Bardzo się cieszę, że jednak nie poprzestałam na przeczytaniu "Diuny".
"Bóg Imperator Diuny" jest inny. Różni się od poprzednich tomów między innymi ilością metafor i odniesień do współczesnego świata. Nikogo nie zdziwię faktem, że swego rodzaju melanż naprawdę istnieje, a ludzie nie różnią się bardzo od tych w diunie (choć nikt nie jest tak brzydki jak imperator).

SPOILER PONIŻEJ
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Zdanie: "Będziemy czerwiem i żoną" jest najśmieszniejszym zdaniem jakie pojawiło się w literaturze.

4,5/5

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

God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in his Dune series of six novels.

Leto II Atreides, the God Emperor, has ruled the universe as a tyrant for 3,500 years after becoming a hybrid of human and giant sandworm in Children of Dune.

The death of all other sand-worms, and his control of the remaining supply of the all-important drug melange, has allowed him to keep civilization under his complete command.

Leto has been physically transformed into a worm, retaining only his human face and arms, and though he is now seemingly immortal and invulnerable to harm, he is prone to instinct-driven bouts of violence when provoked to anger.

As a result, his rule is one of religious awe and despotic fear. Leto has disbanded the Landsraad to all but a few Great Houses; the remaining powers defer to his authority, although they individually conspire against him in secret.

The Fremen have long since lost their identity and military power, and have been replaced as the Imperial army by the Fish Speakers, an all-female army who obey Leto without question. He has rendered the human population into a state of trans-galactic stagnation; space travel is non-existent to most people in his Empire, which he has deliberately kept to a near-medieval level of technological sophistication. All of this he has done in accordance with a prophecy divined through precognition that will establish an enforced peace preventing humanity from destroying itself through aggressive behavior. ...

تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز هجدهم ماه ژانویه سال 2019 میلادی

عنوان: خداوندگار تلماسه: کتاب چهارم از سری تلماسه؛ نویسنده: فرانک هربرت؛

داستان تل‌ماسه در آینده‌ ای دور می‌گذرد و در جامعه‌ ای ملوک الطوایفی که با الهام از جوامع اعراب بدوی ساخته شده‌ است؛ سه عامل اثرگذار در این جامعه ی فراسیاره‌ ای، عبارتند از: «پادشاه امپراتور (صدام چهارم)»، و «خاندان‌های حکومتی»، «اتحادیهٔ فضایی (صاحب انحصار حمل و نقل فضایی)» و گروه «بنی جزریت».؛ پس از جهاد بزرگ «باتلری»، ساخت و ایجاد دستگاه‌های خودکار، و رایانه‌ ها تابو شده، بنابراین جوامع انسانی مجبور به افزایش توانایی‌های جسمی، و ذهنی انسان‌ها، با استفاده از پرورش نژاد، و نیروهای مرموز، ماده‌ ای به نام «اسپایس ملانژ» یا ادویه شده‌ اند؛ «ملانژ» ماده‌ ای است، که قادر است نیروهای ذهنی آدمی را، تا حد بسیار زیادی افزایش دهد، حتی در مواردی می‌تواند باعث ایجاد پیش آگاهی از رویدادهای آینده، و طی الارض شود؛ «ملانژ» تنها در سیارهٔ بیابانی، و بسیار خشک «آراکیس (اقتباس از نام عراق)» یافت می‌شود؛ خشکی «آراکیس» به حدی است که مردم آن (فرمنها = مردان آزاد)، برای از دست نرفتن رطوبت بدن، مجبورند از جامه‌ های مخصوصی استفاده کنند، و آب در آنجا ارزشمندترین چیز است؛ «ملانژ» را ماسه کرمهای «آراکیس» می‌سازند، و استخراج کنندگان ادویه، علاوه بر جنگ دایمی با آب و هوای وحشتناک این سیاره، مجبورند گاه‌ و بیگاه با آن‌ها هم سر و کله بزنند

ماسه کرمهایی که قطر آن‌ها گاهی به بیست متر هم می‌رسد؛ «آب حیات» نیز از همین موجودات استخراج می‌شود؛ ماجرای اصلی رمان، نبرد بین سه خاندان بزرگ: «آتریید»، «هارکونن» و «کورینو (خاندان صاحب مقام امپراتوری)» بر سر تصاحب این سیاره، و زندگی‌نامهٔ قهرمان افسانه‌ ای فرمن‌ها «پل مودیب» است؛ خاندان امپراتوری، تسلط خود را با کمک نیروی نظامی هولناکی به نام «ساردوکار» بر عالم مسکون حفظ می‌کند؛ «ساردوکار»ها از کودکی آموزش می‌بینند که بی‌رحم باشند و در نبرد از هیچ عملی فروگذار نکنند

