quillreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Spoiler
I don’t know about you, but if I were in Paul’s position, and I saw a strong potential future where I end up the figurehead of a violent genocide, I would do anything I possibly could to prevent it. Paul ends up doing the worst thing possible, which is to actively cultivate a position of a religious messiah with the Fremen, to the point where he cannot stop the jihad no matter what he does. Now, there could be any number of reasons he chooses this route. Perhaps he’s so driven by revenge for his father and his house that he puts concerns about the jihad on the back burner. Perhaps he ends up believing the messiah narrative himself, taking up the mantle of his position and believing in the cause of the jihad. Perhaps he cannot resist the lure of incredible power he gains by leading the Fremen. Or, perhaps, he’s just profoundly stupid, because I can think of a hundred different actions he could have taken to avoid the whole “jihad in my name” thing if that’s truly what he wanted to do.Graphic: War, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Pregnancy, Violence, Colonisation, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, and Body shaming
Moderate: Xenophobia, Grief, Slavery, and Genocide
Minor: Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Sexual violence
brnineworms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Spoiler
He takes on various names and titles over the course of the story (Duke Paul Atreides, the Kwisatz Haderach, the Lisan al Gaib, Muad’Dib, Usul) and these personas seem to supersede any true sense of self he may have once had. His identity fractures and frays at the climax; not only does he flit back and forth between multiple selves, he also refers to them in the third person and assigns them different motives and personalities (“You have the word of a Duke [...] but Muad’Dib is another matter.”) I don’t know if I’d insist that Paul is plural, but his selfhood is certainly compromised and complicated by all these assumed identities.Spoiler
Paul has a drug-induced epiphany late in the novel wherein he claims women are givers and men are takers, and that he himself is “the fulcrum” who cannot give without taking nor take without giving.Spoiler
He starts off as a vague force of evil that influences the actions of others, only becoming a fully fledged character after the betrayal of Duke Leto.Does Dune deserve four and a half stars? Probably not. Am I going to give it four and a half stars anyway? You bet. It’s not beyond criticism (far from it) but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless. I’m curious to see where the story goes from here and I’ve already ordered Dune Messiah, but I won’t be reading it just yet because I have quite a backlog of unread books to work through first.
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, War, Addiction, Gore, Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Colonisation, Genocide, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Slavery
Minor: Homophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Islamophobia, and Self harm
yorgosson's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Blood, Death, War, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia and Addiction
Minor: Child abuse
ivana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Violence, Genocide, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape
knorretje's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault
claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Spoiler
I was surprised, however, when we learn (somewhere around halfway through the novel) that Princess Irulan is actually alive concurrently with Paul—I had been imagining her as a scholar farther in the future, recording this history a generation or two later.Spoiler
I don’t know that this could really be called a happy ending, though it’s honestly better than I was expecting (I wouldn’t have put it past Herbert to kill Paul in the end). It’s not exactly a cliffhanger, but definitely feels unfinished, and I’ve already put the sequel on hold at my library!Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Murder, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Slavery
Minor: Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Torture
saphirabloom's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Violence, War, Death of parent, and Pedophilia
Minor: Child death, Fatphobia, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Suicide
sophiejohn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Child abuse and Rape
iwi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I think part of the intention here was to show how harmful humans and power is. That I can agree with. But I still wish that I liked more about this story.
Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Religious bigotry, and Sexism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Genocide, Homophobia, and Slavery
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, and Sexual content
johnhamm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, and Sexism