Customer Reviews

God Emperor of Dune

5 star:		(84)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

A text whose depth of religious, historical, philosophical and emotional insights touch at the very essence of what humanity is. As someone who has read the 6-books of the Dune series more than 7-times each, I find God Emperor to be a gifted presentation set within the perspective of a truly unique point-of-view. As with the entire Dune series, Herbert forces us to focus within ourselves to answer the deeper questions and issues raised so masterfully in his book. The relationship and dialogues between the God Emperor Leto, and Moneo, his Majordomo has to be some of the most insightful, honest theater in Si-Fi history. From the silent obeyance of the massive Nayla, or the fostered rebellious attitudes of Siona, the shimmering `Golden Path' that will finally and forever perpetuate humankind in the Universe has been set into place personally by Paul Atreides' son Leto. With Leto's selfless sacrifice of an unimaginable 3,500-years, his metamorphosis of worm and man; man and God, legend and religion with his logical-brilliance of the all-female "Women of the Imperial Guard", the Fish Speaker Army that holds an iron-grip on the human universe- Herbert creates the single most enjoyable, readable, profound, and meaningful book in his timeless collection. This book also ties the Paul Atreides side of the Dune series to the Bene Gesserit-led books in a singular, keystone fashion. The development of the Ixians, and the Tleilaxu; the downgrading of the Guild, and the Bene Gesserit and the extermination of CHOAM and the Great Houses add a great deal to both the overall and continuing plot lines of the Dune series. More so than the rest of the series, this book forces a closer examination of religious, social and interpersonal beliefs, and in a truly long-term thinking frame. This book also stands unique among the Dune-sequels as being the only one that can be easily read, understood and enjoyed without having read the other books. It would be interesting to have originally read this book first, then Dune second. I will never bore of Leto's character or his integrity. Please read this book, and when you finish it, read it again. -Scott Craig "Religious institutions perpetuate a mortal master-servant relationship, they create an arena which attracts the prideful human power-seekers with all of their nearsighted prejudices! Ultimately, we must realize that we are all servants unto God, not servants unto servants." -Frank Herbert 1981

First, let me get this out of the way. If youwere annoyed by some of the abstruse and occasionally pretentious dialogue in the first three books (esoecially the third) then you won't like this book in all probability. If you love action and excitement and an intense plot, and thats what youre looking for, you won't like this book in all probabilty.

That said, this book is easily the best book in the Dune series (only the first can compete; and that is because it sets up the world). The setting is a quantum leap from the first one; there is virtually no connection to the petty feuding world of Dune, with the intense Fremen and their intense culture.

This book revolves around 5 characters: Hwi Noree, Siona, Moneo, Leto II and Duncan Idaho, the ever present ghola. The idea of Duncan Idaho being constantly resurrected struck me as as an interesting conceit, and it played well into the story (Leto's psychological analysis of Duncan based on his resurrections is also interesting).

Of these five characters, Moneo and Leto are easily the most interesting. They form a perfect foil- Leto, so intelligent and so far beyond the normal human awareness that his thoughts cant help being nearly incomprehensible, and Moneo, the former rebel who was converted by his visions of the Golden Path and is now staid in his duty and unquestioning in his belief.

Figuring out what exactly the Golden Path is- the path that Maud'Dib could not bring himself to contemplate and that Leto took upon himself in place of Ghanima- is a tussle.

It is an immensely enjoyable tussle, however. Leto seems to be saying, by being the ultimate power-holder and despot of this universe, I accomplish too things. First, I am freeing humanity of the craving for authority and reinforcing free will and action- I am showing people that despotism, even peaceful despotism, automatically creates tension and disturbance. Secondly, I am showing people that enforced peace leads to degeneration of the soul.

God Emperor of Dune is a complex book, one that needs to be reread many times in order to draw the juices of interpretation and understanding from it. Its about government, power, love, humanity. It also has the most interesting and one of the most complex characters created in sciencefiction. And that alone justifies reading it.

This is what the whole series is all about right here. Paul Muad'Dib was a failed messiah. Failed because he locked himself into a future that he could not stand to be a part of. Like his father, young Leto II also saw the path that his father fled from. But in looking deeper into that future saw the only way to save humankind from itself. The Golden Path. This book is set smack-dab in the middle of that golden path. Deeply religious and philosophical undertones drive this book right to the top of my personal best list. If I had to pick only one book that truly changed my perspective and deepened my thinking it has to be this book. Leto is a very rich character unparalled in any other series. Frank Herbert took the ideal of a higher power and what it must be like to be that power, and humanized it for all to disect and study. True Genius. If you're looking for the action of the first book, God Emperor might dissapoint you. Though there is action, it is the dialogue of this book that makes it the timeless perfection that it is. So if you want to take your mind on a consciousness expanding ride, curl up with this book and enjoy.

