Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Spasiteľ Duny by Frank Herbert

5 reviews

grace_b_3's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

Minor: Sexual content

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What a tone shift from the first book!  Honestly this one kind of went off the rails into unhinged territory in the second half.  It was a very slow political machination start and then it turns into everything falling into place depending on who did the better job at plotting and scheming...  Absolutely wild.  I don't know how I feel about it fully but I'm going to think about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Genocide, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emilywemily6's review against another edition

challenging mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Herbert’s writing is tough to get into; I feel like there was so much he was trying to say, but he was so vague about it that I missed his message. I liked that this book was a lot of political intrigue. I also feel like the length was perfect. I really wish you learned more about the events immediately after Dune though. The time gap made it hard to feel invested in where the characters are now, a decade later. Though even though it had been a bit since I read Dune, I still remembered enough to get back into this world without too much trouble. I think this book has more merits in being reread over and over again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infertility, Racism, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, and War

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, and Sexual content

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Twelve years after the events of Dune, Paul still rules as the Emperor, with his sister as a religious leader at his side. He avoids jihad where he can, but even for someone as all-seeing as the Muad’Dib, some things cannot be avoided. A small group, whose members include the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother Helen Gaius Mohiam and Paul’s wife, the Princess Irulan, a Tleilaxu face dancer and a Guild navigator, plots Paul’s demise.

Messiah contains less worldbuilding and far less action than Dune, but (perhaps for those reasons) conveys Herbert’s warning against heroes that much better. We see Paul struggling with the future, trying to find a way to minimize the violence that he foresees, but he can never avoid it completely. Alia, too suffers from her status of near-divinity.

I initially disliked the Duncan Idaho storyline (and I still don’t like the Duncan/Alia pairings…the age gap is creepy), but I loved the idea that his love for Paul and the Atreides brought him back essentially from the dead. The power of love and devotion to change even the most intense training is great, and reminded me of Doctor Yue in the first book. I have also always been interested in the idea of sight and blindness, and the use in literature of blindness to signify true insight or foreknowledge. And, though I don’t generally like sad endings, I was moved by Paul’s commitment to the Fremen traditions, even though it meant his own death.

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe of the ending):

Definitely not happy, but more…bittersweet.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Sexual content, and Colonisation

edensbookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Incest