Dune Messiah

Much more overtly political than Dune. The most poignant part of this book is Alia’s character development. I can’t help but feel that the book could have benefited from another two to three hundred pages or so. The plot points all made sense, but felt rushed at times. Despite the usual complaints about this book (usually regarding its slow pace due to a turn toward the dialogue-heavy), I felt that it breezed by.

Now I’m set for the final film of the Villeneuve trilogy in a few years. In the background, it may be time to start chipping at Children of Dune.

4.5 Stars

Mel

I'm very much looking forward to Villeneuve's interpretation of Dune that will be shown in theaters this year so I decided to not only read the original book but also the rest of the series.

After seizing power and becoming emperor by marrying Princess Irulan, Paul (well, his forces, but in his name nonetheless) has sterilized hundreds of planets, killed billions of people ... and hates his own Jihad (I loved Scytale's description of it being a mental epidemic). Paul doubts the justice and righteousness of the path he has chosen, his powers of vision encounter more and more limits, and the number of people opposing the new emperor grow ever more. Even some Fremen despise Muad'ib now. While Paul and his now 15-year-old sister, Alia, rule with a council, Irulan joins a conspiracy to kill Paul. Simultaneously, Chani wishes for nothing more than to be pregnant again (not knowing that Irulan has slipped contraceptives into her diet, thus preventing a pregnancy so far) but Irulan herself demands the privilege of bearing her empirial husband's child (and is refused, unless she accepts artificial insemination). As if all that wasn't enough, the Navigator Guild establishes an embassy on Arrakis and brings a gift (funny, considering the German word Gift): a genetic copy of Paul's former friend and teacher, Duncan Idaho. He has a part to play, of course, knows and reveals as much as he knows about it even, but things are ... complicated. Once again, everything is shrouded in lies and mysteries and tarots, partially revealed by and often misunderstood thanks to visions.

So yes, there is a lot of intrigue and personal drama here. Where the first book was about fear and self-awakening, this second one more carried the tones of self-hatred and being trapped. What I especially liked about this book is that it addressed the conflict attentive readers saw coming in the previous book: how Paul had seized power and what he presented himself as to his followers could only lead to disaster. Not to mention the downside of his powers, the price he has to pay for them. Yet there were good reasons for him to do what and how he did (preventing annihilation for humanity). Nevertheless, seizing the throne is way easier than keeping it. And religious fanatism always carries within itself the seed of its own destruction.

Naturally, the sandworms still are vital to the machinations and events. Here, plans are set in motion to create another melange "factory" on another planet.
Then there were the further revelations of the complicated genetic tapestry the Bene Gesserit have weaved, the consequences, the history (for example, they aren't the only ones with such planning and Paul apparently isn't the first Kwisatz Haderach)!

Personally, I liked and dreaded Alia and "Duncan" getting along so well since I know where it leads to (if the mini series Children of Dune follow the book(s) faithfully) - good and bad, necessary and preventable. Likewise, I knew what would happen to Chani, also thanks to the mini series Children of Dune, but hated it and was hoping it would be different here - which was, of course, impossible. In a way, Paul wasn't wrong when he said this way was better for their children - both parents out of the picture. Yet it is hard to believe. So I was definitely emotionally invested and appropriately devastated.

This book, then, offers an important insight into Paul's conflict with himself and his different personas/potentials. It also shows the same kind of insight into Alia's mind (very important considering her having awakened to Reverend Mother awareness before she was even born and, no doubt, her future role). Last but not least, it sets the tone and places important corner stones for future developments. Because if you thought this series was about Paul, you better think again!

A short-ish book, very cerebral with little actual action but still thrilling thanks to the reader excitedly following the path and the story being rounded off by the periodical interludes in the fashion of historical assessments and commentary, all of which is vital to the overall mythology and establishment of important characters that will carry the rest of the saga forward. It doesn't hurt that the author is so good at making you care about certain people in a short amount of time.



P.S.: Don't let the rating fool you, this is not quite as good as the first novel. It is neither as vast in scope nor as intricate. However, it is intricate in its own way, very smart, and the rating system here is limited. This scifi book is definitely in a league of its own, too.

