Take for example, Leto II’s all-female army. It’s hard to be sure exactly what Herbert is trying to say, because he couches everything in the most convoluted language. God Emperor of Dune uses this pretentious delivery to bring not valid points, but a load of nonsense. Even the points I agree with tend to be delivered in the most awfully pretentious way.

When I was doing my Master’s, I sat through a lot of philosophy, and I loathe it as much now as I did then. That is, after all, what Herbert wants us to take away from this book. Of course, I would be more appreciative if there was anything in this book that held my attention.īut let’s talk about the philosophy. One noted change is that Herbert doesn’t directly tell us how this one end, which is a change of pace that I appreciated.

The characterisation is even thinner than usual, and a lot of them feel like copies of earlier characters. Everyone else is new, and everyone is utterly uninteresting to me. Leto II (now transformed into a monstrous worm-person hybrid and ruling over the universe) and Duncan Idaho (the most recent in a long line of gholas). Only two characters are carried over from the previous books. There is a story here, but it’s largely irrelevant. God Emperor of Dune just swings too far one way. Yes, you can blend the two, and a lot of science fiction does just that. Unfortunately, I’m here to read a narrative, not be subjected to a lesson in morality. Full credit to Herbert, this is probably his best-written work, because his style fits the work of an essayist far better than that of a novelist. Remember in my Children of Dune review I commented that the epigraphs felt less like glimpses of a universe and more like Frank Herbert directly speaking to his readers? Welcome to a whole book of that. This is a philosophy thesis with characters. I’m actually not sure how to review this book, because for the overwhelming majority of it I was bored out of my mind. This is the book so many people say rewards rereading, but it’s also the one I wasn’t looking forward to experiencing a second time around. I fall squarely into the latter category. And then are people who think it’s all a bit rubbish. the pinnacle of Frank Herbert’s achievements. There are those who praise it as the epitome of the series. God Emperor of Dune is a book that divides readers.

Against a man who has become a god, what hope does any rebellion have. Less human with every passing year, Leto guides humanity along his vision of a Golden Path. Click here for a full index of my Dune Saga reviews-įor three thousand years, Leto Atreides II has sat upon his throne on Arrakis.

God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert