Dune Messiah

by Frank Herbert

Kindle Edition, 350 pages

English language

Published June 2, 2008 by Ace.

ISBN:: 978-0-593-09823-3
ASIN:: B0011UGNDG

Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known—and feared—as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the known universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremen, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne—and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence.

And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty...

8 editions

Pierre reviewed Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Dune, #2)

Lost in the Spice Trance

3 stars

Content warning Plot Spoilers

I read dune Messiah a few months back and am taking time to reflect as I just finished Children of Dune (the third book in the series). Overall, I was pretty disappointed in Dune Messiah. To me, the plot and characters marked a stark departure from the first book and I was pretty much lost the whole time. Herbert’s prose even though aesthetically pleasing, especially to me since he tends to borrow a lot of french words to describe the etiquette or customs related to the emperor and empire, gets really confusing especially in passages describing the spice melange and spice trance. I was taken aback by seeing a character, Paul Atreides, stuck in his progression. Maybe that’s what Herbert wanted to convey in Dune Messiah, but I felt like the character had phenomenal power and super powers yet the story failed to show how he was using them and to which end he wanted to use them. It also felt to me like the characters lacked individual personality. They seem to all speak in the same way and interact in similar fashion.

I’m rating 3/5 for the world building and the lore but overall was not pleased by the general plot.

Esteban Torres reviewed Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Dune, #2)

The series definitely keeps getting traction

5 stars

I know this is a very old saga; regardless I was not expecting it to be this engaging

There are definitely a few 🚩s along the way, but those can easily be attributed to the time when the books were written

The way Paul walks between destiny/fate and desire to break the chains is very well defined.

Tom Boucher reviewed Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Dune, #2)

Review of 'Dune Messiah' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I read this, long ago as a young junior high (7-9th grade) in the 80s shortly after I learned about Dune thanks to the David Lynch movie.

I never understood this book, in fact, it turned me off Dune, and I only read a chapter or two of the third book before quitting.

Years later I read the follow on books written by his sone (Dune House Atradies, et. All) and the Bultlerian Jihad series, etc. I really liked those.

Since the Dune 2020 version is coming out I wanted to re-read the series, so many people swear by it and have high hopes.

What changed for me, besides seeing this book as someone who just turned 49 vs someone who was 14 or so?

There was a forward in the version I got from the ebook. Written int he 2000s by his sone, explaining how this book was his favorite. How it was the worst received of the series and how it saddened the author.

A quote from the introduction: “and revealed the dark side of the messiah phenomenon that had appeared to be so glorious in Dune. Many readers didn’t want that dose of reality; they couldn’t stand the demotion of their beloved, charismatic champion, especially after the author had already killed off two of their favorite characters in Dune, the loyal Atreides swordmaster Duncan Idaho* and the idealistic planetologist Liet-Kynes.”

Being that this is 2020, and there’s been a mess of things going on, this really struck a chord with me, and I read it in a new light. I thoroughly enjoyed the breaking, and I think having read the other books explained some of the ‘weirdness’ of this book better knowing the world building that was done in the other Brian H/Kevin Anderson novel.

I highly recommend if you read this as a younger person to go back and re-read it. It’s a quick read and worth checking out, if nothing but to prep you for what’s coming with the movie(s) that i hope handle this better than previous iterations did.

PeterB reviewed Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (Chronicles of Dune, #2)

Review of 'Dune Messiah' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Dune Messiah is the follow up of Dune. It's hard to be the sequel of one of the best SF books and it shows.

Dune Messiah takes place 10 years after the original Dune and chronicles Paul's time as emperor and the rise of his empire.

This book is a lot slower than its prequel and it's probably for the best that it is only half as thick. It takes 200 pages of setup, but the final 50 pages are yet another awesome roller coaster ride through the Dune universe.

The finale really does lift up the entire book and makes this book worth a read for every Dune fan.