3 - 3.5 stars

In the initial volume of the Dune series the ‘good guys’ won, but at what cost? And is the universe a better or a worse place as a result? The fact of Paul’s bloody jihad which has spread across human space is perhaps the most poignant answer to this question. Even those that fought for Muad’Dib are uncertain of the rightness of their actions and we hear the answer one perhaps most strongly feels in the voice of the shattered figure of Otheym, the former Fedaykin (or Death Commando in Paul’s army): “I don’t like the world we’re making, you know that? It was better when we were alone in the desert with only the Harkonnens for enemy.” You know what they say: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But is this a case of a power mad emperor, or are the causes more subtle than that? Is Paul Atreides as much a pawn to the events around him as the meanest peon in his empire? Regardless of the answer to this question those who have been displaced by the rise of the new emperor would agree with Otheym’s estimation and thus after twelve years on the Lion Throne we witness machinations whose aim is the fall of Paul Muad’Dib, the kwisatz haderach and culmination of a ten thousand year breeding plan. Unable to use the new emperor as their intended pawn, the Bene Gesserit that created him have joined in an unlikely alliance with their former rivals, the Spacing Guild and the hated Bene Tleilax, in a conspiracy that hopes to bring down the messiah of the Fremen jihad that has spread across the universe. But how do you trap one who can see the future? Thus we enter into a tale of secret machinations and twisted alliances, or as Frank Herbert would put it: wheels within wheels within wheels. Paul and his sister Alia must face an unknown enemy that hides in plain sight and proves a possible match even for their prescient vision. Friends who may be enemies surround them and the apparent return of an old voice from the Atreides past may be the secret to their destruction, or perhaps their salvation.

I enjoyed this volume, though nowhere near as much as the first. I definitely appreciated the ambiguity with which Paul and his reign are depicted: I would certainly say that Paul himself is not evil, but his actions have been unable to halt the horrors of his prescient vision and the pain he has caused (directly or indirectly) in the human universe is nearly incalculable. The optimist of the earlier volume appears to have become a pragmatist as Paul has apparently accepted his inability to turn his visions into anything approximating a paradise for mankind. Unable to create the best of all possible worlds he instead seems content with attempting to find the one that will do the least harm…though the death toll of his jihad would cause one to wonder if his judgement erred in that choice. Even his closest friends and allies find themselves uncomfortable in his presence (how does one rub shoulder with a prescient messiah?) and the old days of hardship and struggle seem a paradise in comparison to the new world of luxury and power even to the reader.

In the end Paul must make perhaps the hardest choice of his life (a life that has been filled with difficult choices) and the end of an era is assured, though what new thing may rise out of it still seems to be beyond even the prescient knowledge of Paul himself. For all that it shows us the world that resulted from Paul’s actions in volume one this is very much a ‘middle volume’ of the Duna saga: setting up the reader for what I would consider the culmination of the story of the rise of the Atreides and their effect on the human race in _Children of Dune_.

Lo intenté de nuevo pero no soy fan de Dune. Veré las películas, eso sí.

Paul Atryda staje się w tej książce tym jednym wujkiem, którego zapamiętaliście jako super luzaka, a rzeczywistości okazuje się on starszym, rubasznym wąsaczem, który na rodzinnym posiedzeniu raczy się malinowym kustoszem.

Tragiczny los wielkiego człowieka.
Tutaj filmik:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0sPw...

You know what it's like. Every decision seems so obviously sensible, but one thing just leads to another. We've all had it happen to us.

So, last time I had my family murdered by our hereditary enemies I went into hiding in the desert too, and linked up with the tough native fighters there. I mean, who wouldn't? Since I had psychic powers, it seemed pretty crazy not to use them to gain some respect. Before I knew what had happened, I was the clan's leader. And you get some momentum, you want to keep it up, otherwise you just go backwards. Suddenly I found I was ruling the planet. I didn't expect it to be quite so easy to conquer the known Universe, but that bit always catches you by surprise.

On the way, I met this girl. I liked her, she liked me, well, you know how these things happen. She gets pregnant. Then, shit, I go and of course lose my sight in some kind of nuclear attack. I'm just kicking myself for being so careless. Girlfriend dies in childbirth, par for the course, and since she has twins all my psychic powers are gone. I keep meaning to find out why that happens, but I never get round to it.

Oh well, I guess I'll be left to die in the wilderness as usual, and ONLY READ THIS NEXT BIT IF YOU WANT TO DISCOVER A VITAL PLOT ELEMENT FROM BOOK THREE! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION! the kids will turn into godlike mutant sandworms. Never mind. I'll try to do better next time.

فهمیدن اینکه چرا فرانک هربرت به عنوان یکی از بهترین نویسنده های علمی تخیلی جهان شناخته می شه، کار سختی نیست. مجموعه رمان های دنباله دار تلماسه نوشته اون، بعنوان نمونه ای از بزرگترین سریال های ساینس فیکشن، طرفداران بسیاری داره. ماجراهای داستان های تلماسه توی سیاره ای متروک و بیابانی به نام آراکیس رخ میده، سرزمین وحشی‌ای که اتفاقات اون، پیامدهای تاثیر گذار عجیبی برای کل کهکشان داره. 
توی کتاب اول، ما یک داستان علمی-تخیلی آینده‌نگر خوندیم که در اون چندین خاندان نجیب زاده و اشراف کهکشان، برای قدرت رقابت می‌کنن. طی یکسری اتقاق تراژیک، پل مجبور میشه برای بقای خودش توی سیاره آراکیس مبارزه کنه. سیاره اراکیس در کل کهکشان به خاطر وجود ادویه فوق‌العاده کمیابی به نام ملانژ شهرت داره که توانایی‌های ماوراء‌طبیعی به مصرف‌کنندگانش می‌ده، اما بدست آوردنش به شکل وحشتناکی دشواره. همینطور این سیاره بخاطر وجود بومیان وحشی و به ظاهر غیر متمدن و کرم های عظیم الجثه آدم خوار، بدنامه. کتاب اول با پیروزی پل بر رقیبانش به پایان میرسه و اون تبدیل به امپراتور کل کهکشان میشه. اغلب داستان های حماسی همینجا تمام میشن، اما وقتی صحبت از تلماسه میشه، این تازه شروع ماجراست.