گروه «بنی جزریت» هم از سوی دیگر، برنامه‌ ای دیگر برای خود تدارک دارند؛ آن‌ها نسل‌هاست که اذهان مردم را با اعتقاداتی مذهبی اسیر کرده‌ اند، و برنامه‌ ای دقیق و حساب شده برای کنترل نژادی نسل انسان‌ها دارند؛ هدف آن‌ها تولد «کویساتزهادراچ» است، تا بر عالم حکومت کند؛ «آتریید»ها جزو محبوبترین خاندان‌های حکومتی هستند؛ «پادشاه امپراتور صدام چهارم» که از قدرت «آترییدها» هراسان شده، و به خاطر ترس از اعضای درباری «لندزراد» نمی‌تواند خود مستقیماً علیه آن‌ها وارد عمل شود، کنترل منابع «ملانژ» در «آراکیس» را، از «بارون ولادیمیر هارکونن (بزرگ خاندان هارکونن و دشمن قدیمی دوک آتریید)» می‌گیرد، و به «آترییدها» می‌سپارد؛ «دوک لتو آتریید»، سرور خاندان «آتریید»، «آراکیس» را با وجود آب و هوای خشک و سختش، سرزمین خوبی می‌بیند، زیرا امید دارد ارتشی از «فرمن‌»ها، که زندگی در «آراکیس»، آن‌ها را سخت و خشن و شکست ‌ناپذیر کرده، بسازد، تا با گارد ترسناک پادشاه امپراتور، «سارژوکار»، برابری کنند؛ از سوی دیگر پسر «دوک آتریید»، «پاول»، و وارث «بارون هارکونن، فیض-روتا»، هر دو از پروردگان برنامهٔ «بنی جزریت» هستند؛ تنها با این اشکال که طبق برنامهٔ «بن‌جزریت»، «پاول» باید دختر به دنیا می‌آمد، تا از «فید-روتا هارکونن»، «کوییساتزهادراچ» را به دنیا بیاورد؛ اما سرپیچی مادر «پاول»، «لیدی جسیکا»، این برنامه را برهم زده‌ است.؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 22/04/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

A deep and unflattering meditation on the human condition and whether near absolute tyranny can free mankind from certain of these trappings, Frank Herbert's God Emperor of Dune is my favourite novel of what is a monumental series and one of the greatest in all of science fiction.
This review offers an excellent and concise summary of what the book does for the story.

Be warned however that this novel doesn't offer a smooth silk thread of a plot where characters are affixed colourful and appreciable beads sliding along through well-paced curves and loops to a conclusion. The structure is unorthodox and consists mainly and most significantly of digressions from the eponymous God Emperor, Leto II, whose sacrifice in order to set humanity on the Golden Path his father deferred, has physically and mentally alienated him from it. In something of a reversal of the fate Frazer gives for the Sacred King, the God Emperor suppresses and goads the various factions of his new empire to force the end he desires in order to jolt civilisation out of stagnation.
Another reviewer briefly notes how this is a glimpse of 'alien motives' à la Lovecraft, which is a very astute observation. At times Leto thinks of the Golden Path as a necessity for humankind's survival quite independently from the transient viewpoint of his human subjects, almost as an intellectual problem. Rarely do we find gods written about intimately in literature. The pitfalls are obvious. This is why all the facets and complexity Herbert bestows on his eponymous character here such a feat- unparalleled in my view.

Numerous, often coy insights into the past that leads to doom if not for his Golden Path are ruminated upon by Leto alongside ambiguities which must be addressed at this late stage in his plans before his own necessary demise. To appreciate these requires a broad view of the complex social dynamics in Herbert's universe and an almost cynical openness to how a technologically advanced species might adapt economically, culturally and politically to the long reign of such a threat as the God Emperor. That Herbert was able to distill such far-reaching machinations and give voice to them through Leto instead of letting the narrative unravel more disconnectedly (but perhaps as effectively) as in Stapledon's and Asimov's work is a feat of daring which still strains credulity as I look back on this work.

It isn't that the other characters are particularly flawed compared to the other novels, but their shortcomings and struggles of limited scope, given our view through Leto's eyes, appear to condemn the whole of humanity, past and present, which has accepted, but moreover was found desperately needing Leto's direction.

6.0 stars. On my list of All Time Favorite novels. The Dune series is one of the most literate and beautifully written science fiction series ever and this novel certainly continues that tradition of excellence. In fact, this may be may favorite installment of the entire series. I find I may be in the minority with that sentiment based on other reviews I have read, but I found the contemplative and cerebral nature of the story and the many expository monologues and dialogues among the characters discussing politics, religion, ecology, etc. to be hugely enjoyable as I am a big fan of world-building and enjoyed learning more about the incredible universe that Herbert created. Of course, it should be noted that I could sit and read a Dune Encyclopaedia (is theior one?) from cover to cover and be very content. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!!



One note: I have both read the prin version and listened to the unabridged audiobook of this novel (as I have for all of the first 4 Dune novels) and I highly recommeded the audiobook to everyone. The full cast for the audio performance is wonderful and I think it truly enhances the enjoyment of the book.

The Dune series is an interesting one. It starts out as a somewhat traditional adventure story following the hero’s journey and progresses to be something far more philosophical that begins to span worlds and centuries. It’s funny because I always heard that the series wasn’t very good after the first book, but I think that comes from the shift in tone and how . . . well, weird that the novels get rather than their actual quality. At least while Frank Herbert was still the one writing them. It remains to be seen if the books are any good after his son took over.

In God Emperor of Dune, we finally get the conclusion to The Golden Path that was started so early in the series. The philosophy has been doubled down on but there is a little action here and there and there are some truly great moments that stand out as some of the most interesting in the entire series. There is a level of tragedy in the end that I found to be some of the strongest that I’ve ever read. It’s a great read that brings a form of closure to the series (despite quite a few more books to go) and that concludes Frank Herbert’s initial premise for the series. It can be a bit much at times, but if you’ve gotten to this point in the series then you know what you are in for by this point and it’s absolutely worth reading so that you understand what the point of this entire series has been.

I do plan on continuing the series eventually, but this serves as a nice conclusion for now and I think that I would like to take at least a little break before I move on to the next era of the story.

I keep going back and forth on this rating. Reading this series has been a truly weird experience. The first book is a straight up classic that I enjoy reading, despite some issues with it being dated and gross in places. I will read it again! I will see the movie. The second two books I appreciated on an intellectual level but they did not engage me emotionally at all. I was very much dreading the rest of the series after reading those books. And then . . . this book. I don't even really know what to say about it? In general, my reaction is just sort of . . . what the fuck? But not in a bad way, mostly?

So, the title of this review may have given it away, but our main character is Leto Atreides II, the son of Paul and Chani, and he's 3,500 years old at this point, and is basically God Emperor of the universe. He's also transformed physically, and is still transforming, into a sandworm of Dune, though he still retains a human face and arms (his feet are vestigial "flippers" . . . gag). (I'm still not clear on why this is happening, or even why he chose to merge with the whatever they're called at the end of the last book, but whatever, I'm going with it.) He is full on a tyrant. Like, he acknowledges this to everyone, out loud. He is all-knowing, and prophetic, and he has the entirety of human history in his mind. And he has some overarching bullshit plan that he likes to vaguely hint at while proselytizing to anyone who will listen.

So the thing about this book is that I kind of hated the storyline, and the main character was incredibly unlikable and almost totally unrelatable, but! It did engage me emotionally. I read it pretty fast, all things considered, when I crawled through the previous two. I'm not sure if it was the WTF factor, or the fact that Leto kept making me angry, or that the things that were happening were escalations of fuckery, or all three. There's also the fact that 3,500 years have passed since we last visited Arrakis so we get to go through the process of discovery again, sort of. It's still the same basic universe and planet, but things have changed, and it was interesting to see how, and speculate as to why. I also did like several of the secondary characters (although, some of them verge on sharing protagonist credit with Leto).


This is our guy!

One of those characters is a clone of Duncan Idaho. I keep thinking we've seen the last of this character (I thought he was full on dunzo halfway through book one, and I was so sad, because Jason Momoa is playing him, but don't worry, Jason, your paychecks are secure forever as long as the movies are a hit). But I think that Herbert was in love with him (despite his very obvious homophobia) and kept bringing him back. Just like Leto does in this book, and in the 3,500 years leading up to it. There have been a succession of Duncan Idaho clones, or gholas as they're called in this universe. Leto goes through a lot of them, either losing them to old age, or more likely, to betrayal or "treason" as the Duncans grow bitter about their master and turn on him. Basically, Leto has been tormenting Duncan Idaho for thousands of years.

There's a lot of politicking with the Bene Gesserit and the dirty Tleixaxu, as per usual, but also introduced here is a rebellion led by Leto's sister Ghanima's descendant, Siona. Cool thing to know about Siona: She's the result of Leto's "breeding program." Breeding for what, who knows! Oh, and did I say cool? What I meant is fuck you, Leto. Apparently one of Leto's favorite things to do in order to control a population (aside from making them all complacent with peace and feudal level technology) is to foster rebellion and then disarm it by bringing the leaders to his side. He did this with Siona's father, Moneo, who is also a POV character.

I almost two starred this because Leto will not shut up, and half of what he says is worth thinking about and he had some points, but then the other half is absolute nonsense. Like his gender essentialist thoughts about why it's the best to have an all female army, and his homophobic thoughts about how armies make you gay if you're a dude, and homosexuals are bad! There were strong hints of Herbert's homophobia in book one, what with making the main villain being a gay pedophile, but here it's all out in the open. Leto spouts all his theories with a surety that is aggravating. The problem here is that if this type of character did exist in real life (one who could see all of history and desires to shepherd humanity away from destruction), he would not hold a lot of these opinions. A lot of the opinions don't even make sense! Literally, did not know what he was saying. Herbert was not the best at making his meaning clear, so the result is garbled. And yet, I did not stop reading. It grabbed me.

The thing is, I see what Herbert was going for (after having read the Dune wiki to make sure), and I admit some of the themes he was working with here are interesting. Leto gives up his humanity because he wants to make it so that no single threat can every destroy the entirety of humanity, and this is the only way that his prescience tells him he can do that. Also, there's a lot of stuff in here about the conflicting desires and needs of humans. We want peace, but we flourish under adversity. This is partly how Leto has been Emperor for so long, because he understands this. The story he used to convey this was such weird nonsense, though. I can't emphasize that enough. Leto sucks.

Last thoughts. Only Frank Herbert could have turned this:





Into this:



[2.5 stars, rounded up because what even??]

Il ciclo di Dune non è mai stato caratterizzato da azioni travolgenti e anche dove c'erano erano raccontate senza "parossismo". Ma questo libro è di una lentezza esasperante, introspettivo oltre ogni limite ed esageratamente filosofico. Pochissimi i personaggi e poco interessanti, che riempiono pagine su pagine di riflessioni che annoiano. La preveggenza di Leto poteva essere un buon aspetto da sviluppare, ma - anche con il notevole salto temporale rispetto al volume precedente - non porta a molto, anzi porta inevitabilmente all'unica fine possibile, facilmente intuibile, anche se restava sempre la speranza di un vero colpo di scena.

Pre-review:

The God Emperor of Dune, is also a match maker! LOL

Premise: 3000-plus years after the events from Children of Dune, Leto II has been the God Emperor for eons, he rules the known galaxies through his iron-fist control over the enchanted spice and under his ruling, the known galaxies has been 'stabilized' and everyone is living in 'peace', but as you can imagine life in general can be...really boring. Plus there are still a plenty of powerful groups and races plotting to bring Leto II down. Among those rebels and conspirators, there is Siona, a young woman of the Atreides bloodline...

Reading the later parts of this series is increasingly like reading William Shakespeare in Space, with LSD, superhuman power, weird obsession with breeding programs, ecology etc etc. LOL

This book is a good character study for Leto II both as a tyrant and a strange, inhuman and immortal being, it is rare for an author to write a godlike character and make them actually look, sound and feel godlike.

On the other hand, I don't think I know Siona, the other main character well, I spent a lot of time with Leto and Idaho, but not enough time with Siona. I do like the trial Siona went through with Leto, but I don't feel like I know much about how Siona became who she is now.

The topics of immorality, tyranny and religion are brought up repeatedly throughout the story, I can imagine not everyone is gonna love these, I also have mixed feelings about these fictional tyrants (e.g. Leto II, the Lord Ruler from the Mistborn series) who have a hidden good intention/agenda for good, you know. The tyrants we see in real life are hardly that noble nor philosophical.

Plus the author Frank Herbert had brought a number of discussion on gender roles and the difference between the male and female sexes into the story, so far I don't really know what to think about it but I'm NOT saying he shouldn't bring the gender topics into his own book neither.

Plus I'm intrigued by how Leto II was written, and there is even a bit of romance!

Palyginti su trimis ankstesnėmis dalimis, kažkoks kognityvinis disonansas. Arba aš čia per durnas suprasti tą beveik 450 puslapių pilstymą iš tuščio į kiaurą ir rašymą taip nieko ir nepasakant arba, su visa pagarba, autorius rašė biškelį apsiniuhinęs. Kažkokia baisiai keista, nutylėjimų, nutrūkusių minties gijų bei nesusipratimų kupina knyga.

Okay, so I adore the Dune series and have done ever since I read Dune for the first time as a teenager, which is why I was so disappointed by how bad this book is. This book is reeeeally bad. At first I thought bad in a fun, wacky sci-fi sort of way, but then it became both boring AND incredibly offensive, and by about 70% I was just powering through, hoping to get to the end so I could be done with it.

The book is ostensibly about Leto's attempt to carry out the "golden path" he foresaw at the end of Children of Dune, a sacrifice which turns him into a giant gross infertile sandworm, and which is important in order to prevent a vaguely alluded to disaster to humanity. (Why was the reveal of the actual potential disaster so low key??? Surely it should be a big deal, as both the reason for Leto's super boring peace empire, and the proof of his own humanity??)

However, there really isn't much plot at all, just the worst kind of pseudo-philosophical pontificating which Herbert confined to a chapter or two in his earlier books. Dune is a novel absolutely bursting with ideas, but none of the ideas in God Emperor of Dune really come together to say anything meaningful, even though it explores a lot of the same themes as the earlier books in the series. Like, reading Dune I thought that Herbert had a really interesting perspective on organized religion and its purpose in society, but reading this book it just seemed like he had a weirdly sexist fixation with female priestesses. This intellectual laziness is compounded by the supposedly incomprehensibly massive intellectual capabilities of the main character who has like a thousand geniuses living in his head, and this makes it impossible to believe in the central conceit of the book, which amounts to a fatal flaw for a sci-fi novel.

As far as I can tell, what the book is ACTUALLY about is Frank Herbert's prejudice and anxieties about sexuality and gender, which he projects onto the characters in really uncomfortable and awkward ways. Maybe I am wrong about this but I DO NOT KNOW HOW ELSE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK.

It's important to note that Leto is sexually repulsive and has no loins, because this is hammered home to us repeatedly in this book. So, Leto UNCOMFORTABLY PHALLIC Atreides II married his twin sister one time ages ago, and had many unconsummated brides, and shares a love of the soul with his test-tube fiance, and although he can produce no real sperm he carries the metaphorical sperm of the future in his body which he plans to release as tiny pearls of his consciousness during his transformation when he goes Full Sandworm.

Duncan Idaho is super handsome and every single woman of Leto's oversexualised priestess army wants to have his babies, but Leto tells him that his sperm is intended for Siona, which stresses Duncan out because he is not just a stud and wants to be valued for more than just HIS loins. Duncan is alarmed by Leto's bizarre, inaccurate and deeply offensive theory that being in the army makes you sadistic and gay (this is why Leto needs an army of sexually adventurous women who focus all their adoration on him, obvs), because one time Idaho experimented with another guy in his youth. I can't tell if it makes it better or worse for me that Duncan's over the top homophobia comes from a place of repressing his own gay experiences. Everything is so clumsy and heavy-handed. I just can't tell!!

My overriding impression of the book is that it's Weird About Sex, but not in a fun or interesting way, rather in a wearyingly, forcedly, desperately heterosexual way. In the epilogue which tells us about Duncan and Siona's future legacy the people from the future exclaim loudly that they had a lot of sons, because don't you dare forget that the most important thing about these two slightly more interesting than the rest characters is that they ended up PRODUCING MANY MALE HEIRS as a good arranged breeding pair should do!!!! I thought the Bene Gesserit breeding program was another interestingly alien aspect of the world Herbert created but it turns out the concept isn't alien to the author at all; I think actually he just thinks that good relationships are about people breeding according to some appointed scheme. Reading this book is like an open window being slammed shut on your fingers.

Some other things happen in this book: some people rebel pointlessly, some others scheme fruitlessly and at one point a woman orgasms spontaneously from watching Duncan Idaho climb up a wall. Let's just not talk about it.

To give God Emperor of Dune credit where it is due, I laughed quite a lot when I wasn't cringing in horror, and I was very engaged throughout, mostly because I was composing furious rants about Leto Atreides in my head. (Remember how great Leto I was?? And Paul and Chani's tragically dead first baby, also called Leto? It is an OUTRAGE that this deeply inadequate later Leto became the main Leto of the series.) So I nearly gave this book two stars but I didn't because I feel that it's important to recognise how bad it is. As a novel, as a piece of literature, it's awful.

I hate this book. Leto will not shut up about himself, his sandworm identity and the absence of his "monster penis" (and I wish I didn't have to say it but this is how it's described at one point in the book and as soon as I read it I didn't know if I had to laugh or cry). Moreover, the way women are portrayed in this book is just awful. This book is just trying to convince people why women are inferior to men - them actually being called 'breeding programs' actually hurt. I'm not going to lie: I'm offended and actually hate Frank Herbert for writing and publishing this book.