It's not until the end of this book that you begin to understand Herbert's grand plan for his series. DUNE is really about shaking man out of an evolutionary cul-de-sac, showing a frustrated civil(?) society that despite its technological and social superiority is stagnating. The inventions of the Bene Gesseritt, the Guild, the Mentats, all of these are bulwarks against the decline of man that are failing. And the only one to understand this is Leto II, God Emperor of the Known Universe. In his transformed state, he rules a bizarrely changed Dune, and through more political intrigue and the continued centuries-long resurrection of Duncan Idaho clones, we learn that Leto has seen this decline of man coming and his twisted machinations are an attempt to prepare the human race to evolve beyond this end. Fucking BRILLIANT stuff here, even if it's not fully borne out until the next novel. But wow. They don't make 'em like they used to.

It always astonished him how a desert provoked thoughts of religion.

Frank Herbert gives the impression of being an iconoclastic, if somewhat dour, thinker and general navel-gazer. But there is a mischievous side to his intellect as well, as evinced by the running joke in ‘God Emperor of Dune’ about Leto II’s scandalous sexual proclivities, a rumour spread by the dastardly Tleilaxu. Does the man-worm have any form of genitalia? At one point, Leto II wonders if he should sport a strap-on just to shock (let alone titillate) his court. However, he decides against it for decorum’s sake.

Thus continues my first reread of the entire ‘Dune’ sequence since my teens, inspired by Denis Villeneuve’s recent ‘Part I’ interpretation of half of the original book. Indeed, one wonders what Villeneuve would make of Leto II, especially given that his interpretation of Baron Harkonnen is probably the weakest element of a generally faithful (if overly reverential) movie adaptation. The reference to the Baron is apt, as there are several comparisons between the two monsters in ‘God Emperor’, and musings as to who has the grossest form. Leto II probably wins this contest hands down (actually, it is flippers.)

‘Children of Dune’ was a hot mess, with way too much expository mumbo-jumbo and clumsy writing that saw pivotal scenes like the sandtrout attaching to Leto’s body failing to make any impact. It is ironic that ‘God Emperor’ starts as ‘Children’ does, with desperately fleeing people hunted by modified wolves – in this instance, it is Siona and her rebel friends who have made off with the man-worm’s journals. (These so-called ‘Stolen Journals’ are the source of all the chapter epigraphs, adding a level of first-person commentary to the narrative rather than being completely extraneous to it.)

Siona lives to fight another day. She features in one of the most magnificent setpieces in the book, when Leto II decides to ‘test’ her by taking her out into the Sareer, the last vestige of the great desert that once covered Arrakis. Herbert’s nature writing, and in particular his passion for the ecology of Dune, shines through again in ‘God Emperor’ in this extended sequence, where you can almost taste the sand and feel its heat. Much of the planet has changed as well, including ironies such as the Idaho River and the Museum Fremen.

Despite its length, ‘God Emperor’ curiously feels tighter than ‘Children’. This seems counterintuitive, especially as it is largely focused on the single character of Leto II. But the writing is certainly more cohesive. And the plot is tightly wound around three key action scenes, the last of which concludes Book #4 in a genuinely nailbiting fashion.

What struck me rereading this is how much of a love story it is, interwoven with a lover’s triangle. The tragic aspect comes from the repeated failing of the Duncan gholas, with the latest iteration falling head over heels for Hwi Noree, Leto II’s own intended bride. Yup, it is Beauty and the Beast on Arrakis. With penis jokes.

Hwi is also the Ixian ambassador. She has been especially bred by those meddlesome tinkerers to be most emblematic of Leto II’s greatest loss: his humanity. The man-worm generally cocks a snook at the proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad, with everything from the royal suspensor cart to the royal elevators being dependent on Ixian technology.

