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Jan 09, 2012

Kerry rated it:

The whole thing with Paul being able to <spoiler>see after his eyes are burned out:</spoiler> still cool. But on this, my third or fourth reading, I'm realizing there's not much to this book. It simply bridges the first and third. No Jessica, no war, no revolution, no emergence of a new messiah . . . eh.

Also Alia has the potential to be such a fascinating character, but she's underused and underwritten. And I already know that in the next book she's going to be crazy More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 21, 2007

Melee rated it:

I'd have been amazed if this one was as phenomenal as the first, and it wasn't. It was, however, Frank Herbert, who surprises me with his philosophy and world vision all the time. Compared to Dune, though, this book just lacked a lot of protein. Perhaps it's because the incredibly rich new world of Dune/Arrakis was already in place, and I wasn't the wide-eyed, amazed traveler through it any longer, but it wasn't the page-turner of the last for me. Still, I'll read them all, and wish Frank Her More...

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Dec 17, 2009

Laura rated it:

So I thought Dune was the best thing since the bound codex, right? And I read it about five times over the course of my young-adulthood. And then I read Messiah and was pretty much completely dissatisfied. Not enough to give it a poor rating, since it is interesting (I mean, we all still care about Paul, even if he is a whiner) and it did keep my attention.
You haven't seen foreshadowing until you've read Dune Messiah. It takes that to a whole new, grotesque level. And pretentiousness. Thou More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 01, 2011

Myles rated it:

I've avoided the sequels to Dune before this because I was afraid something would go wrong. And, to an extent, something did. Dune Messiah lacks a lot of the action that helped move the original along, its replaced by a lot of philosophying and talk talk talk talk talk. The chapter headings also felt off, as if Herbert didn't have the confidence to do with them what he did for Dune, revealing matters of plot and putting the events of the book within the context of a stable future looking back at More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 30, 2009

Manny rated it:

You know what it's like. Every decision seems so obviously sensible, but one thing just leads to another. We've all had it happen to us.

So, last time I had my family murdered by our hereditary enemies, I went into hiding in the desert too, and linked up with the tough native fighters there. I mean, who wouldn't? Since I had psychic powers, it seemed pretty crazy not to use them to gain some respect. Before I knew what had happened, I was the clan's leader. And, you get some momentum, More...

6 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2008

Kirt rated it:

I finally read Dune Messiah, the second book in the Dune series, after years of only having read the first book.

Excellent. Dune and Dune Messiah, together, form a reasonably complete story. Some of it is invalidated and/or retconed by subsequent books (I'm reading Children of Dune right now), which is unfortunate, but in reading Dune Messiah, it's obvious that many elements of the setting, which seem like standard Space Opera color, such as the feudal system, were carefully chosen so More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 11, 2007

Michael rated it:

I devoured this book in just 3 days, it is simply that compelling. What more can I say about the most-read sci-fi epic ever written? The Dune series has everything I want in an epic: politics, humanity, religion and space. While the first book deals with revolution, noble families and the fulfillment of prophecy, this second part deals with the personal struggle of the new leader of humanity and the emotional ramifications of being the figurehead of a jihad being waged in his name.

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2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 03, 2010

Bryan added it

Great Sequel, last of the good Dune novels: Is Dune Messiah as good as the original? No, it is not, but it's still a great book.

**Spoilers**

Dune Messiah takes places a little time after Dune, when Paul's Jihad is sweeping the known universe, and Paul is now the Emperor of the Theocracy build around his own mythology. Paul in this book is happily married to Chani, who is having trouble conceiving a child. He haas to deal with the many people who don't like how Paul has brought water to Dune, More...

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Jan 23, 2012

Alexandra rated it:

Doze anos depois do início da Jihad, Paul Atreides, Usul, Muhad’Dib é o Imperador mais poderoso de sempre.
Depois de não ter conseguido impedir a Jihad que o atormentou, espera agora que consiga evitar o caos sob o seu nome.
Vemos neste segundo capítulo da série Dune ser abordado um tema frágil como o da ligação Estado-Igreja e o quão frágil pode ser esse modo de governo. Por entre mentiras e intrigas palacianas, Paul vê-se com o problema da sucessão do trono. Chani não conseguia engravi More...

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Nov 11, 2011

Chris rated it:

I must confess my heart sank when I began reading this, the sequel to Dune, to find it seemed to be, not just more of the same mind games played between key characters that its predecessor relied on, but also relatively devoid of action of any kind. There was the usual psychological power play conversations indulged in by powerful individuals who were either human computers, psychics, drug users with heightened prescient awareness, shapeshifters or revenants, in fact nary an ordinary human being More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 19, 2011

Scott rated it:

It's hard to add anything to what's been said about Frank Herbert's "Dune" in the 45 years since it first appeared. "Dune" was already a classic when i read it in 1981, and unlike many SF books from the cusp of speculative fiction's New Wave, its impact remains as timeless now as it did then. Herbert grounded his sprawling tale of imperial politics and ecological revolution in a character story worthy of Tolstoy, downplaying the nuts-and-bolts aspects of his milieu's technolo More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2011

Michael rated it:

Dune was a hard act to follow, and Messiah does it admirably. It sticks with the universe the first book set up and tells a compelling story in it, taking the saga to its next logical progression. Perhaps this is where it succeeds and fails. Very little about this novel caught me off-guard. It takes the world of the first book and doesn't really expand on it much. We know most of the pieces already, now they're just doing something a little different. The politics are simplified. The char More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 13, 2011

Ryan rated it:

Some Spoilers follow...

The second volume in Frank Herbert's original Dune series. This one finds us 12 years after the end of Dune. The Jihad that Paul Muad'Dib Atreides had feared has been unleashed upon the Imperial Galaxy, leaving over 6 billion dead. Paul himself has ascended to near-divine status, ruling through a theocracy that reveres him as a quasi-god, his mother as a sort of Virgin Mary, and his Sister Alia as an almost demonic force of nature. At the same time, the ecologi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 28, 2011

Adam rated it:

Dune Messiah, while unable to match the original "Dune" in depth, does make a for a good read. It picks up the story 12 years after the first book concludes. Many of the same characters introduced in the first book appear in this one as well. While I found this book less captivating, this book does not share the grand mission of the first of introducing an entire universe to the reader. On that note, Frank Herbert did the right thing in limiting it to about a third of the length of the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2010

Noor rated it:

I downloaded Dune Messiah as soon as I finished reading the orginial. Dune is one of the best books I've read, but I found Dune Messiah somewhat lacking the energy of the first.

At the end of Dune, Paul Atriedes, known as Muad'dhib by the bedouin Fremen, defeats Emperor Shaddam IV and his families arch-nemsis, Baron Harkonen. He marries Shaddam's daughter, Princess Irulan, to give legitmacy to his own rule as Emperor.

This signals the beginning of the Fremen Jihad which swe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 28, 2010

Jamie rated it:

I really liked Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel Dune when I first read it a few months ago --so much so that I named it one of the best books I read that year. But upon finally getting around to the sequel, Dune Messiah I'm pretty disappointed. It's really boring.

Don't get me wrong, I can see some of the impressive literary clockwork that Herbert assembles in the book. Where Dune told the story of Paul Muad’Dib's rise to the Emperor, controller of the universe's only sou More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 26, 2010

Ivana rated it:

started reading Dune before Christmas and read several other books while reading this one. I hate myself for not giving it the attention it deserves. Because of the numerous interruptions, I feel like I've missed the feeling of a dry, waterless sand planet, but serves me right--it was a completely wrong time for reading about a desert planet when the snow was knee-high. I wish I have had a whole week off to dedicate myself truly to the fantastic world of Arrakis and the genius of frank Herbert's More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2010

Dylan rated it:

The second book in what I like to call the Dune Trilogy. As you first dig into this great novel, you think to yourself, "Well, it's not as good as the first one, but that's a tough act to follow." And that sentiment is exactly true. The book continues the journey of Paul Maud'dib Atreides as he accepts the crushing mantle of leadership and prophecy. It's a gripping look into the terrible burden that is created when government, religion, and destiny walk hand in hand

In f More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 07, 2009

John rated it:

*Same review for the Dune Universe*
GREAT books! VERY time consuming! Worth the time!

Ok here is the deal. If your not sure about starting a series this big, here is what I would do.
1. -- Read the 1st one by Frank Herbert "Dune" if you like it...

2. -- Read the "Legends Of Dune" series. Its 3 books written by Frank's son Brian and a author I really like by the name of Keven J. Anderson. Its a prequel that is so far in the past that it doesn't spoil More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 23, 2011

NibbledToDeathByCats rated it:

This was my second reading of Dune Messiah, and it took me about half the book to get into it — to find the proper perspective from which to interpret and assimilate, its style seeming an abrupt change from that of Dune. Dune Messiah does not follow directly on the events of Dune, or pick up Dune's loose threads, but takes place after a gap of about twelve years, so instead of treating it as the sequel, I found it more fitting to think of it at first as an unconnected snapshot, and then, when I More...

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Feb 17, 2011

Andrew rated it:

"Dune Messiah" accomplishes what "Dune" only began: wrapping us neatly and utterly in the world of Fremen cult worship. It is for this reason, and the dizzying swirl of new and often disorienting terminology, not to mention the now fleshed-out character of Irulan, who was only a spectre in the series' opening novel, that makes "Messiah" perhaps an even greater work.

We open with a plot by the Revered Mother Gauis Helen Moiham, conspiring with Irulan (no sp More...

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Aug 30, 2009

Laura rated it:

I think most people don't particularly like this book, but I'm not sure why. Is it because Paul-Muad'Dib, Messiah, Emperor, God, is shown as a flawed human? Is it because we see that even with his awesome powers, he's still unable to map the future, to escape the future, the same as any ordinary human? We know Paul was never going to be perfect, was never going to be an angelic being or benevolent emperor; Frank Herbert told us that in "Dune." We know that Paul knew his destiny, kn More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2012

Kirsten rated it:

I could have sworn I read this book in middle school or high school, right after I read Dune, but it turns out if I did I did not retain ANY of it. The only part I remembered from my supposed previous read was the return of Duncan Idaho as a clone of sorts.

I can see why fans met this book with dismay when it was first published. After the excitement of Dune, it's hard to go into a book where nothing's quite gone the way anyone wanted, and the hero is caught up in bureauocracy, and no More...

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Feb 19, 2011

Casey rated it:

After re-reading Dune recently, I decided to finally get around to reading Dune Messiah - the sequel to Dune and the bridge to Children of Dune. Unfortunately, Dune Messiah is a whole lot of standing around and talking for the entire book. It took me a long time to read because I just couldn't find the motivation to keep wading through dense dialogue, and when I did reach the end, I found it sadly to be short and quick, which didn't make up for the long, long drawn-out nature of the book.

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 18, 2010

Erik rated it:

One reason Dune was so compelling (I say this as someone not attracted to science fiction in general) was that it wrapped its strong character development and multi-layered plot lines around an engaging balance between mysticism and philosophy. Dune Messiah tips that scale more toward philosophy. While I loved the first book, I still thought that this altered focus in the second book made for an interesting shift in tone that worked very well -- especially in relation to Paul's continued chara More...

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Nov 14, 2009

Ryan Patrick rated it:

In many ways, this was not as good as the first book, but perhaps in part because it is not nearly as long and involved - the plot is relatively simple here. That said, there is certainly something provocative being explored in this book about humanity and human frailty.

I must admit that I felt lost through much of the book, in the sense that I felt like the characters were discussing things that I did not know or understand, but by the time I got to the end, everything seemed to fa More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 17, 2011

Христо rated it:

“Дюн” на Франк Хърбърт – може би най-противоречивата фантастично-мистична сага
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/07/blog...

Месец след месец след месец… Ревюто за многологията “Дюн” на Франк Хърбърт си отлежаваше и малко по малко се насочваше към никоганаписване – така и не можах да сбера в главата си едно ясно и просто мнение за трите тома. Но книжноблогърският дълг зове и ето ме пишещ най-сетне за една от най-мащабните поредици в класическата фантастика… и най-противоречивата същ More...

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May 01, 2009

Eric rated it:

By far the hardest of the original Dune series books to get through, it starts to introduce even more complicating factors in the Dune universe. It follows the Fremen under the political and religious leadership of Paul, resulting in the disaster he has forseen. We see his tortured sister Alia take over, and watch over his children while she deals with her own demons. There is a tremendous amount of philosophy and building-up of tension involved - which doesn't aid in the flow of reading.
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Jan 11, 2011

♥ Cheshire Catt ♠ rated it:

Loved it! I'm thinking this series just might be my favorite of all time. I know many people don't like this book and it is a darker novel and a transitional piece but you could see what was coming from Paul's fears and visions from the first. The ending for me is spot on with the passing of an old empire and the coming of the future. Also loved the introduction of the Bene Tleilaxu - because you know if you killed a character off that you wish you hadn't what better creation that a group wh More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 01, 2012

Jessica rated it:

I am a devourer of fantasy, not so much of science fiction. It requires a very special sci-fi book to grab my attention and keep it. Even more to make me love it. Dune was surprisingly one of those books. Surprisingly because I wasn't expecting it. Dune Messiah followed in its footsteps.

I cannot even begin to explain how much these books mean to me: their mythos and characters have embedded themselves into my heart and soul. Especially the tragic figure of such a man as Paul Atreides More...

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