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A review by naleagdeco
God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
5.0
If I had to pick one book that defined me (for better and for worse), I think it would be this one.
The fourth Dune book is, in my opinion, the peak of the series, and is the point where where the _conceptual_ ideas of Dune -- its misanthropic and yet weirdly hopeful views of humanity -- finally culminate. If Frank Herbert had been around long enough to complete his vision of the Heretics/Chapterhouse/? trilogy, maybe I'd be saying something else.
In short, all of the seeming achievements of the first book, that of a white saviour triumphing in quasi-godhood over a nomad population and against a decadent empire, which are torn down by the very same hero and family in books two and three, are finally revised into a consistent but honest "benevolent" tyranny in book IV, for the hope of an eventual healthy and democratic society which may have been described in an alternate universe where Frank Herbert lived longer than he did.
From a writing point of view, I found this book a lot easier to digest than Dune Messiah or Children of Dune, in which some very key moments (the Moon dream, Jacurutu) are turning points for those respective novels but are never explained (even obliquely, I'd argue) as to why they are such critical pieces to the story, those have to be pieced together after the fact.
This is the first book in the series where, in my recent rereading, I realize that Frank Herbert occasionally switches the character point of view abruptly and without indication of whose inner thoughts are currently being exposed. This is, to me, the biggest stylistic complaint I have about Frank Herbert's writing style as a whole.
The story and motivations of Leto II, the God Emperor, are relatively clear. The reason Moneo exists, the reason Siona exists, the reasons Duncan Idaho exist is relatively straightforward even though they too aren't although the purpose of the Tleilaxu Duncan gholas and the defining distinction of _this particular_ Duncan isn't entirely spelled out.
Who is less clear is the role of Hwi Noree, who seems important at the personal level but is a harder one to pinpoint at a grand scheme level. The internet has a bunch of compelling theories, but her place in the story is one I still mull over. Her place as a precursor Manic-Pixie-DreamGirl feels like it was purposely designed and fits in character, but it's hard to entirely say what her role is given how much of those overall series of events is planned out by Leto II himself. Her personality in many ways is the weakest compared to other characters since she was designed to serve Leto II, and yet she clearly too has her own agency and agendas in ways that are never made entirely clear to us.
Since in this particular decade it is important to talk about retroactive criticisms of the book's social positions, things that stick out for me is the amount of gender essentialism that the book has, which is interesting given Leto II is the accumulation of entire bloodlines of memories and voices and -- while in no way do I mean this in the modern sense -- is arguably all over the gender spectrum _himself_ (notice the possible contradiction here in a framework I'm not equipped to understand.) I wonder how one would try to conceptualize the Fish Speakers in today's world, of violent and devotional enforcer of Leto's will, while removing despotic self-generated abuses of power and violence.
The first Dune was full of homophobic undertunes, and that continues in this book in a chapter for reasons I don't understand, and yet same sex relationships are also defined within the self-admittedly machiavellian framework of the book's political theory. I still feel the book is ultimately riding homophobic framework, and anyone looking to this book for a morality to _aspire_ too is ill-serving themselves, but even with this strange wavering I do not entirely know opinion I hold on this topic except a general disapproval and the feeling that whatever point was being made could be expressed in a different way in 2020.
The fourth Dune book is, in my opinion, the peak of the series, and is the point where where the _conceptual_ ideas of Dune -- its misanthropic and yet weirdly hopeful views of humanity -- finally culminate. If Frank Herbert had been around long enough to complete his vision of the Heretics/Chapterhouse/? trilogy, maybe I'd be saying something else.
In short, all of the seeming achievements of the first book, that of a white saviour triumphing in quasi-godhood over a nomad population and against a decadent empire, which are torn down by the very same hero and family in books two and three, are finally revised into a consistent but honest "benevolent" tyranny in book IV, for the hope of an eventual healthy and democratic society which may have been described in an alternate universe where Frank Herbert lived longer than he did.
From a writing point of view, I found this book a lot easier to digest than Dune Messiah or Children of Dune, in which some very key moments (the Moon dream, Jacurutu) are turning points for those respective novels but are never explained (even obliquely, I'd argue) as to why they are such critical pieces to the story, those have to be pieced together after the fact.
This is the first book in the series where, in my recent rereading, I realize that Frank Herbert occasionally switches the character point of view abruptly and without indication of whose inner thoughts are currently being exposed. This is, to me, the biggest stylistic complaint I have about Frank Herbert's writing style as a whole.
The story and motivations of Leto II, the God Emperor, are relatively clear. The reason Moneo exists, the reason Siona exists, the reasons Duncan Idaho exist is relatively straightforward even though they too aren't although the purpose of the Tleilaxu Duncan gholas and the defining distinction of _this particular_ Duncan isn't entirely spelled out.
Who is less clear is the role of Hwi Noree, who seems important at the personal level but is a harder one to pinpoint at a grand scheme level. The internet has a bunch of compelling theories, but her place in the story is one I still mull over. Her place as a precursor Manic-Pixie-DreamGirl feels like it was purposely designed and fits in character, but it's hard to entirely say what her role is given how much of those overall series of events is planned out by Leto II himself. Her personality in many ways is the weakest compared to other characters since she was designed to serve Leto II, and yet she clearly too has her own agency and agendas in ways that are never made entirely clear to us.
Since in this particular decade it is important to talk about retroactive criticisms of the book's social positions, things that stick out for me is the amount of gender essentialism that the book has, which is interesting given Leto II is the accumulation of entire bloodlines of memories and voices and -- while in no way do I mean this in the modern sense -- is arguably all over the gender spectrum _himself_ (notice the possible contradiction here in a framework I'm not equipped to understand.) I wonder how one would try to conceptualize the Fish Speakers in today's world, of violent and devotional enforcer of Leto's will, while removing despotic self-generated abuses of power and violence.
The first Dune was full of homophobic undertunes, and that continues in this book in a chapter for reasons I don't understand, and yet same sex relationships are also defined within the self-admittedly machiavellian framework of the book's political theory. I still feel the book is ultimately riding homophobic framework, and anyone looking to this book for a morality to _aspire_ too is ill-serving themselves, but even with this strange wavering I do not entirely know opinion I hold on this topic except a general disapproval and the feeling that whatever point was being made could be expressed in a different way in 2020.