Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Dune Messiah

Top positive review

A favorite book and series - highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2022

Interestingly, Dune Messiah was when published not well received.

In my personal view it is a better book than Dune. Why? Dune Messiah (in my view) has a deeper and more powerful underlying message and story.

It hi-lights the danger in leader worship, in absolute dictum. The leader is not in control, it is those who surround the leader who seek and manipulate information to gain more power that truly control and subvert reality to their will. The leader to break free must recognize this and factor the varied self interests of the factions and interests into their actions to survive.

Highly recommended.

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colleen lile

Do not buy these skinny versions of Dune books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 17, 2023

I ordered the 5 Dune books published by Penguin. Amazon sent me 5 REALLY skinny books. There is no way to tell ordering through Amazon. Shame on them. For some reason, Peguin cut the books by 1/3, making them much more difficult to read, as the pages have to pulled back very hard to read interior words. These are not standard sized books. Of course, the Herbert is a great author. Penguin is an awful publisher.

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Technophobe01

A favorite book and series - highly recommended

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2022

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One person found this helpful

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Thomas Karopoulos

It's amazing reading

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2023

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You're allowed to continue the Dune experience and let loose your imagination.

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Joe G.

While reading this book my mind is drawn and quartered a thousand times.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 18, 2020

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Frank Herbert is something else. While reading this book my mind is drawn and quartered a thousand times. It is pushed and pulled this way and that. I am like a child grasping for meaning, knowing it is there but just out of reach. On the edge of understanding, I sit, in awe of what might be on the other side. Comprehension, just out of reach and yet in the back of my mind, it has been there the whole time. The words are new but they make sense, like some dream that tries to incorporate elements that seem, at first, to be disconnected, only to discover later, maybe after a day or two of contemplation, that the meaning was there amidst the confusion. Then, he brings you back. Frank Herbert, the man that sent you down the rabbit hole is there holding your hand and makes everything clear.

Dune Messiah is the second in the Dune series and it is a wonderful rollercoaster. One minute I'm trying to follow the story and figure out what is happening, what might happen, and then the next minute I'm lost in the jargon and intrigue of a world I barely know. The internal ruminations of the characters, the dialogue, and the world that Frank Herbert created is so thoroughly it's own that it is like turning on a documentary from an alien world at an alien time. As much as it is unfamiliar it is just familiar enough to cause a fury of excitement and suspense. The intrigue is palpable and enticing. It keeps you going and gives you hope.

In this, the second story about the desert planet known as Dune, we take up the story of Paul Atreides, AKA Muad 'Dib AKA Usul, AKA the ruler of the known universe. The book starts about twelve years after the end of the first Dune book. We find that with the help of violence, religious ideology, his prescient sister Alia, his Fremen soldiers, and his monopoly over the invaluable resource known as melange, Paul has brought his form of justice and leadership to all. He is known by some as a god and by others as a devil. He is not unaware of this duality and is plagued by his own doubt about the legacy that he is creating.

Paul tackles internal and external threats to his dynasty but with his powers of foresight, he seems to be one step ahead of his enemies. While he attempts to root out the spies in his midst he is also dealing with the matter of his succession plan. Chani, his concubine and true love, is pregnant and there are many who want to take advantage of her vulnerability and Paul's potential weakness toward her. He knows who to trust but he doesn't always know if he can trust himself and by the end, the true plot is revealed. Will Paul fall to the wiles of his enemies or will he continue his violent conquest? Read to find out!

13 people found this helpful

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Providential

Messiah, maybe less Dune

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 27, 2020

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Messiah is a bit of a dividing book, but then again so are all the books that followed Frank Herbert's Dune. Dune is an all-time sci-fi classic, unimpeachable thanks to its vast influence over other a broad range of media. Messiah? Not as much.

What is Messiah about? Set 12 years after Dune, Messiah is about the world Paul-Muad'dib set in motion in the first book. You see the ramifications of his decisions, and you get quite a bit of pontificating about the nature of fate. Can the fortune-tellers of Dune really affect the future, or are they only catching glimpses of a destiny that already awaits them? That's what this book is really about.

