Children of Dune beviel mij verrassend goed, dit vierde deel viel mij dan weer tegen. Het speelt zich af zo'n 3500 jaar na het vorige boek. Heel veel monologen en dialogen maar het ontbreekt aan actie. En zelfs de actie die er is wordt omschreven vanuit ooggetuigen verslagen.
Het heeft soms meer weg van een filosofisch gesprek zoals Plato die schreef dan van een ScienceFiction roman. Evengoed drie sterren vanwege enkele filosofische doordenkertjes.
Somehow managed to make 15:40 of exposition with a closing 00:08 of action into a page turner. This series really goes off the deep end into a dreamlike wonderland, and I'm here for it. Never would have guessed the ending. Damn you Leto, you knew the whole time you sly sad worm. He was the predator humanity needed.
This was the worst of the Dune books to date. It felt like 80% of it was Leto Deuce talking with some other character about "The Golden Path" without ever really detailing what the heck it was... I was fine with some of that, but there was far too much of it...
Several times in this book we stopped the Audiobook and said to one another "wait, what the heck is going on" or "how did this scene start?". We never had that with the first 3 books.
A wildly ambitious move to attempt writing a slow-moving character study of a 3,500 year old man-worm with prescient vision - densely packed with a broad variety of philosophical musings - while keeping the story engaging.
He doesn't pull it off but I salute him for trying.
As always with Herbert, little shards of wisdom are scattered throughout: "In the shadow of every religion lurks a Torquemada." "Words can carry any burden we wish. All that's required is agreement and a tradition upon which to build." "The problem of leadership is inevitably: Who will play God?"
Herbert's writing in God Emperor is, as it has been throughout the Dune series, striking and unique. When reading him, I always get the sense that there is something large going on, just out of sight.
At the same time, however, this book was such a drag. It wandered on, and on, and on, and I am so happy to be at the end of my reading of the Dune series. Though the characters are certainly well-illustrated, none of them were really compelling. Leto, the God Emperor, was a tyrant, and I simply couldn't enjoy reading him, no matter the justification …
As always with Herbert, little shards of wisdom are scattered throughout: "In the shadow of every religion lurks a Torquemada." "Words can carry any burden we wish. All that's required is agreement and a tradition upon which to build." "The problem of leadership is inevitably: Who will play God?"
Herbert's writing in God Emperor is, as it has been throughout the Dune series, striking and unique. When reading him, I always get the sense that there is something large going on, just out of sight.
At the same time, however, this book was such a drag. It wandered on, and on, and on, and I am so happy to be at the end of my reading of the Dune series. Though the characters are certainly well-illustrated, none of them were really compelling. Leto, the God Emperor, was a tyrant, and I simply couldn't enjoy reading him, no matter the justification for his tyranny; Duncan Idaho has never been my favorite character, as he seems two-dimensional in his loyalty and militarism; Siona was rudderless and arbitrary, a savior for the empire without a tangible drive to create; Moneo was without nuance, and seemed to be there as a prop around which Leto could talk circles.
Put frankly, it felt too much like a morality tale devoid of characters with a sense of morality. It's possible that Herbert aimed at that, but it's just not my kind of book.
I recommend reading Dune #1 and stopping after that.
L'Empereur-Dieu de Dune n'est pas le volume le plus facile d'accès mais c'est peut-être le plus beau, dans ce cycle de Frank Herbert. Leto II, fils de Paul Atreides et de Chani, a sacrifié sa vie pour préserver l'avenir de l'humanité. Trois mille cinq cent plus tard, son corps est transformé : plus ver des sables qu'humain, il règne sans partage sur son empire. Plus tout à fait humain, le Tyran va pourtant connaître l'amour avant de disparaître, non sans avoir laissé un dernier héritage à l'humanité.