You just know that this is likely to bite him in the ass, or whatever his equivalent of an ass is, when it is revealed that the Ixians are plotting a widget to replace a Guild Navigator and simultaneously nullify the spice. Which in this book is bright blue, as opposed to the traditional orange and familiar cinnamon smell attributed to it previously. I suppose it kind of makes sense in that melange-heads have blue-in-blue eyes. But I genuinely got the feeling here that Herbert thought: Fuck it, it is my sandbox. I will make the spice blue if I want to.

There is a lot of pontificating in ‘God Emperor’ about social engineering, such as the failed breeding experiments of the Bene Gesserit. Exactly why Siona is invisible to Leto’s godlike prescience, and how this is linked to her being an Atreides herself is never spelt out. Surprisingly, the Golden Path itself barely gets a couple of mentions.

Probably the most controversial aspect of ‘God Emperor’, apart from Leto II’s priapic powers, of course, are the weirdly lesbian-cum-Amazonian Fish Speakers. The man-worm gives a half-assed explanation as to how a female army is more fanatical as it gets rid of homosexuality in its ranks, which drains men’s energy and dilutes their focus on the job at hand of rape and pillage. And if you are thinking what is to stop the Fish Speakers indulging in same-sex proclivities themselves, Herbert has all perversions covered: The latest Duncan is much offended when he stumbles across a pair wrapped up in a passionate kiss. Tsk.

There is a truly bizarre scene towards the end where, watching the latest Duncan free-climb a nearly 1 km high bridge rampart, results in Nayla spontaneously orgasming just as he reaches the top. Go figure. However, I hasten to add that not nearly enough attention has been paid to Herbert’s critique of gender and power relations in the ‘Dune’ sequence, and specifically in ‘God Emperor’.

It’s not easy to make a character as bizarre as Leto II appear both human and alien. The fact that Herbert makes the reader empathise with the man-worm’s fate as his transformation into Shai-Hulud continues apace is testament to the peculiar magnetism of this strange book, probably one of the strangest in the entire Dune sequence, and certainly one of the most baroque SF novels ever written.

You might love this book, you might hate it, but you definitely can't complain about this series not being full of surprises. It's spectacularly unpredictable and yet coherent in its lore, which is why I'm paying my respect with a full-star rating.



God Emperor of Dune is the fourth instalment of the Dune saga. We've moved on thousands of years from the events of the first book and the planet once a desert is now green with life. Leto II is still alive, but he's now ruling as a sandworm-humanoid creature with legions of Fish Soldiers over people that are growing increasingly suspicious of their ruler and his obsession with what he refers to as the Golden Path.

It's insane what range this series entails. I might be particularly appreciative of this now that I've read four books of the Wheel of Time saga in which after literally thousands of pages everything feels kind of slow and repetitive, but I'm pretty sure that I have never read a series in which what would happen in the next book would be that much of a surprise. Dune Messiah is very different to Children of Dune and now we're being mostly stripped of the action of the predecessor and are being served a rather philosophical and analytical novel consisting mainly of conversations between Leto II and different people of from his court.

It's crazy how well history has been built: we actually get to feel nostalgia for earlier books. The events of Dune feel long ago now and we get to reminisce on earlier generations. There's a true sense of time having passed, with the planet no longer being an actual dune and as Leto II containing parts of his ancestors within his unlikely figure we get to remember past states alongside him.

n  "The illusion of the past was here, though. He felt it as he moved. Fantasy, of course, he told himself, a vanishing fantasy as long as his enforced tranquility continued. Even the sweeping barrack which he traversed now was not as great as the ones of the past. None of the dunes were that great."n

I don't actually think this is the best book, but it's the book that made me most appreciative of the entire series. In terms of story, it's not quite as deep as Dune Messiah and not quite as twisted as Children of Dune, but with each book there's a true sense of this universe expanding, developing and growing and a lot of things came together now. Reading this definitely helped my understanding of the previous novels as well, as so many things are explained that we only had vague clues about. It's incredibly self-indulgent in a way that makes me excited about really diving into this universe so rich and surprising.

