quetnyare 's review for:

God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert

3.5

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Children of Dune was a considerable step down from the first two books in this series, but I think this is a small step back up.  There is naturally new weirdness to handle but Leto II proves to be one of the most complex and misunderstood characters due to his unique circumstances.  I'd say the plot is on par with its predecessor, but the character work done on Leto II just felt slightly better than what was done in the previous book.  Also taking place 3500 years after the last book, it felt weird to refer to so many loved characters from the first three novels as "long-dead" and I felt myself missing some of them and the book gives them no fanfare.  This is a tough rating as I could see this being many peoples point of giving up on the series, while for me it actually felt like it stuck a better landing than the previous installation of the Dune universe.