What makes Messiah different? Messiah takes the political subtext that was a big part of Dune, and elevates that aspect of the story until it nearly excludes the other portions. You're not going to get the same big battles, the fascinating technology, the brand-new ecologies. A lot of fans of Dune were really into that book book because of those far-future technological aspects, so they find this book strangely lacking. In Messiah you get what is almost an alternate-universe political treatise with oblique only references to the technologies of the first book. It's one part philosophy, one part politics, and really only a splash of far-future science fiction for flavor.

Is Messiah good? I think it's so-so. At half the length of Dune, it's certainly not as epic in scope. Dune was not slow in pace, so that page count really does mean something. Messiah is by comparison just a short treatise. It's not bad, but it really doesn't expand on the Dune universe in a way that I was hoping for. I love the politics, but Herbet really skimped on the rest of the book getting there. If you padded out this book to Dune's length by inserting those action scenes back in, I might like it more. Repeatedly having characters wander from room to room pontificating while offhandedly mentioning the genocide of dozens of planets at a go does leave room for some exploration into that latter part of the story.

Is Messiah worth reading? I'm in the process of re-reading the Dune novels before the upcoming movie, so at the moment I'm solidly in the camp of saying it's fine to stop with Dune. I have vague memories of Messiah and Children and Chapterhouse, and I found the whole thing underwhelming. People often say God Emperor is worth the trip, but having been so long since I read it and obviously since that book didn't stick with me, I'm not sure I agree. Maybe my mood will change after going through the series again but from where I stand - either stop at Dune, or buckle in for the whole series. Messiah is definitely more along the lines of the rest of the series. There's a lot of politics and philosophy ahead, so maybe that will help you decide if you want to go on.

Overall: Messiah is okay. There's a reason people only talk about Dune, and not its sequel books. This is in stark contrast to something like Lord of the Rings, where people almost exclusively talk about the series (or at least the main trilogy) as a whole. Messiah isn't bad, but it also differs from its predecessor in fundamental ways. There's less action, less technology, and more philosophy. If that's your bag, maybe Messiah is for you.

198 people found this helpful

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colleen lile

Do not buy these skinny versions of Dune books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 17, 2023

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Coisa

Value price, good book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 20, 2022

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Purchased this Dune Messiah edition to replace a old and worn paperback copy on my bookshelf. The Dune series is among the best English fiction of the 20th Century and they are keepers.

This Dune Messiah mass market edition is not extremely well printed / constructed but good enough to have for re-readings. Physical books are "keepers" and can be handed down or easily / given loaned to others, permanently. I rarely buy digital editions (unless I am traveling and want to not carry a weighty physical copy) - you actually do not "own" a digital copy - you have only a license to use it. The license can be retracted at any time (or not transferred to others) if you close your account (s). This is reason to buy physical books The keeper Dune series is in this category.

2 people found this helpful

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Victor the Reader

Dune Messiah (My Kindle Review)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 15, 2022

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The follow-up to the outstanding debut to the series takes a very different step into Paul’s story as he’s less hero and more complicated emperor. “DM” is mainly a political sci-fi drama and not much like a deep sci-fi epic. It still has its harrowing moments that will build up to something unexpected and something of a new chapter. A somewhat tragic and unexpected rise and fall of a hero. <b>B+ (83%/Very Good)</b>

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Erik

A Good Follow Up

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 14, 2022

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I enjoyed reading this book. It was a dense read more than the first, I reread paragraphs more than I did for the first book. Though it wasn’t as hard as trying to read dune for the first time as many of the terminology you learn from the first book is in this one ! (There is no terminology section in this book) THIS MAY BE SPOILER !!! Do not expect loads of action , it has its moments but we don’t know what really happened in between the 12 years of the first and 2nd book. All in all, it’s a great read!

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Jennifer Jenkins

Perfect

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 8, 2022

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Fast shipping, looks in great condition, enjoying the book.

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Kindle Customer

That's a Wrap

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2022

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A fitting conclusion for Dune. Sympathetic characters came through with great definition. A thoroughly engrossing and entertaining story. Could it happen?

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