Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert

⭐ 9/10

First off, check out that cover art. Amazing. Secondly, 3 book reviews in a row, look at me go! Amazing what a vacation affords you time to do.

I have reviewed this book before, probably on the old spreadsheet, and I have no idea what I gave it there, but I loved this. I could not put it down, and read it in two days, completely absorbed. I have a memory of it being a bit of a slog, at the very least less exciting than Dune, so I loved getting a chance to look at this one with fresh eyes. It's a tired take to say Paul Atreides is "not actually the good guy", but this book brings this fully into view. I would have read this the first time probably 10 years ago, and while I shockingly remembered many scenes, my reaction to them was very different.

This book is basically about a conspiracy or 3 factions, representing 3 groups, plotting against Paul, who has become the emperor of the galaxy, whose followers are enacting a religious war across that galaxy. I would have originally read this right after Dune, so its natural to want the conspirators to fail, but at a more mature age and with movie images in my head this is way more interesting than that. Paul knows he is evil, and he struggles with what he feels he has to do. He compares himself to Hitler directly. The difference here is his prescience, do the ends justify the means, but even more interestingly his incomplete prescience. The way the book describes his inner battle, and his trying to explain how his foresight works, is pretty psychedelic and cool. I can totally see it turning people away from the book, but I really liked it. And the conspirators aren't made to be good guys either, they all have selfish ends in mind. Just a very cool politically driven book, where almost every scene is people in rooms talking. No worm riding, no epic battles, reminded me of A Game of Thrones, where every sentiment is double edged and true intentions are veiled.

This book made me so excited for the movie, although a bit worried, since the second movie shied away from some of the truly bizarre aspects. This book has lots of weird sci-fi stuff, and while there are set pieces I can totally see and can't wait for I hope it can embrace the odd character designs. Also, not that much happens in this book! Made me excited for the potential of some Children of Dune content on screens.

Shout out to Alia and the return of Duncan Idaho! A weird dynamic I don't understand, but the ghola plotline and the idea of a clone trying to understand themselves is cool, albeit it overused in modern sci-fi (does the robot have feelings???). Lady Jessica is strangely absent, and I feel like the movies are going to have to include her for consistency. Can't wait to see Pattinson as Scytale, and I want to see how Denis imagines Edric the guild navigator right now. I love those movies and feel like I now fully appreciate how they have taken over as the definitive depiction. It made this book more enjoyable, being able to see the characters and the world in my mind.