God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4) by Frank Herbert
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Book Reviews of God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 4)
Book Review: Frank Herbert continues his trend of excellence...
Summary: 5 Stars
Leto II, the son of Paul Atreides, is now the God Emperor of Dune. Leto II is close to becoming a sandworm and is about 300 years away from going into the sand when the book starts. God Emperor of Dune, takes place some 3500 years after Children of Dune. Leto II has done what his father could not and turned himself into a sandworm, sacrificing his humanity in order to provide Leto's Golden Peace, which will ideally save humanity and keep them along The Golden Path in Leto's vision.
During his long reign, Leto II has enforced a state of peace throughout his empire spanning several galaxies with his strict monopoly of spice melange and through the military wherewithal of his Fish Speaker (an all-woman) army. The Old Imperium is essentially gone and the Houses of Landsraad have ceased to exist. Only a few Great Houses have survived at all in their previous power dominant power structures.
The old Imperium is basically non-existent; the Landsraad has ceased to exist and only a few remnants of the Great Houses survive. The Bene Gesserit and Spacing Guild have endured, although both have been forced to adapt to Leto's absolute control over melange and his powerful prescience, and CHOAM has been reduced to a shadow of its former self. His reign is considered by many to be depraved and despotic, but he is confident that his actions will ensure the survival of the human race.
The "Duncans" are still around thanks to the Tleilaxu cloning tanks and are loyal servants to the Atreides line, which along with Leto's faithful servant Moneo help Leto quite a great deal throughout the book. In the end, the question at the end of the book remains was Leto II's sacrifice end up causing humanity to destroy itself at the end of his reign or saving humanity with everyone thriving?
Herbert does the job once again of living up to one hell of a series so far. I definitely look forward to blazing through Heretics of Dune, the fifth book in this series!
-Travis
Book Review: The only worthy successor to "Dune"
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. In some respects, I think it is superior to "Dune" - the sheer grandeur of Herbert's conception of humanity and the complexity (and great insight) of his beliefs about the nature of civilization and the meaning of historical change boggle the mind. Leto II is one of the most fascinating characters in modern fiction - his is unquestionably a tyrant, but conventional notions of good and evil simply do not apply to him. Leto II deserves the name God-Emperor because he is something more than human. It is as if all the possibilities of thousands of years of history, genealogy, and knowledge have come together in this one extraordinary being, who, to fully play his role in history, gives up his humanity in order to save the human race from itself. Astonishing. Also, this novel combines religion, politics and technology in a unique way. Not only do the events of the book take place 3000 years after the events chronicled in the first three "Dune" books, but there still remain mingled throughout the text linguistic terms, familial relationships, technologies and even bits of history from our own time which have influenced the world of Arrakis/Dune/Rakis. For the less cerebrally minded, the book also contains some great action sequences (and 1 or 2 sex scenes), 'though not as many as "Dune" does - the Empire has been at peace for millennia, after all. Indeed, the lack of militaristic events (except for the conspiracy to destroy Leto II - a conspiracy of which he is well aware) makes this novel somewhat more difficult to "get into" than its predecessors. Large blocks of the book seem to consist of "just talk" or philosophizing, but it all ties together beautifully if you give it a chance. I reread this book at least once a year and find it more profound each time.Book Review: A chance to see for yourself!
Summary: 5 Stars
The masters of myth-making are those who are not only removed in time and place from their respective subjects but who are also removed in spirit. In the Dune series, this book gets straight to the heart of the matter and bypasses the myths and allows you to grasp the spirit of what Frank Herbert discovered in his own life.
I think that most people can accept that the great novels are reflections of their authors and of the realisations attained in their lives. The truly great novels are replete with insights into life, death and all of the rest, but what happens when such insights are coated in the guise of science-fiction? I think then, that with this in mind, there needs to be an element of trust in the author and there also needs to be some kind of capacity on behalf of the reader to be able to recognise the value of what the author has discovered.
When compared to the other novels in the Dune series, God Emperor comes across as very different. There is little action to speak of and the plot (such that it is) is held together purely by the strength of insights provided by the novel's main character Leto II. To my eyes, this speaks volumes on the nature of storytelling and on the nature of direct experience.
The truth of this can not only be seen in the following two novels in the series where for many in the Dune universe, the cult of myth worship has taken precedence over the 'facts' behind the myth, but also in the fact that many characters in this novel - even in the presence of the fact - remain blind to the value of direct experience. In this case, God Emperor is the record that the character Leto II is that fact and that, more importantly, his insights and discoveries are the insights and discoveries of Frank Herbert.
This 'fact' is what ties this book so elegantly with all of the other Frank Herbert Dune novels.
Book Review: Frank Herbert does indeed create "majic"
Summary: 5 Stars
The major thing that can be said about "God Emperor of Dune" by Frank Herbert is that although it isn't one of your usual sci-fi stories, and would certainly be termed an unsuccessful book by modern novel standards (as an example of what you shouldn't do in a modern novel today-i.e. more narration and description instead of more action (that readers nowadays demand), what is the magic that Frank Herbert creates in this most unusual book is that he compels you through his gifted writing skill and most unique and multifaceted character of Leto II to continue reading to find out more about Leto and his world, and especially near the end-what happens to Leto once these plots within plots have been set in motion.This was the first Dune book in the series I felt that I (with my limited knowledge of politics and economics and religious allegories) could understand the workings of this universe better than even the first three books. And felt I understood more of what was going on and what was trying to be accomplished by all of the factions now being held under one ruler, the worm-god emperor of Leto II.
The story itself remained a bit implausible in my mind as to how this one bizarre creature, part man and part worm, could hold together this vast empire under his rule for so long. It worked mainly for me because I remembered history not too long ago with another almost god-emperor worshipped by the masses-of Hitler's Germany, and in the near-indestructableness of Leto II in his worm-encased body.
For one reader out there who can't be typified or quantified in the usual generalization of "modern reader", as one who prefers the intellectual workings of the mind and character instead of merely the actions of one, I enjoyed "God Emperor of Dune" immensely, and found it one of the most satisfying novels I have ever read.
Book Review: The Seperation of the Dune series...
Summary: 5 Stars
Simply put, God Emporer of Dune was one of the finest novels in the series. I enjoyed *Every* Dune novel, including Messiah, and I believe this is one of the finest in the series. This novel is widely misinterpreted to be the beginning of the second Dune trilogy, but it is not. Dune 4 is the mid-point between the first trilogy, and second, unifished trilogy. This book was meant as a bridge between the two trilogies.In this novel, we are shown Leto Atriedes, the God Emporer. Now, he has become Shaitan, and he has changed Dune into a green planet. We see the last years of his life, and his Golden Path, the path which he has set humanity on to reach the ideal future. He has controlled everything, from the Bene Gesserit to the Bene Tlielax, to his own personal army of Fishspeakers. In the end, we are shown the building block for the next trilogy, in which we watch the world through the eyes of the Bene Gesserit.
I am angry for the fact that many state this book should not have been written. This book is a necessity in the series, pushing foward centuries at a time and going to a place where we know only two people: The God Emporer and the Duncan Idaho ghola. This new perspective gives the whole universe a new feel and pace, one that will set the tone for the future. Many complain about the lack of action, but this was a reflective novel, much of the dialogue being an internal conflict of Leto. No one could truly understand him, as the Stolen Journals stated, yet he did his best to usher humanity along the Golden Path. Next time you read this novel, please read with an open mind and remember, this wasn't the Dune Muad'Dib knew, the Dune of Shaitan, Leto, the God Emporer.