Dune, Book 1, Frank Herbert

[John]

Zulfiya wrote: "I think we will give those who are reading with us a week to catch up and then we might start book II."

Wait, do you mean book II as in Dune Messiah? Or book II as in the 2nd part of Dune? ...I'm finding the terminology a little confusing. If the group in general is done with Dune then I have a question to ask about the end! :)

I did not know there was an appendix! Such is the downside of listening to the audiobook. I will stop at my library to check it out.

[Joyce]

We are talking about Dune Messiah. We are looking to start that in about a week.

[Zulfiya]

John wrote: "Zulfiya wrote: If the group in general is done with Dune then I have a question to ask about the end! :)


Shoot, John.
There should be questions, John. The book is beautiful but also so complex in its world-building.

[Zulfiya]

And yes, guys, we are talking about Dune Messiah. In a week or so?

[John]

Dune Messiah in a week? Whoohoo! :)

SPOILERS FOR THE END!

(view spoiler)[So, it's been a few months since I finished Dune. Looking back at my notes, my only real complaint was that the morality was a bit simplistic. The good guys are good and the bad guys are really bad. I've heard that the subsequent books are more morally complex, as we can see even in the first book, Paul is gradually losing his humanity in the wake of his mental powers.

I was kind of thrown off by the whole endgame section -- Paul's trump card was that he had the power to destroy the spice...but destroying the spice would have destroyed the Fremen too, no? It would have been a suicide move. Was there any indication that the Fremen were OK with that, or was Paul playing them as pawns? The Fremen seemed to want to bring Arrakis to life, I can't see them as Kamikazes.

I guess I was just a little disappointed that Muad'dib's grand tactics gave way to genocidal bullying.

The other question I have was, did anyone catch any indication of the Bene Gesserit's ultimate goals? Are they looking to bring about Paul's jihad? Or is their Kwisatz Haderach going to turn out to be more than they bargained for? (hide spoiler)]

Super excited to start the second book! Although it will almost certainly cause me to fall behind with Don Quixote...I don't mind too much :)

[Zulfiya]

John wrote: " Or is their Kwisatz Haderach going to turn out to be more than they bargained for?"


Basically, this is my conclusion. The Bene Gesserit troubled the trouble and believed their own propaganda, as we discussed earlier in this thread.

(view spoiler)[ Good thoughts about Paul losing his humanity due to the presence of super-human powers. I think the second book will provide more answers. (hide spoiler)]

[Renee]

Will the discussion for Dune Messiah take place in this thread or will there be a separate thread?

[Zulfiya]

There will be a separate thread. I will open it on Monday.

[Renee]

Okay. Great. Thanks for letting me know.

[Esther]

Looking forward to it. I stopped reading the series when I was younger because the Bene Gesserit really bothered me. But I hear the rest of the books are awesome and, as someone else mentioned, a lot more complex.

[John]

Started reading Messiah this morning, couldn't wait! :) :)

[Zulfiya]

Sorry, John. it is my fault. I am totally out of swing this week. I will op[en a thread shortly as soon as I make a list of questions.

[John]

:) No problem, I didn't mean to rush you...I just started so I have to get further before I will have anything to talk about anyway :)

[Zulfiya]

I did open a new thread, John. I feel so bad about it, but I am excited to start a new book.