Ne sviđa mi se Bogocar Leto II, mnogo mi se više sviđa Pol Muad'Dib. Sve u vezi sa Letom mi je nekako mučno, izaziva mi neki osećaj neprijatnosti. Ne sviđa mi njegova religija, njegova filozofija... Imam utisak da sve što je Pol zamislio i započeo, da je Leto oskrnavio. Možda ja prosto ne razumem filozofiju Dine, ali ajde, idemo dalje.

God Emperor of Dune made me feel really weird while I was reading it, and this is after like a half-summer of feeling really fucking weird reading every one of these books, but seriously -- I am saying, weird. Like, the universe opens its eye and watches you watching it. That kind of weird.

One weird thing about this book, aside from the title being the most metal thing on earth, is that it is essentially one long scene. Herbert finds ways to break it up, of course, but really, it's somehow 400 pages of all the characters saying, "What's your deal, God Emperor of Dune?" and then Leto II, the God Emperor Sandworm-Man, speaking in riddles that drive you crazy. This book literally doesn't explain anything until the last 4 pages, which really shouldn't work, 400 pages of questions and 4 pages of answers, and it doesn't work, I guess, not totally, except while you are reading it, during which time it totally does.

Herbert uses this book, essentially, to discuss the nature of societal power structures, and what about them works and doesn't work, and why he believes this is so. And because Herbert's not actually a sociologist and Leto II is not actually a trustworthy or sympathetic character, the layers of interpretation you need to go through just to make sense of the book's ideas are hard to even pinpoint. Reading this book is like herding cats, if cats were made of light.

God Emperor of Dune is not only really fun to say, it is also a pretty cool book to read. I don't know if it's actually good, but I do know that I got a lot -- a lot -- out of going through it. Check in with me in four years or so, and we'll see if I was able to read it again and actually make sense of it.

I just finished this one and liked it almost as much as the first, which is really saying something. I have to say that Leto disgusted me at first ... gave me the willies just reading about him, kind of like squishing a snail, but by the end of the book, I felt dreadfully sorry for him, and had a reluctant respect for the lonely choices he made. I'd certainly have never made those sacrifices. I have a pile of quotes from the wise Mr. Herbert to add here ....

I have read this book at least twice. Possibly three times. It's after the third book and before the fifth, so, whaddaya gonna do? Yanno?

It's interminable and boring and terrible. It's godawful. It's some dudeworm who thinks he is the shit talking about how awesome he is and how he has ideas? He says all these things that are supposed to be eyepopping revelations but really they are not. I don't know. I like the 5th and 6th books in the series for some reason (I guess just because I like reading about the Bene Gesserit) and to get to them you have to read this dumb thing. Hwi, oh Hwi! Give me a break.

For Christmas this year I got a "hooded cowl" but the hood isn't really big enough and when I wear it I look like Leto. Maybe I should take a photo and add it to this review.

Please, make it stop.

For a book with such a great title, I sure am less than whelmed with God Emperor of Dune. I’m certain Leto Atreides II, God Emperor of the known universe for thousands years, would chide me for my inability to fully understand the truths that he pontificates on…

So just call me “stoopit!”

That's what most of this book is: Leto pontificating and berating people for being too "stoopit" to understand his prescient brilliance.

This is a book I can’t possibly review properly. I’ll need to re-read it once or twice more to really get it. Too bad the SciFi/SyFy channel didn’t produce one of their wonderfully cheesy and camptastic miniseries for this book, as they did for “Dune” and “Children of Dune.”

Alas, we’ll never get to see what their vision of a cheaply-made CGI giant worm/demi-god who speaks English with a heavy, non-specific European accent would have looked like.

Things I learned from this book:

1) An all-female army is superior to an all-male army because there’s no infighting or hierarchical structures among women.

(My childhood as the oldest of five kids—the first four females—attests otherwise. I recall a lot of hair-pulling and nail-scratching during my early years among us girls. But the God-Emperor sayeth, so it must be.)

2) It’s easy for a beautiful, female human being to fall in love with a neutered giant human/worm hybrid—who, quite frankly, is a bit of an asshole—so long as you were bioengineered just for that purpose.

3) A woman can come to the most intense orgasm of her life simply by watching a virile male climb up and down a mountain using nothing but his bare hands.

4) To prevent evil despotism that crushes human vivacity and freedom from ruling for millennia, one must become an evil despot who crushes human vivacity and freedom, and rules for millennia.

3 weird stars

The Dune book which asks the important question: would you still love me if I was a worm?

And not just any worm–a giant, possibly immortal space work that has now reigned humanity for 3,500 years as the titular God Emperor in Frank Herbert’s fourth installment of the Dune series, God Emperor of Dune. Leto II has wormed his way to the top and he’s going to make sure he stays there even if he has to oppress all of humanity for their own good. Part man, part worm, all power and a whole lot of speeches and existential crises, Leto’s conversations with those of his court become a narrative vessel for Herbert to dive further into the array of philosophical ideas that have driven the series. It's out with the action scenes and in with the lectures in this slow burn of a book, but it is enjoyable to see Herbert tackle big issues on power and manipulation that takes a long (emphasis on long) hard look at the notion that ‘the problem of leadership is inevitably: Who will play God?’ Well we have an omnipotent god figure already in play who finds himself beyond the morality of mortals, and he’s a worm so…would you still love him? Furthermore, should you still love him if he is your government? Herbert’s musings on personal agency in the face of fate to force meet his critiques of government here and asks us if humanity inherently perpetuates its own oppression by steering towards safety and allowing itself to be tamed by those who thirst for power. Dense, dark and with plenty of Duncan Idaho(s), God Emperor of Dune might not be the most exciting of the series but it does put the intentions of the series as a whole in a greater focus and is certainly a thought-provoking read.

‘It is difficult to live in the present, pointless to live in the future and impossible to live in the past.’

There is an epic weight of history that underpins God Emperor of Dune. Thousands of years have passed since the first novel, Paul has been long gone after some King Lear-esque violence, the planet has changed considerably and even Leto II is practically unrecognizable in his worm state. Yet, as he yearns to return to his humanity ("can they love me now that I'm a worm???") and finds ‘I feel the vanished parts of myself,’ so too does the reader feel the absence of the previous books in a way that binds them all together and instills a nostalgia in the reader. This is aided by Duncan Idaho who frequently returns us to the first novel through his presence as a chorus line of his ghoulas being killed and resurrected continuously return his consciousness to the point of his first death and draws a line for us to see just how far we’ve come in this series. And this long history is now under the control of Leto II as he manipulates all of humanity to shape a new history pressing into the future. As long as he stays out of the rain.

‘All of history is a malleable instrument in my hands. Ohhh, I have accumulated all of these pasts and I possess every fact—yet the facts are mine to use as I will and, even using them truthfully, I change them.’

This book is far more philosophical musings than plot, yet we see how the philosophy has always been the driving mechanism of the series. It plods along through speeches and conversations but, as Leto says ‘Duncan, I am a teacher. Remember that. By repetition, I impress the lesson,’ and Herbert has some lessons he wants to impart here. Sure, it can be a bit preachy, but it is always rather interesting and even though ‘the more I find out, the more I realize that I don't know what's going on,’ this might just be ‘ the way of wisdom,’ as Leto terms it. Most of these speeches are on governance, being told to us by an endless ruler over all who has some harsh thoughts about those who seek power while wielding it himself “for the good of everyone else”. Or at least thats how he sees it. It was given to him because they want him to rule them, its his destiny, he assumes.

‘Most civilisation is based on cowardice. It's so easy to civilize by teaching cowardice. You water down the standards which would lead to bravery. You restrain the will. You regulate the appetites. You fence in the horizons. You make a law for every movement. You deny the existence of chaos. You teach even the children to breathe slowly. You tame.’

We get a lot of hot takes on political manipulation and lines like ‘Religion suppresses curiosity,’ or “both sides are bad” angles like ‘Scratch a conservative and you find someone who prefers the past over any future. Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat.’ that can often feel like you are getting talked down to by an exhausted, nearly retired history professor who wants to squash any idealism in his students and be so wise by showing how everyone else is wrong. He’s not wrong per say and if you want to chalk it up to cynicism it would be missing why it functions so well in the plot. This dude is a worm that misses humanity, he’s sad that people are caught in a cyclical history of oppression and just wants us to move forward upon the Golden Path.

‘Dangers lurk in all systems. Systems incorporate the unexamined beliefs of their creators. Adopt a system, accept its beliefs, and you help strengthen the resistance to change.’

There is a sense of alienation felt in Leto and his state of being nudges ideas on sacrifice and martyrdom and the old maxim about becoming the monster in order to fight it. But his ‘enforced tranquility’ of the populace also makes us grapple with the ethics of power and the subservience of a people to a single will, even if that will comes from a Nietzschean Übermensch who finds his status puts him ‘beyond good and evil’ when it comes to morality. These questions on morals and governance are at the heart of the series and despite the slog of a read, Herbert tears open the chest of the Dune series to show you this heart beating out each philosophical idea upon the page. Long and a bit of a chore at times, by the time I reached the final page it all felt worth it to stand back and admire the glorious scope of the series.

3.5/5

‘Although much sought after, truth can be dangerous to the seeker. Myths and reassuring lies are much easier to find and believe. If you find a truth, even a temporary one, it can demand that you make painful changes.’

I'm not one for worms, or for assholes, but Leto II is...something



Absolutely brilliant novel, and my favourite so far in the series. While Children of Dune is quite underrated in my opinion, I believe that it is the spice that is harvested for God Emperor to truly have visions. (And I'm not even done here)

I've decided that one can't really unpack everything in these books in a single reading. As before, there is a lot of philosophy of mind, society, science, and religion integrated throughout. There is more here than in previous books, probably because the main character is 3500 years old and has had a lot of time to think. About everything.

Compared to the previous three books, Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune, this one is the most opaque, and while I enjoyed it, it was not my favourite of the four I have read so far. That said, it should be kept in mind that Herbert's grand story and his incredibly literate writing still make for an amazing book. God Emperor of Dune continues to reflect the ambitiousness present in the previous books in the series.

Note on the audiobook: I continue to enjoy the audio versions of these books. Simon Vance and Scott Brick have the whole feel of the characters down pat by this point, and they are so enjoyable to listen to.

Sižets jau kļūst pavisam nosacīts, bet autora pārdomas par lietu dabu joprojām izcilas. Nodaļu epigrāfu dēļ vien ir vērts lasīt.

Pues hasta aquí hemos llegado.
Avanzaba por la saga de Dune cual Indiana Jones por el Templo Maldito: esperando la trampa de pinchos en cualquier momento.
Y aunque el segundo y tercer libro son continuaciones muy aceptables, en esta cuarta ocasión a Herbert ya se le va de las manos.
Los acontecimientos los sitúa 3000 años después de lo que ocurre anteriormente: ni el planeta, ni la sociedad ni los personajes son los mismos. Y prefiere centrarse en las disquisiciones filosóficas más que en la propia historia por lo que se hace difícil de leer.
Me voy a plantear seriamente seguir con la saga.

A lot of a big worm saying “I’ll tell you later”