I personally think Herbert could have ended his series here, as he manages to accomplish, with Leto Atreides II, all of the things he didn't manage with Paul. I'm going to reveal a ton of plot here, so bear with me. [Reading a review about what happens and reading the book are two different experiences, anyway, so you won't lose anything by reading what I type here.]

At the end of Children of Dune, Paul's son Leto II had merged with the "sandtrout" (larval form of the Dune sandworms) to become a super-human monster who was very close to invincible. It is speculated at the end of that book that he could live for 4,000 years. As God Emperor of Dune opens, it is 3,508 years after the events of Children, and Leto's sandtrout have transformed him into a human-sandworm hybrid, the only such animal in existence. Arrakis is now totally terraformed, and Leto has a tyrant's grip on the empire's dwindling supplies of the spice, melange.

Leto is a more powerful telepath than his father, and has the memories of all his ancestors--male and female--upon which to draw. He has become sensitive to moisture, and mostly lives in a citadel near the desert portion of Arrakis. Around him, the Bene Gesserit, the technologists of Ix, and the genetic manipulators of Bene Tleilax continue to weave their schemes in an effort to find his "secret stash" of spice.

The God Emperor has transformed society on an unprecedented level. Every world reflects the same pattern of life, and has been frozen by a ban on space travel. Only Leto's "Fish Speakers," an army composed entirely of women, are allowed free travel, and they perform the roles of conquerers and "civilizers." The clever part of forcing humanity into this pattern (which I didn't catch until I had read the book later) is that all of humanity gets to experience what age after age of peace is like. That was a big part of Herbert's story, after all: to show what life would be like for a person dependent upon prescience. And the verdict of that life is boredom.

Thrown into this mixture, of course, is a rebel Atreides, Siona, and the continually-reborn Duncan Idaho. They are considered crucial to Leto's breeding program for humanity. There is also a new, female ambassador from Ix, who allows Leto to recall his human side. All in all, there's a lot happening here, but Herbert manages to tell his story briskly. The usual quotes at the beginning of each chapter are usually excerpts from Leto's Journal, and provide (as usual) interesting comments about society and politics. I really enjoyed this book. To get a better, simpler look at Frank Herbert's universe, this serves as a triumphant example.

How do I start a review of God Emperor of Dune? It simply blew me away. Leto Atreides II is the single most complex, interesting, and expertly crafted character in literary history. In fact, it seems a travesty to even call him a "character"; Leto is a person. This book is about a lot of different things, but it's mostly about Leto -- and believe me, you could write a hundred books about this guy. What really blows me away about God Emperor of Dune is how satisfying it is while still being totally open-ended. Herbert leaves you with a thousand unanswered questions, and it is by exploring these questions that you begin to truly appreciate the book. There are a few times when the psychobabble gets to be too much for even the most absorbed reader, but in the end the good FAR outweighs the bad, leaving God Emperor practically unblemished in my mind. My biggest worry is that people will start the Dune series and never reach this book...in retrospect, it's a tie with Dune Messiah for my favorite entry in the entire series. A slowly paced, terrifyingly deep, cathartic complete/incomplete masterpiece.

After having read "Children of Dune", I could not wait to get my hands on this book. This book drips even heavier that its predecessors in philosophy, but maintains enough action and drama to keep you turning the pages.

The planet is now rich with moisture and plant life. The sandworms are all dead, except for one. After 3500 years of metamorphosis into a new breed of sandworm, Leto is still alive as Emperor, tyrannically pursuing his 'Golden Path'. Except for the ghola Duncan Idaho, all the other characters are long dead. It explains even more of the allusionary foreshadowing of "Dune: Messiah" and "Children of Dune", which is its real strength.

The ending however was not really the best in my taste. It happens too quickly and it didn't seem to answer the foreshadowing that was presented earlier in the book. Also, the character development of the surviving characters was poor while the well developed characters all die.

While I look forward to reading about how the Dune universe turns out in the final two books, I was ultimately disappointed in flaw in character development. I'm also becoming a little tired of the constant resurrections of Duncan Idaho when there are many more intriguing and complex characters that die premature deaths.

Despite this, I stil give the book a four star rating because of its predominant consistency to the Dune theme and its epic foreshadowing of the events to come in the following books.

After I read the first fifty pages of God Emperor Dune, a sudden sadness overtook me. I thought of all my friends that loved Dune, but got stuck in Dune Messiah. I thought of all the other ones that made it through Dune Messiah, but got stuck in Children of Dune. Can we please have a moment of silence for these unfortunate souls.

