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A review by rubybastille
Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book spends more time than the first pondering big questions, which means the writing is often very beautiful. There’s also a lot of characters standing and looking out at landscapes while pondering said questions.
In this book, Paul has established his bloody empire and factions are beginning to conspire against him. His mother is so freaked out by what he and his sister have accomplished that she doesn’t even live on Arrakis anymore, and is mentioned an entire 3 times, I think? The threats should feel external, but because Paul knows the entire time what’s going to happen to him (and those he’s close to), it feels more internal. The danger, to a modern reader anyway, is less to Paul’s person and his empire than it is to the agency of everyone around him, as Paul makes decisions that change, or even end, their lives.
So…did Paul know about [spoiler redacted] while it was going on? Was there really no way to step off the path he seems to have hated so much? Did he ever face any external pressure to own up to his rock-solid prescience and maybe do things in a less horrific way from time to time?
I won’t be continuing with the Dune books, and reading up on what the series gets up to, I feel even more comfortable calling it here. As beautiful as the writing could be, I just didn’t enjoy having to ask the kinds of questions these themes make you want to ask. Paul has become a flawed protagonist who overlooks the agency of his supposed loved ones (not to mention an entire galaxy), believing he knows what’s best for them. Maybe it’s all Shakespearean tragedy but to me it’s just frustrating.
In this book, Paul has established his bloody empire and factions are beginning to conspire against him. His mother is so freaked out by what he and his sister have accomplished that she doesn’t even live on Arrakis anymore, and is mentioned an entire 3 times, I think? The threats should feel external, but because Paul knows the entire time what’s going to happen to him (and those he’s close to), it feels more internal. The danger, to a modern reader anyway, is less to Paul’s person and his empire than it is to the agency of everyone around him, as Paul makes decisions that change, or even end, their lives.
So…did Paul know about [spoiler redacted] while it was going on? Was there really no way to step off the path he seems to have hated so much? Did he ever face any external pressure to own up to his rock-solid prescience and maybe do things in a less horrific way from time to time?
I won’t be continuing with the Dune books, and reading up on what the series gets up to, I feel even more comfortable calling it here. As beautiful as the writing could be, I just didn’t enjoy having to ask the kinds of questions these themes make you want to ask. Paul has become a flawed protagonist who overlooks the agency of his supposed loved ones (not to mention an entire galaxy), believing he knows what’s best for them. Maybe it’s all Shakespearean tragedy but to me it’s just frustrating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Incest