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: The Dangers of Immortality
Summary: 5 Stars
Thirty-five centuries Leto Atreides II, son of Paul Muad'Dib has ruled the galaxy. Thirty-five centuries since he made the fateful choice to graft himself with sandtrout that has since begun his metamorphosis into a worm. Thirty-five centuries, the galaxy has known peace. However, what price has been paid by Leto?
Referred to as a god, Leto in addition to having lived some 3500 years, he also has the collected memory of all of his ancestors dating back to ancient Greece. His "Golden Path" is his plan to save humanity from itself. He controls the Guild, the Bene Gesserit as well as the Ixians and Tlelaxu through his control of dwindling stockpiles of melange. However, those powerful forces as well as some home grown rebels have it out for the God Emperor.
This book is as much a philosophical discourse as it is a science fiction epic. Many questions of religion, immortality, government and power are interwoven in with the Dune universe with amazing skill. Even if you don't agree with the observations, they add to the story in a compelling way, and the novel would be much less without them.
The change in the habits of the Fremen also weight on the mind not only on Leto, but also on the latest incarnation of Duncan Idaho, the latest in a line of gholas created by the Tlelaxu.
Add the Ixian contribution to the plot, a woman bred for the specific purpose of seducing the God Emperor, and you have nearly every conceivable angle covered.
The ending is dramatic, if not somewhat predictable. Still, this is a great continuation to the most majestic science fiction epic in the history of the genre.
Book Review: Mankind's future is in the hands of the Tyrant--one of Herbert's best
Summary: 5 Stars
46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
The future of mankind hangs upon Leto's breeding program, April 25, 2001
Leto Atreides must be the loneliest person in the world, though he is an Emperor and worshipped as a god. And why a god? Because he is unique and practically, though not really, immortal.
At the end of Children of Dune, (Book 3) Leto makes a terrible choice and covers himself with sandtrout, the spawn of the mighty Shai-hulud, the sandworm. This causes a transformation and we meet him, mostly Worm, all too human, in the fourth book.
The characters are very well drawn, as you'd expect from Herbert. In particular, Duncan Idaho, returned as the eternal clone or ghola, has a large role. Leto, bigger than life, still retains the human tragic-hero quality, similar to that of his father Paul-Muad'Dib. He has created an army of women, the Fish Speakers, to enforce his law throughout the galaxy. There is peace, but at what price? Despite the peace, Leto has powerful enemies, and he knows it. Some are enemies he has deliberately created. Why?
The end of the story has all the qualities of a legend or great tragedy, though Leto's legacy is that men can survive an uncertain future. This is a fine book and better than the second and third of the Dune series, and in fact, quite unique.
By the way, this is very good in the audio format (Scott Vance, narrator) and the story is next to the initial Dune, my favorite of all the Dune novels and practically stands alone.
Book Review: The best since the original
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the fourth book of the original six-book "Dune" saga by Frank Herbert, a series that is usually considered to be one of the landmarks of science fiction. In my ongoing quest to read all types of literature that attempt to be mythic and/or epic in scope I knew I had to read Herbert, who blends far-future technology, philosophy, religion, and complex descriptions of the inner workings of his characters' minds to create a story that truly ascends to the level of mythology. It would take too much space to describe the plot that leads up to this fourth book. I will say, however, that God-Emperor is the best book in the series since the original, and Herbert tones down (at least somewhat) the complicated, ambiguous, bordering on meaningless philosophical and political discourse that made earlier novels hard to follow. Like Arthur C. Clarke, Herbert was working from an entirely secular worldview, but makes a valiant attempt at describing the human condition and human hopes for purpose in that context. The ultimate goal of the title character, the man-worm "God-Emperor" over all humanity, is to perpetuate what he calls "The Golden Path," which is code for human survival. Here is the great secular hope described: perhaps one day humanity will advance so far in our abilities that we can create our own meaning and purpose, without finding it in some outside, transcendental source, a source that traditional religion has always provided. That project is hopeless, but in the hands of a creative genius like Herbert, it makes for interesting fiction.
Book Review: the best book in the Dune series
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, in my opinion, is unquestionably the best in the series, if simply because of the main character. Leto Atreides 2 is simply the most fascinating, unique character I have evr seen in science fiction/fantasy. His aims are unique and eminently hard to understand- but throughout the book you get the feeling that he is trying for a 'noble purpose'- his Golden Path. Although its not clear what exactly the golden path is, it can be incredibly satisfying just to try to figure bits of it out and putting them in place, like a jigsaw puzzle. Leto is a tyrant (as he acknowledges freely), but he is simple different from anything you will have seen. a tyrant with a love for humanity, one who is no longer human himself, and who manipulates his people but is incredibly, painfully conscious of that manipulation. The dialogue in the book is also well-written, if a bit abstruse 9but thats part of its charm). Reading the book is like wrestling with difficult concepts and trying to understand them. Part of the dialogue is even just Leto's manipulation of words- 'just words, however beautiful' as he says. But anybody who like lterature will have an experience just trying to follow Leto's mind through the dialogue. Sadly, this is the last interesting (or even readable) book in the Dune series. The next two books have neither a compelling character, nor interesting dialogue and subtle meanings. Heretics f Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune are, to put it frankly, unreadable in the sense that you will understand practically nothing of whats going on.Book Review: Act 2.
Summary: 5 Stars
Frank Herbert originally planned for the Dune series to be seven books-- the six that he actually wrote and a concluding 'Dune 7,' which he died before completing. God Emperor was to be the most important book in the series, a sort of tie-in between the Dune of Arrakis and the Dune of Rakis/Chapterhouse.
The story of God Emperor hinges around the transformation of Leto II into a giant sandworm. When I first saw the cover of this book, complete with a human-headed worm on the front, I had my misgivings. In the hands of practically any other author, this book would have been a confusing joke... but Frank Herbert's insights and originality breathed life into a somewhat ridiculous premise.
Leto's manipulation and control of the human race makes his father's rule look like child's play. Leto is not a typical protagonist; much of the universe sees him as something akin to evil. He is a tragic hero at best, but does what he does out of a profound and deeply human desire to save his race from itself.
This being said, I wouldn't advise anyone to read Brian Herbert's and Kevin J. Anderson's 'Hunters of Dune.' Many people have suggested that they only wrote Hunters and its as-yet-to-be-released sequel for money; I have no idea if this is true. If it is, however, then I recommend you just buy all the originals; you'll be reading some of the best science fiction literature ever written and the Herbert estate is sure to get some compensation out of it.