❌ از اینجا به بعد همش اسپویله❌

توی کتاب دوم به اسم مسیحای تلماسه چیزی به اسم پایان خوش وجود نداره. توی این کتاب، داستان ۱۲ سال بعد از پیروزی پل آتریدس روایت می شه، که حالا به عنوان امپراتور بر میلیاردها نفر حکومت می کنه. اگر کتاب اول یک داستان درباره به قدرت رسیدن پل بود، کتاب دوم درباره تلاش های اونه تا امپراتوری خودش رو از ازهم پاشیدگی حفظ کنه. و این در حالیه که با قدرت های مرموزش توی پیشگویی که حالا دیگه براش عذاب آور شدن، دست و پنجه نرم می کنه. پل با استفاده ازقدرت های ماورایی پیشگویی‌ش، حمایت حره مردها، قدرت مذهبی که از انتشار خرافات بین مردم نصیبش شده و ارتش بزرگ سادوکارهاش؛ دیگه مجبور نیست به طور فیزیکی با دشمنانش بجنگه.( هرچند که طی همین ۱۲ سال، اون مسوول مرگ ۶۱ میلیارد انسان شده و بیشتر از هر امپراتور خونخوار در تاریخ آدم کشته، چون پیروان متعصبش که اون رو خدا میدونن، جهادی در کهکشان راه انداختن که ظلم و رنج زیادی رو برای مردم به همراه داشته.) از طرف دیگه بسیاری از نهادهای قدرتمند در جهان وجود دارن که میخوان با دسیسه تاج و تخت اون رو غصب کنن و نابودش کنن، و حالا پل باید از توانایی های ذهنیش استفاده کنه تا بتونه دوست و دشمن رو از هم تشخیص بده و تصمیم درست بگیره.
با وجود ابعاد حماسی داستان، کتاب مسیحای تلماسه نسبت به کتاب اول، درون‌گراتر و محدودتره، حتی از نظر تعداد صفحات. داستان کتاب دوم خیلی نسیت به کتاب اول غم انگیز تره و صحنه های نبرد و پیروزی تقریبا تووش وجود نداره. لحن کتاب کاملا فلسفی عه و من فکر میکنم این تغییر لحن عمدی بوده ولی بر کیفیت داستان تاثیر منفی گذاشته و از جذابیتش کم کرده. اما پوینت مثبت کتاب اینه که توی داستان مسیحای تلماسه، هربرت اومده با استفاده از مفهوم سفر قهرمان و ساختار شکنی جالبش (ادامه داستان بعد از پیروزی نهایی شخصیت اصلی ) این پیام رو به مخاطب خودش داده که حتی بزرگترین قهرمانان، حتی اونها که به اندازه پل آتریدس قدرت دارن، در نهایت صرفا انسان هستن. همون نقص ها و عیب های شخصیتی و تناقضات مردم عادی رو دارن، حتی شاید بیشتر.
جایی خوندم که نوشته‌ بود " اگر تلماسه درباره بالا بردن پل به آسمان بود، مسیحای تلماسه او رو به زمین بازگرداند."
چنتا نکته برای خود من توی داستان مجهول موند که احتمال میدم توی جلدهای بعد حل میشن، امیدوارم یعنی. یکی اینکه چرا و به چه علت پل مانع مرگ چانی نشد، قطعا چندین پایان برای زایمان چانی موجود بوده ولی پل فقط یک احتمال رو درنظر گرفت. چرا جور دیگه نه؟ و دیگه اینکه چرا چشم درونی پل خاموش شد؟ مسله دیگه اینه چرا پل همون موقع که متوجه شد چهره ساز توی دم و دستگاهش نفوذ کرده اونو نکشت؟ کلا یجور کارای مازوخیستی می‌کرد انگار که هیج توجیه منطقی نداشتن. مسله ایرولان و لقاح مصنوعی رو ول کرده بودن توی داستان و اصلا معلوم نشد چی شد و آخر اینکه مادر جسیکا چرا کلا بچه هاشو ول کرده بود؟
...
امیدوارم زودتر بقیه جلدها ترجمه بشن که بتونیم بخونیم شون.
ممنون از همخوان های عزیزم که هنوز کتابو تموم نکردن ولی با این حال بمن انگیزه و انرزی میدن همیشه♡♡♡ سه تا قلب برای سینا، نگین، یارا