Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Messias de Duna by Frank Herbert

5 reviews

giuliana_ferrari's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

The second installment of the Dune series managed to be more confusing to read than the first. Perhaps that is due to the more recent movie being available by the time I decided to have a crack at the first volume, in which many of my questions regarding concepts of the story were explained. Dune Messiah carries over the philosophical questionings of power and destiny, but within an overachieving arc of oracles, 

people being brought back from the dead and only in the last pages of the book you can understand they are in fact, those people, visions from a blind Paul, and more

. I appreciate Herbert's musings, and I think I have gained more respect for his ideas, but I can't condone such a difficult writing for the subject of science fiction. And not that this genre shouldn't be subjected to a serious tone, as sci-fi has allowed humanity to explore the limits of infinite possibilities, but having to decipher your own plot through cues at the beginning of each chapter is perhaps a hint that your readers need all the help they can get. And in the spirit of learning, if an entire class fails to understand the assignment, the blame shouldn't be deposited at the student's feet, but rather at their teacher's.
In the end, I think the overall desert aesthetic of the first book was more enjoyable, rich with ecological understandings, but the second one lost me a bit with all the talks of politics and an Emperor afflicted with the immutable position of his role.  

And honestly the weird vibes of having Alia 'remember' having sex with her father (as her mother), and the mere indication of the possibility of Paul and Alia having a baby together to lock in their genes was enough for me to lose some of my interest. The fact that Herbert considered essential for a young woman to be 'mated' just because she started to feel her young woman body was also offputting text

. On and all, Dune Messiah was an interesting sequence to Dune, but all the meanderings and confusions from the writting have me almost firmly decided in not reading the rest of the series. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction

Moderate: Incest, Religious bigotry, and Genocide

nils_0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Violence, War, Murder, Drug use, Grief, Incest, Abortion, Cannibalism, Cursing, Death, and Pregnancy

harperxxxx's review against another edition

challenging sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Xenophobia, Suicide, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Addiction, Violence, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Confinement, Slavery, Incest, Grief, Trafficking, War, Religious bigotry, Death, Blood, Body horror, Infertility, Medical trauma, Medical content, Stalking, Child death, Pregnancy, and Suicidal thoughts

decapode's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

5.0

YES. just yes. satisfying and heartwrenching all at once. herbert's vision finally made clear to those of us who couldn't really get it while reading the original. my second read was so much more satisfying than the first; previously, i'd probably give this a 4. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Pregnancy and Violence

Minor: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Drug abuse, Incest, and War

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.

---

Content Warnings

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

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