4.5 stars
Surprisingly, favorite book of the series.

Ολοκληρώνοντας το 4ο βιβλίο της κλασικής σειράς του Dune δεν έχω παρά να δηλώσω εντυπωσιασμένος από τη βαθύτητα της σκέψης του Frank Herbert. Πρέπει να ήταν ένας πραγματικά ευφυής άνθρωπος. Ο Θεϊκός Αυτοκράτορας του Ντιουν δεν είναι για όλους τους αναγνώστες -κι αυτό κατά τη γνώμη μου κάνει το ανάγνωσμα μοναδικό στο είδος του.

Αν ψάχνετε δράση, σασπένς και περίτεχνη πλοκή θα απογοητευτείτε από τούτο το βιβλίο. Αν σας γοητεύει ο λεκτικός πλούτος και η εμβριθής σκέψη που είναι ικανή να διεγείρει τις νοητικές σας λειτουργίες θα το απολαύσετε στον μέγιστο βαθμό, όπως εγώ.

Κάποιες ιδέες (και κάποιοι διάλογοι) ίσως φαντάζουν παρωχημένοι στα μάτια του σύγχρονου αναγνώστη. Γνώμη μου; Αυτά είναι πταίσματα μπροστά στο μέγεθος του ασύλληπτου οράματος που έχει μοιραστεί μαζί μας ο συγγραφέας.

Όπως ανέφερα κατά τη διάρκεια της ανάγνωσης, ένας ''θρίαμβος της φαντασίας'' ΚΑΙ της φιλοσοφίας. Για μένα και τα 4 βιβλία ανήκουν ήδη στα αγαπημένα μου αναγνώσματα.

Υγ1: Όπως και στην αρχική τριλογία, οι στιγμές που ο Herbert περιγράφει την έρημο είναι απλά μαγευτικές.

This book has changed my life. It's after I read it that I decided to become an immortal giant worm, and to travel across the whole universe to have sex with the most beautiful creatures (of every of the 17 existing sexes). Oh, and I've killed one trillion people but I swear they were annoying. What a wonderful life!

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/201...

Četvrti nastavak serijala Dine po mom je mišljenju izvrsna studija karaktera/likova, ponajviše Leta II Atreidesa, božanskog cara, polu-čovjeka i polu-crva koji je na sebe preuzeo sav teret koji nosi Zlatni put (the Golden path) koji čini se progoni lozu Atreidesa, počevši od njegova oca Paula Muad' Diba. Radnja se odvija nekih 3500 godina nakon Djece Dine, svi koje je Leto tada poznavao i s kojima je živio odavno su mrtvi, a on je izabrao vladati kao tiranin jer je jedino tako mogao spasiti čovječanstvo koje bi se samouništilo putem kojim je krenulo. Želio je uništiti kult štovanja i proročanstava, a to je mogao samo ako posije sjeme pobune protiv tiranije, odnosno sebe. Ujedno je izabrao je ono najteže jer je to značilo biti sam i usamljen tisućljećima. Sve je to utjecalo na njegovo podvojeno ponašanje, ono Leta i ono crva. Posjedovao je znanje o svemu i gotovo uvijek je bio upućen u sve što se oko njega događalo, koji su igrači bili u igri i što su namjeravali, sve je držao pod svojom kontrolom. Neke stvari je namjerno i dopuštao, kao što je dopustio i svoj kraj za koji je znao otpočetka da se mora dogoditi.
Interesantno mi je u biti bilo vidjeti kako neko tako dugovječan, praktički besmrtan, može izdržati neku svakodnevicu i još k tome kao vladar svemira. Ispadi bijesa, dosade, izbjegavanje povezivanja s nekim jer je prebolno gledati kako svi umiru, filozofiranja, razna poigravanja ljudima i makinacije, umor... Mislim da sam prvi put dobila kompletan uvid u nečiju (u ovom slučaju Herbertovu) viziju utjecaja dugovječnosti na psihu. I to je ono što me cijelo vrijeme držalo za roman.
Uz Leta u romanu se izmijenjivala cijela paleta zanimljivih likova, od mlade pobunjenice Sione Atreides, njenog oca i vjernog Letovog majordoma Monea, Duncana Idaha (ne znam više ni koje po redu njegove ghola verzije), uvijek prisutnih Bene Gesserit, Tleilaxua i Ixiona, Letove ženske vojske (fish speakers) sve do jedine nepoznanice u Letovoj računici - Hwi Noree koja u njemu izaziva dugo zatomljivan osjećaj ljubavi. Mogla bi o svemu pričati prilično dugo jer djelo je dušu dalo za dobru knjišku raspravu. I odlično je jer svatko može izvući neke svoje zaključke i interpretacije.