Leto II is a fascinating character who allows political and religious elements to take center stage here. He has taken extreme measures in order to bring what he considers peace to Arrakis and we get to witness an almost ancient creature now grasping at his last bit of humanity. Much of his book's charm lies in his ideas about the role of a God in society and power in politics and I highly suspect that Herbert utilised this novel to practice some sort of self-study (hilariously so – I really can't explain why the Duncan's sexuality and homophobia would suddenly be a topic unless Herbert was figuring some personal stuff out through writing this...)

Overall, this might not have been a perfect book and taken as an individual piece of writing it might even be considered slow and long-winded, but as part of a larger puzzle it's extremely rich and satisfying. And I can't often say that I don't have the slightest clue what a fifth book in a series is going to be about – the only thing I know for sure is that I'll be reading it.

non c'è mai stata sociologia più solitaria di questa

God Emperor of Dune (Dune, #4) - Frank Herbert


هذا الجزء هو آخر جزء نشر قبل وفاة فرانك هيربرت، جزء آخر مدهش من هذه السلسلة العظيمة، رحلة أخرى لربوع آراكيس كوكب كثيب، قفزة زمنية تقدر بآلاف السنوات، مؤامرات وتغييرات تغلي في الخفاء وبهدوء شديد، والإمبراطور الإله لكثيب يعرف كل شيء غبر المسار الذهبي الذي يرعاه. حوارات مدهشة وعميقة في رؤيتها الاستشرافية لعالم اليوم وشخصيات قديمة جديدة وأفكار تناقش مرارا وتكرارا؛ ربما للتأكيد على أنه لا شيء يتغير، جزء آخر عظيم .

If I wasn't already obsessed enough with the Dune series, I certainly am now. This was one of the most bizarre, enthralling reads I've experienced in a long while. I'm almost tempted to reread this one, and that is something I don't do very often.

From story plotting, to character crafting, to the whole crazy half-man, half-worm thing, this book was a total gem and a joy to read. I cannot recommend this enough.

n  n    LINK TO MY FULL PODCAST REVIEW HERE.n  n

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God Emperor of Dune is the red-headed stepchild of the series. Frank Herbert delves into the mind of a near omniscient god-creature. Many people feel disturbed or bored by this book, calling it the most "dull" of the series. From a philosophical point of view, this is probably the most advanced book in the series. Definitions of humanity and morality are contrasted in very personal ways in this book. Those familiar with Lovecraftian Cthulu mythos could well use this as a textbook to start thinking about "alien" motives and the human concept of "evil".

Before I get to my review of "God Emperor of Dune," I want to mention that for any Dune book review, I suggest starting with "Dune: Butlerian Jihad." This will ground you in the Dune Universe and provide a great lead-in. Keep in mind that it is written by Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson. While they maintain a consistent quality throughout the series, there might be a slight change in style when you transition to Frank Herbert's original works, starting with "Dune." Nonetheless, this is just something to be aware of and should not dissuade you from starting there.

I must disclose that I have a significant bias towards this particular book. I have a deep affinity for introspection and reflection. With that said, "God Emperor of Dune" is a phenomenal book. In my opinion, it is essential for fully understanding Paul Atreides. It offers a profound dive into humanity and the struggle between fate and choice. The book skillfully ties up the plots from the previous novels and sets a new course for the series. It sheds light on the true purpose behind Paul Atreides' actions and why he vehemently resists it. At its core, this story is about love for all and the sacrifice of self. It presents an almost impossible choice that, due to the nature of the Dune Universe, can only be made by one individual.

"God Emperor of Dune" truly delves into the essence of the universe's super-being and effectively contrasts it with what the Sisterhood desires from this individual. Despite its depth, the book maintains a captivating plot with mysteries at its core. I highly recommend not skipping the quotes interspersed throughout the book, as they add significant depth to the narrative.

In conclusion, "God Emperor of Dune" is a must-read for any fan of the series. It offers profound insights into the Dune Universe and presents a compelling narrative that will leave a lasting impact on readers.

Useful background book to read if you've ever thought you might like to rule the Universe. It's a really terrible job.

Having finished writing the third book of the trilogy, Children of Dune (first published in Analog, January-April 1976), Frank Herbert did not intend to revisit that imaginary universe. He had said all he wished to say about Paul Atreides and his legacy, and about the spice, and sandworms, and the Bene Gesserit, and the like. He would move on to other matters.

And so he did. The Dosadi Experiment followed hard on the heels of Children of Dune, first published in the summer of 1977. This was succeeded by a screenplay for a Dune movie in 1978, and complicated legal wrangling involving the writing and rewriting of The Jesus Incident, which was published in 1979. Competing negotiations for a film version of Soul Catcher preoccupied Herbert during the summer of 1980. During this period he also coauthored a now almost unreadable book about new technology just beginning to arrive on the scene, 1980's Without Me You're Nothing: The Essential Guide to Home Computers.

As early as 1977, however, Herbert had admitted that he felt pressure to continue the Dune series, although he was uncommitted to doing so. He said then: "The thing that attracts me is, say, coming back to the character of Leto 3,400 years later . . ."

When Herbert did decide to return to the Duniverse, he felt free of any constraints so far as the plot was concerned. So long as he remained within the general boundaries established in the original trilogy, he was free to write about absolutely anything he desired. He must have felt very liberated, knowing he had a guaranteed audience and to be able to start fresh. He wrote the fourth book in the series between March 1979 and July 1980. Published in May 1981, God Emperor of Dune is Frank Herbert's magnum opus.

Dune Messiah reads like a convoluted Shakespearian tragedy, but God Emperor of Dune bumps it up a couple orders of magnitude: here we find not excessively Byzantine plot convolutions, but rather a graceful and elegant prose found nowhere else in Herbert's writing. Herbert had begun to consciously try to meld literary and science fiction in Children of Dune, and that experimentation reaches its apex in this novel. God Emperor of Dune is the most literary science fiction novel I've ever read. This is precisely the kind of writing that I wish all science fiction authors would try to meet or exceed.

In Children of Dune the character Leto II had unambiguously declared that the choice for humanity was one of extinction or his Golden Path: some dangerous something was embedded in the human psyche that needed to be corrected. In writing this novel, Herbert asked himself one question: If I had thousands of years at my disposal, how would I fix humanity?

Within that question lies the character of Leto II, and the character of Leto II provokes all of the action of the story.

I'll give away none of the plot here, but in order to appreciate the tragedy that is God Emperor of Dune it's important to consider the quality of the main character, Leto II.

In the earlier Dune books, the primary superheroic gift of Paul Atreides was an ability to foresee many different possible futures. The ability of Alia, and of the Bene Gesserit, was to assimilate the life-experiences of their past ancestors. In Leto II Herbert has merged these gifts. The God Emperor has extraordinary access to all spacetime, past and future: he is the real Kwisatz Haderach. Furthermore, enveloped as he is in a skin that is not his own, he has become virtually indestructible and immortal. He may not have the power of physical creation at his fingertips, but for all practical purposes Herbert has created in Leto II what may be at once the strangest and the most believable god-figure in literature.

Leto II contains and can access the full-life experiences of all his ancestors, back to the dawn of human consciousness. So how many personages are rattling around within the psyche of the God Emperor? Counting n generations backwards in time, each of us has 2*2^n ancestors, which means after only n = 19 (i.e., 19 generations back), we each have more than a million ancestors. As Herbert elsewhere (i.e., in Destination: Void) posits human consciousness originated 16,000 years ago, a bit of math suggests that Leto II has direct access to approximately 3.0 x 10^371 fully integrated ancestral lifetime memory-records! Add to that his prescient abilities, and this character is suddenly discovered to be the Alexandrian library incarnate multiplied to an unprecedented degree. His experience of humanity is legion. Nowhere else in fiction, to my knowledge, has the portrayal of a character even remotely like this one been attempted. Given this understanding, Leto's unique perspective on the human condition becomes a bit more comprehensible. 3,500 years to such a creature can seem little more than the blink of an eye. He can scarcely be concerned with the individual: it is only survival of the species that matters to him. This makes him the ultimate alien, the enigmatic sphinx whose utterances may be heard and recorded but must be interpreted within the context of millennia.

God Emperor of Dune presents us with Herbert's most careful, most thoughtful, most philosophical, most profound writing of his life, and the prose of its telling is exquisite. Every page is alive and electric, jolting with new insights. To have made the prolonged journey with Herbert over the long years and to arrive at this point with him is a kind of privilege. For more than any other character he created, Leto II is inseparable from Frank Herbert. If nowhere else, Herbert will live forever in God Emperor of Dune.

Reviews for this book have called it "heady" and "deep." I cannot concur more. Few books have mastered this combination of deep material with a hurtling plot, and this is one of them.

Of the Dune Chronicles so far (this is book 4), God Emperor of Dune is my clear favorite. This profoundly philosophical installment in "the bestselling sci-fi series of all time" explores the now-verdant world of Arrakis thirty-five hundred years after the events in Children of Dune.

Leto, the nine-year old son of Paul "Muad'Dib" Atreides, has assumed control of the galaxy-spanning empire described in the first three books, and has transformed himself into a grotesque synthesis of worm and human in an effort to avert a terrible catastrophe which would render all of humanity extinct. To be sure, Leto's transformation is both disturbing and uncomfortable (and yes, the full physical ramifications of this transformation are explored thoroughly), yet it feels quite naturally based in the mythology that Frank Herbert has laid out thus far in the series. It is the logical conclusion of a mythology steeped in the surreal and otherworldly.

God Emperor of Dune explores nature of despotism, the conditions under which it's called for, and the attendant concerns that such a dictator would have (amongst them the nature of religion, government, trade, rebellions, mythology, armies, sexuality, war, family, duty, and sacrifice) and depicts Leto's difficult - near impossible - choices and the poignant destiny which results from them.

The portrait of Leto - God, Emperor, saint, tyrant, martyr, human, sandworm - is a portrait of one of the most complex, sympathetic, and lonely characters I have ever encountered. I loved, Loved, LOVED this book. Highly recommended.

„Изблиците на интелектуална пъргавина у нея започваха да му се нравят. Притежаваше стабилното търсещо любопитство — също отличителен белег на атреидите.“


Възхитен съм от „Бог-Император на Дюн“! В нея е разгъната още по-любопитна и мащабна визия за бъдещето, а и размислите на автора отново са изключително мъдри... Франк Хърбърт е навлязъл още по-дълбоко в сърцевината на монархията, представяйки отрицателните черти на тази система, но същевременно давайки ценната гледна точка на император, който трябва да взима страшно трудни решения, за да спаси човечеството.

В книгата проследяваме управлението на Лито II, което продължава повече от 3 хилядолетия. Аракис вече не е пустинна планета и условията на нея значително са се подобрили, а пък Лито има изключително дълъг живот и е почитан като божество. Цената за това обаче е висока, тъй като се превръща в хибрид между човек и пустинен червей. Този многопластов император силно ме впечатли - както настоящите му приключения, така и откъсите от неговите дневници бяха увлекателни и предизвикваха мисленето ми... Много ми допадна Сиона, която също е доста интересен и вълнуващ персонаж! Романът обхваща твърде голям времеви период, заради което действието не е особено динамично в сравнение с предните части на поредицата, но четенето ми достави очакваното огромно удоволствие.






„Колко точно е наблюдението — помисли Лито, — че оръжието поставя човека в предсказуем модел на поведение.“


„Много трудно е да убеждаваш младите, независимо за какво. Те се раждат, знаещи всичко.
— Досега не съм чувал никой Атреидски да се отнася така подигравателно към младите.
— Може би, защото съм невероятно стар — старост върху много още старост. И задачата ми става все по-трудна с всяко отминало поколение.“


„Познавам един дълбоко вкоренен модел на поведение, който хората отричат с думите си, същевременно потвърждавайки го със своите дела. Те говорят, че търсят сигурност и спокойствие — състоянието, наричано от самите тях мир. И още неизрекли това, подготвят семената на безредието и насилието.“


„— Направиха ли ти впечатление първостепенните прегрешения?
— Какво?
— Опит за корумпиране на член на моето управление, както и явната корупция на член на същото това управление.
— А що е то корупция?
— Преди всичко — несъобразяване и отказ от боготворене на светостта на Бог-Императора Лито.“


„Идеята за града ме привлича и очарова, формирането на биологическа общност без подкрепата на функциониращо в социален аспект общество води до безредие и разруха. Цели светове са се превръщали в обособени биологични общности, но отсъствието на взаимодействаща социална структура винаги е довеждало до тяхното сриване. В условия на пренаселеност подобни случаи стават драматично назидателни. Гетото въздейства унищожително. Психическият стрес причинен от пренаселването, създава напрежения, които неотменно довеждат до взрив. Градът е опит за овладяване на тези сили. Социалните форми, ползвани от градовете при въпросния опит, има защо да бъдат проучени.“


„— Всичко, което знаем за нея, е, че може да бъде посветена и отдадена на специфично начинание, на модел, овладял без остатък сетивата й. Разбира се, тя е аристократка, но аристокрацията е обърната предимно към миналото. Оттук идва сривът. Няма как да видиш много нито напред, нито назад, освен, ако не си двуликият Янус, гледащ едновременно и в двете посоки.
— Кой Янус? О, да, богът с противостоящите лица! — Тя овлажни с език устните си. — Лито, ти Янус ли си?
— Да, Янус съм, но умножен милиарди пъти. Същевременно съм и нещо по-маловажно. Например, бил съм и онова, което за моите административни ръководители е обект на най-голямо възхищение — взимащият решения, всяко, от които може да бъде приведено в действие.“


„Каква досадна упоритост има в искането боговете да бъдат съвършени. Гърците са били много по-разумни за тези неща.“


„Внезапно очите на Монео се разшириха; навярно бе осъзнал как стоят нещата благодарение на точно зададения въпрос. Сам бе виждал как си взаимодействат полюсите — познание за нещо, благодарение на действието на противостоящото му.
Ето как това, което търсим, се откроява на фона на всичко определящо го — помисли Лито. — Монео непременно ще го забележи.“


„Привилегията, се превръща в арогантност. Арогантността подтиква към неправда. И тогава семената на разрухата и унищожението покълват и разцъфтяват.“


„Моделът на монархиите и на подобни на тях системи съдържа в себе си идея, която е ценна за всички политически форми на управление. Събраните в мен спомени ми дават увереност, че управляващите и правителствата, независимо от своя вид, могат да се възползват от посланието, скрито в тази идея. Управляващите са полезни за управляваните само докато присъщият им стремеж за установяване на тирания бъдат ограничавани.“


„Не престава да ме удивява фактът, че хората се крият от спомените, останали от техните предшественици, издигайки масивни митологични прегради.“


„— Някогашните свободни бяха пълни с живот — каза Лито. — И усетът им към красивото бе ограничен само до действителната полза. Никога не видях лаком свободен.
— Какво би трябвало да означава това?
— По онова време преди излизане в пустинята се взимаше единствено необходимото за запазване на живота. Днес вашият живот не е освободен от жаждата да притежавате.“


„— Службата на по-нисък пост поддържа силата, но раздува истеричните забежки — отбеляза икономът. — А изкуството на атреидите е в умението да се управлява без истерия; и да се поема отговорност за начина, по който се използва властта.“


„— Думите рядко са ти нужни — рече Хви. — Защото говориш пряко на сетивата със собствения си живот.“


„Предпазливостта като линия на поведение е равнозначна на посредствеността. Плавно носещата се безстрастна посредственост е всичко, което в представите на повечето хора е върхът на техните достижения.“


„Преживяхме заедно някои неща. Бяхме свързани по-скоро с достойнствата си, отколкото със своите слабости.“