While I did like books 2 and 3 of the series, I'm the first to admit that they were not of "Dune" quality. God Emperor of Dune, however, may be its rival. It is so rare in a series, especially in Book 4, that you think to yourself, all the other books have been leading to this one moment. Leto II's Golden Path indeed shines through. For non-sci-fi people, this series is more than sci-fi. It's an examination of political philosopy, economy, and religion. One could almost call it allegory. Herbert's characters: Maud'dib, Leto II, even Moneo (in God Emperor) are so well developed as to become Messiah's, God's, and friends in their own right. The Dune books force you to think, they entertain, and they sweep the imagination to a world millenia away from now. God Emperor of Dune itself take place 3 thousand years after Children of Dune. If you are thinking of quitting the series, I counsel you to wait until after you have read this amazing fourth book. My idea: there's now way anyone could stop now.

In the fourth volume of Frank Herbert's Dune Series, the tale goes three thousand years after the first three books. Leto, the son of Paul Atreides is still around, however, a semi-immortal who is the title character.

Paul might have been the equivalent of Julius Caesar, setting up an Empire for his successor, the Augustean Leto. Leto has established his own version of Pax Romana, creating a government that has remained in power over three millenia. The price of this peace is obvious: civilization has stagnated and many of the same institutions are still around, despite a time gap similar to the time of the mythical Agammemnon/Atreides to our modern day.

Leto is extremely powerful, not only physically and intellectually, but economically as well. His Achilles heel (speaking metaphorically as his worm-like body no longer has heels) is his simultaneous development towards worm-hood and his vague longings for his humanity. Among his allies/opponents is Duncan Idaho, the latest in a series of Idaho clones that have served Leto and have often died trying to assassinate him.

The book focuses on Leto's scheming about the human race and those who oppose him. While quite interesting and entertaining, it would sometimes be nice if Herbert's characters were a little less serious. No one speaks or does anything frivolously; it is all part of a larger agenda. Nonetheless, although different from the first three books, this is a worthy part of the series and a good science fiction novel.

Storyline:
Centuries have passed on Dune itself, and the planet is green with life. Leto II, the son of Dune's savior, is still alive but far from human. He has become a human-sandworm creature, ruling over his angry and frustrated empire with his vast legions of Fish Speaker soldiers, enforcing peace for dozens of generations to teach the universe a lesson, while also waiting for the right time to turn Dune back into a desert planet. The fate of all humanity hangs on Leto's awesome sacrifice.

Opinion:
To begin with, I expected this book to be a disappoitment after hearing opinions from people about it. But they were wrong. This book has brought back the excitment that has lacked since Dune. Children of Dune was a little confusing and it took me a several times more of reading it to understand it. God Emperor of Dune is a very deep book. It allows you to see a part of person who makes so much of sacrifices and sees everyhting yet still believes in suprises and wonder and awe. The God Emperor of Dune, Leto Atreides II, the son Paul Atreides who was the Kwiastz Haderach knows how he is being hated, abused and unapreciated by the population of then known universe yet he continues to have compassion for them and continues doing what he does. He has sympathy for people who insult him and criticise him in such way that no normal human can endure or tolerate for very long. But then he is no TRUE human. He is half worm, half human.

This book was so totally touching that it brought tears to my eyes. I have never seen a book touch me this way since Dune Messiah. It was so absolutely and completely captivating that when I read it, it had me at the edge of my seat until the very end. I think Dune is right now displacing Lord of the Rings as my favourite book. Though I'm still only a teenager, and have many more books to read in times to come, I find that no book can compare Dune what with its majestic grandeur and hidden meaning and message which makes you expand and extend your imagination to such depths and meaning that is very exciting. It makes you think and to understand. I like books who allow you room for your interpretations of your own rather than reveal all openly for you to read. There is no magic in books like that. That's why I LOVE Dune. I can't wait to read the next book.

And I hope that you will enjoy this book as much as I did even if the last part was a bit bittersweet and sad.So for any Dune lover this is a simply must read!!!

When I was a teen-ager I read this book. I thought that it was slow and boring. After having re-read this book 20 years later I can see that it is probably the best novel I have ever read.

The thought that by becoming the most vile despot the universe has ever seen, Leto can push humanity to finally reject despotism as a political/religious force, and in doing so force individuals to assert their right of freedom above all else, is perhaps the whole point of the Dune series. As we live in a society that has abbrogated much of our freedom due to apathy, fear, and feelings of helplessness, we should all read this book for its insights into where our society could be heading.

This book is probably much too slow to keep some people interested, but if it is read with the realization of the points that Herbert was trying to make, this book truly stands out. After all, if Dune was just about desert maniacs and war, we would never have liked it much in the first place. It is precisely the depth of the thinking in Herbert's work that keeps us coming back.