For any of the times that I may have complained about the characters or how I may not have loved them as much as the previous volumes, I have three or four OMG moments for everything else about this book.

The sheer scope of future history is one bit. But I'm all about the reveals about the Golden Path and what it meant for the social, political, scientific, even genderizing the future for humanity.

Or perhaps the fact that Leto II Atreides, the son of Paul, with his prolonged life, transforming into a sandworm, with the opening up of both the male and female genetic bloodline memories all the way back to us on Earth, or his ongoing future prescience, was the de facto SAVIOR of the human race.

... of course, he did it by SQUEEZING it, taking over the Bene Gesserit's breeding program, giving everyone a solid, stable life, SQUEEZING humanity until they just couldn't take it anymore.

Nobody hates peace and prosperity more than the people living in it.

This book is a wonderful testament to both imagination and INTELLIGENCE. Herbert never looked down on anyone and never spoon-fed a single idea.

The same can't be said for the side series.

Look to the best for the best, folks.

“And that’s when things got weird.”

Science Fiction is the weirdest of the genres. Dune is a weird entry in the sci-fi cannon. Emperor of Dune is the weirdest book in the series. I was here for every minute of it.

I loved it. It’s bizarre, crazy, hilarious, and definitely one of a kind. Stay and pontificate with a 10,000 pound worm god/man about socioeconomics, philosophy, and history.

Much as I loved this book, I can only recommend to hard core Dune fans. It’s just way too much otherwise.

My last question is....why Duncan Idaho?

Dzieci, nie bierzcie narkotyków. Ta książka wystarczy.

Diuneczka na yt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0sPw...

God Emperor of Dune
(Dune #4)
by Frank Herbert
I didn't enjoy this as much as the earlier ones but I did enjoy it. It had long sections that was a bit boring but important for future story lines. I was intrigued by the clones of Duncan and the long life and changes of Leto. It was sad at the end.

Buddy read with Athena!

“I am a collection of the obsolete, a relic of the damned, of the lost and strayed. I am the waylaid pieces of history which sank out of sight in all of our pasts. Such an accumulation of riffraff has never before been imagined.”

More than three thousand years have passed since the events described in the Great Dune Trilogy, and everything has changed. Arrakis is now a planet of running water and green growth, and the days of stillsuits and crysknives are gone. The Sandworms and the Fremen remain only as legends from the Ancient Days of Dune. Only one part remains from the old days: Leto II, the God Emperor.

God Emperor of Dune is, logically, a book centred around Leto. However, that is precisely its greatest problem. The so-called God Emperor who so valiantly sacrificed his human existence for that of an emperor doomed to serve his people by living through the ages and preserving the universe, has turned into a tyrant. And everyone sees him as such, except for himself and his fanatically loyal Fish Speaker cult. It seems as if though the book is an attempt to justify the government of Leto, and that is a task in which it fails miserably.

Because of that, one should think that there would be other people to sympathise with. People living under the oppression of Leto’s rule joining together in rebellion against the monstrous tyrant. Well… there really aren’t any. The rebels on Arrakis are led by Siona, the last of the Atreides line descending from Ghanima, Leto’s sister. But in reality, Leto is allowing the rebellion to happen while secretly grooming Siona to become another of his instruments. Siona knows this, and knows that the God Emperor doesn’t want her dead. That, of course, makes one wonder what the point is about the whole thing.

Next to Leto and Siona, the rest of the characters are few and uninteresting. There were a couple of them in particular that were a bit interesting in the beginning, but my interest in them quickly evaporated into thin air. And when you don’t have any characters that are fun to read about, the book gets terribly boring after a while.

