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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: Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug use, Incest, and Blood
suneaters's review against another edition
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
3.5
Um. I rated it lower because it was a bit tough to get through at times, even if I enjoyed it overall. The pacing really tires, but I was invested to so I finished it. It's an interesting read and I did like the stolen journals quotes and I feel like they should have contained all of Leto's philosophy, cutting down on the lectures that take place in the book itself. Siona is also not super compelling to me except in her beginning wolf chapter. That was probably one of the better Siona scenes alongside the rebellion one with Nayla. Otherwise, I wasn't super interested in her and enjoyed the time with Leto and Moneo more. Nayla was the most interesting character and I was bummed when she was unceremoniously killed off by Duncan because HE was an idiot. Gee, two dumb commanders who get people killed from their own dumb decisions? Say it ain't so. It was overall an enjoyable read, but I do think Children was a bit more in line with my tastes. This feels like a conclusion, but I'll at least hit up the next book to see where it goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Violence
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Sexual content, Police brutality, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
Minor: Rape and War
specialbread's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book was an enjoyable change-up compared to the rest of the series. First things, the book takes place around 3200 years after the events of Children of Dune. The Main characters of the rest of the series are all dead except for Leto II and Duncan Idaho (as a Ghola). There are only 3 or 4 other characters worth anything in that book. A good amount of the book is 2 or 3 people talking with each other most of the time (which is not necessarily bad in and of itself). I appreciated seeing how the characters react differently to the same situation, especially since the situation (created by Leto II to start humanity on the “Golden Path”) is not a good one. Honestly, I think this is one of the better books in the series. I am looking forward to later entries based on the events in this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
clayton_sanborn's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
Never has an accelerationist manifesto been so beautifully written
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia
carrionkid's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a wayyy different breed than the first 3 books of the dune series and it was a lot harder to get into than the first half of the series. I fully would've rated this 2 stars if it weren't for how visceral and satisfying the ending was.
For every good scene in this book, there's 5 scenes talking about whether or not Leto's grotesque wormy body can have sex, why the military encourages latent homosexuality, the usage of people as breeding studs, nonsexual acts being described as causing orgasms, and just straight up lesbophobia. It's a lot to slog through.
For every good scene in this book, there's 5 scenes talking about whether or not Leto's grotesque wormy body can have sex, why the military encourages latent homosexuality, the usage of people as breeding studs, nonsexual acts being described as causing orgasms, and just straight up lesbophobia. It's a lot to slog through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Death
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Lesbophobia