the world of Dune tries to tell us that he's The Coolest, Most Fuckable Guy Ever and meanwhile he's just a kinda shitty guy who knows survival skills.
my other problems are the misogyny, particularly the bioessentialism that has been prevalent throughout the Dune series and the oversexualization of all of the female characters in connection to that. it isn't as present in this one as the previous three books, but it's still Felt. you don't have to say all the guys wanna fuck this chick when explaining how fit and athletic she is; you can just say she's fit. there is this thing called a Thesaurus if you seriously need help coming up with respectable descriptions of women, i fucking guess. i'm sorry you're dead, Frank Herbert, because i'd like to give you some advice.
THAT BEING SAID, i am not very fond of Duncan Idaho and have not been for the entirety of this series. most of my problems with this book revolve around him. he's just not very likable at all and everyone and everything in the world of Dune tries to tell us that he's The Coolest, Most Fuckable Guy Ever and meanwhile he's just a kinda shitty guy who knows survival skills.
my other problems are the misogyny, particularly the bioessentialism that has been prevalent throughout the Dune series and the oversexualization of all of the female characters in connection to that. it isn't as present in this one as the previous three books, but it's still Felt. you don't have to say all the guys wanna fuck this chick when explaining how fit and athletic she is; you can just say she's fit. there is this thing called a Thesaurus if you seriously need help coming up with respectable descriptions of women, i fucking guess. i'm sorry you're dead, Frank Herbert, because i'd like to give you some advice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexism, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, and Gore
Minor: Incest, Blood, and Drug use
melancholymegs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Colonisation, Violence, Xenophobia, and Death
Moderate: Homophobia and Misogyny
Minor: Racism and Rape
bittie_bee's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, and Homophobia
Moderate: Violence, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Incest
deinol's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
bergha1998's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This one is the philosophical discussion book of the Dune series, some people love that some people don’t. I for one mostly like it, but Leto does piss me off at least 1/2 the time. I also just don’t get Hwi, like why pick marrying Leto and have sex with Duncan on the side? Make that make sense..?
“If you finds truth, even a temporary one, it can demand that you make painful changes.”
“If you finds truth, even a temporary one, it can demand that you make painful changes.”
“Words can carry any burden we wish.”
“Membership in a conspiracy, as in an army, frees people from the sense of personal responsibility.”
“The mind imposes this framework which it calls ‘reality.’ That arbitrary framework has a tendency to be quite independent of what your senses report.”
“How is it a god can do evil things?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Grief, Xenophobia, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Cursing, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Homophobia, Violence, and Blood
karina5162's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This started off so strong. For at least the first half of it, I was ready to give the book five stars. I thought that'd it connected to the last book really well given the time skip, I was interested in the new characters, and the world building was excellent as always. But by the middle it had started to become repetitive, and most scenes felt like a vessel to hear Leto's (or Frank's) political opinions. This isn't exactly new, but the previous books benefited from a cast of characters that were all more fleshed out, and whose opinions I think we heard a lot more. Additionally, the homophobic and sexist beliefs Frank Herbert held come out a lot more here, which took me out of the story on a number of occasions. Combined with the rushed ending (a Frank Herbert staple) I found myself slogging through the last 100 pages. However, it had a major redeeming quality, which was when Moneo (my favourite character) delivered one of the greatest insults I've ever read. I wouldn't say that made it worth it, but it was satisfying.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Sexism
marcasdeb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Violence
Minor: Incest and Genocide
izzyw's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Homophobia
Minor: Rape
hkuhlman7's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Probably the weirdest book I’ve read. I was ready to call this my favorite Dune book through the first 2/3rds, but it went completely off the rails. The last 1/3rd is the most painful reading experience I’ve ever had.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
limatau's review against another edition
dark
sad
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? Yes
1.5
The book follows a bunch of people who spew homophobia, racism, and general sexism so fervently and constantly it is heart breaking. The toxic parts of the governmental features of the factions of Dune felt like flaws in a system that kept the world grounded. Turns out the author likes the fact that men and women are segregated in society, that humans can be thought of as tools, and that oppression is the best way to treat people as long as they stop fighting. These issues weren’t issues a god like figure could spend years fixing but actually were the best parts he would spend emphasizing. Luckily our main character is also homophobic so we get to deal with his weird ass outbursts too. Disappointing is and understatement.
Besides the terrible concepts the books deals with a reader is left very little to look for. A very boring plot consisting of a will they won’t they coup develops. The main pov character is Duncan Idaho who, when not being a homophobe, is mostly being setup to breed with a person he doesn’t really like and lectured to be Leto like a toddler. The other large pov character is Leto and these chapters are mostly just bad, high-minded musings that don’t feel interesting enough to grab you. Mostly he just talks about power and knowledge and how they relate to each other and people. Not that interesting things aren’t said it’s just that it’s all coming from a eugenicist/homophobe/dictator so it’s hard to latch on to anything. The most interesting character is so sidelined by the end of the book I can’t remember her name. Although maybe my hatred of Duncan and Leto is taking up too much space.
Also there is a scene when someone becomes very… ‘excited’ while simply watching someone climb a wall. This woman ‘explodes’ just from watching a man climb a cliff. I have never seen a male writer describe what that’s like from a woman’s perspective and I think I never want to again.
Bad book please don’t read
Besides the terrible concepts the books deals with a reader is left very little to look for. A very boring plot consisting of a will they won’t they coup develops. The main pov character is Duncan Idaho who, when not being a homophobe, is mostly being setup to breed with a person he doesn’t really like and lectured to be Leto like a toddler. The other large pov character is Leto and these chapters are mostly just bad, high-minded musings that don’t feel interesting enough to grab you. Mostly he just talks about power and knowledge and how they relate to each other and people. Not that interesting things aren’t said it’s just that it’s all coming from a eugenicist/homophobe/dictator so it’s hard to latch on to anything. The most interesting character is so sidelined by the end of the book I can’t remember her name. Although maybe my hatred of Duncan and Leto is taking up too much space.
Also there is a scene when someone becomes very… ‘excited’ while simply watching someone climb a wall. This woman ‘explodes’ just from watching a man climb a cliff. I have never seen a male writer describe what that’s like from a woman’s perspective and I think I never want to again.
Bad book please don’t read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Misogyny