This book is actually not as bad as it sounds. The story was intriguing at times (not often, mind you), the great writing of Frank Herbert is still present, and the fourth book is just as much of a lesson in power and politics as the first three books. But the point is that compared with Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, three of the greatest books ever written, this one is a disaster.

“Quasi tutta la civiltà è basata sulla vigliaccheria. È così facile civilizzare insegnando la vigliaccheria. Si annacquano i criteri che porterebbero al coraggio. Si mette un freno alla volontà. Si regolano gli appetiti. Si delimitano gli orizzonti. Si fa una legge per ogni movimento. Si nega l'esistenza del caos. S'insegna perfino ai bambini a respirare lentamente. Si addomestica tutto."
― Frank Herbert, Imperatore Dio di Dune

Quarto romanzo del ciclo di Dune di Frank Herbert, a mio giudizio il più ermetico ma anche il più affascinante. Mi piace ricordare sempre che Dune non è solo il primo romanzo, e senza aver letto i successivi si perde il suo vero scopo.

Sicuramente è un romanzo il cui messaggio non è immediato e merita più letture per apprezzarlo appieno e poter decifrare tutte le scelte compiute dai personaggi nell'ottica della saga intera.
I primi tre libri possono considerarsi il preambolo per arrivare a questo. I successivi ne contestualizzano le scelte.

La figura dell'Imperatore-Dio è poesia e speranza, un concentrato di filosofia e sociologia, l'unico essere capace di avere una visione d'insieme della razza umana e guidarla nel suo futuro incerto pur se ad un costo altissimo.

Leto ha accettato il Sentiero Dorato e ne subisce le drammatiche conseguenze. Figura tragica e unica, completamente da capire.
Il messaggio del ciclo di Dune è sottinteso nelle sue parole. Tappa fondamentale per capire il vero significato dell'opera.

Romanzo che meraviglia ancora e ancora ad ogni lettura successiva e riesce ad incantare con i sui dialoghi.

-------------------------------------
“Almost all civilization is based on cowardice. It is so easy to civilize by teaching cowardice. The criteria that would lead to courage are being watered down. The will is curbed. Appetites are regulated. Horizons are delimited. A law is made for every movement. The existence of chaos is denied. Even children are taught to breathe slowly. Everything is domesticated."
― Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune

Fourth novel of Frank Herbert's Dune series, in my opinion the most hermetic but also the most fascinating. I always like to remember that Dune is not just the first novel, and without having read the subsequent ones you lose its true purpose.

It is certainly a novel whose message is not immediate and deserves multiple readings to fully appreciate it and be able to decipher all the choices made by the characters from the perspective of the entire saga.
The first three books can be considered the preamble to get to this. The following ones contextualize the choices.

The figure of the Emperor-God is poetry and hope, a concentration of philosophy and sociology, the only being capable of having an overall vision of the human race and guiding it into its uncertain future even if at a very high cost.

Leto has accepted the Golden Path and suffers its dramatic consequences. Tragic and unique figure, completely to be understood.
The message of the Dune series is implied in his words. Fundamental stage to understand the true meaning of the work.

A novel that amazes again and again with each subsequent reading and manages to enchant with its dialogues.

I hated this book the first time I read it. Hated every person in it, did not understand why anyone acted the way they did. Now it's one of my top-ten comfort reads, and I see so much in Leto I want for myself.

Dune was the perfect hero book, and then Herbert turned the trope of “boy becomes Messiah and saves the noble people” on its head with Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. In those two volumes, everything assumed and trusted became so much sand, and a son had to destroy his Messiah father’s legacy to save the universe from religious genocide and tyranny. We closed on the boy becoming yet another saviour and had only a vague, hopeful idea of what he intended to do next.

Herbert could have left us there, many thought he would when he finished his Dune Trilogy. Instead, he published his most difficult and daring book yet. In Emperor, we discover that the boy’s plan to save humanity from tyranny is... to become the ultimate Tyrant, and Predator of humankind. Yeah, I’m with you. Just say “huh?” and get it over with. I can’t explain without giving plot away. Emperor is a masterpiece of philosophy, and the best book in the series, but I wouldn’t blame you if you stopped somewhere in the middle and stuffed it to the back of your shelf for ten years before you gave it another chance. Who am I to argue? I did.