Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

12 reviews

beanjoles's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Sometimes I love Herbert’s way of writing and other times it feels unnecessarily convoluted. There were some poignant and bittersweet moments, but a lot of parts that just felt muddled to me. Sad to say but I never fully grasped the importance of Paul’s prescience and why he felt he couldn't avoid his “Jihad” (word choice that did not age well imo). I’m certain this contributes to why I found elements of the book confusing. That aside, some of the reflections on government, leadership, and cults of personality were incredible and I marked them down for later. 

Quote 1 that I liked:
 
"Here lies a toppled god— 
His fall was not a small one. 
We did but build his pedestal, 
A narrow and a tall one."
—TLEILAXU EPIGRAM 
 

Quote 2: 
 
“You produce a deadly paradox,” Jessica had written. “Government cannot be religious and self-assertive at the same time. Religious experience needs a spontaneity which laws inevitably suppress. And you cannot govern without laws. Your laws eventually must replace morality, replace conscience, replace even the religion by which you think to govern. Sacred ritual must spring from praise and holy yearnings which hammer out a significant morality. Government, on the other hand, is a cultural organism particularly attractive to doubts, questions and contentions. I see the day coming when ceremony must take the place of faith and symbolism replaces morality.”
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings