First permit me to beg pardon on the lateness of this review. I am behind on writing, if not reading. I hope to remedy this with both remaining Sci-Fi Month reviews still posted within May as promised. I am already on track for more timely publication for my thoughts next month. Last thing to note, since this book is the sequel to a story recently told on the Big Screen and since the first book is integral to the second, I am going to issue a blanket SPOILER WARNING for Dune as well as Dune Messiah just to play it safe. Thank you for your patience.
Book XXI: Dune Messiah:
I read Dune for the first time in 2019 in anticipation of the then upcoming film adaptation and was immediately swept up by the world envisioned by Frank Herbert. It is solely with the intention of exploring this world further that I opted to include Dune Messiah in this year’s reading list for Sci-Fi Month.
Dune Messiah is a more political book than its predecessor. Not political in the same sense as the next book I’ll be covering is, but in the literal sense that Dune Messiah is concerned with the politics of the world first established in Dune. Paul Atreides has conquered the known universe, his prescient capabilities have given him a cult following and it as consequently created powerful enemies.
Where Dune concerned itself with the subtle dangers of Messiah-like figures, you’d be forgiven for thinking its ending is a triumphant one. Messiah opts to make clear the calamity the end result of that book ensures. I was surprised to find that the way Dune Messiah is structured ended up being a considerably less plot-focused or action-packed outing. Rather than bombast and conquest, the bulk of the plot’s maneuvering is character-centric political intrigue. While I could see this being off-putting to some readers, I found it to be akin to one of the only unqualified wins of the Star Wars prequels: the politics of despotism- a theme which is ironic given our next book to cover…
Up Next: Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell; 1949)
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