Anyone else currently reading God Emporer of Dune?

[Moose212]

I just finished Children of Dune and loved it. Not to take away from the mini series, but I liked the book much more. I'm on page 27 of God Emporer now.

[Emperor Harkonnen]

I also just finished CoD. I enjoyed the miniseries just as much as the book. saw mini series afterwards.

I am awaiting book store getting god emperor. they postpone all the time! >:(

can't wait til I get the book

[Lord J]

I read God Emperor about a year or so ago and hated it. There is very little "action", Frank's writing style is more cryptic than ever, and it's very very depressing.

However, I re-read it a few months ago, and loved every chapter. Perhaps I've matured in the time between reading and re-reading, perhaps everything made a little bit more sense in the second read, whatever it was, I now think it's one of the best "Dune" has to offer. :)

[Vanguard3000]

Agreed. Except I liked it the first time around. So I guess we're not exactly in agreement. Oh well.

I thought it had quite a bit of action in it, as well as a lot of good paranoia-inducing intrigue and theological-political philosophizing.

[Andrew]

Some parts fo the books are boring, but for the most part I like them all. GEOD was hard to understand at first.

Read Dune messiah, CoDm GEOD, heretics and chapterhouse all for the second time march-june or something like that.

[number6]

God Emperor was the last Dune book I read. I think it is the best of the first 4 books. I tried reading the next one after God, can't remember the title, but I just could not get into it like the ones that came before it. If ever I get some time I may give it another go.

[Andrew]

Yes it is easy to get lost when reading Heretics for the first time.(I tried reading Heretics before GEOD :O ) But if you can make it past the frist 1/3 of the book it is worth it!! And Chapterhouse is easy to follow through if you understood Heretics.

[number6]

Thanks for letting me in on that little secret about Heretic! I was hoping to get a response like that. I look forward to getting back into the Dune Universe soon.

[Moose212]

What a great book this is! Frank Herbert was a master for sure. I'm about 180 pages in and I can't put it down when I'm not working. Amazing! ;D

[TMA_1]

you have Dune, Dune messiah, and children of Dune. THey are a totally different trilogy than the next three.

They are different not only in mood and actual style of writing, but also you are talking about more than 3000 years time difference. There is a major rift in feeling between the two trilogies, and people are strongly divided against it. kinda like coke and pepsi.lol

GEOD is weird, at first I hated it. It took me a full 6 months to read, thats right, 6 months.lol I read it, put it down, read it more, put it down. Finally I had to force myself to finish it. about a month later though it started to grow on me after reading it. I saw how very facsinating it was, how it is more of a character study than the other dune books. THe whole book is focused on Leto II who is one of the greatest character creations in science fiction. It is rare to have something so unique created, that it takes deep thoughts to unpick. It really isnt full of action, but who in the heck can say any of the books are full of action? I mean they do have some, but it is more of a political drama, a mind-thriller. It is a stimulator of the intellect. That is why GEOD is so great for me, because one of my favorite characters ever created is in that book, leto the tyrant. He is the ultimate intellect, and is so different from any other, that it makes you unravel it all. it is a mind-thriller of the greatest kind.

that is what I think anyway.

[Andrew]

I almost stopped reading GEOD, (well I did for a week or so) and if I did that I most likely would have stopped reading them all.

It was so confusing. Although the first part where they are being hunted was good, but then all that Leto II talk lost me.

[Moose212]

you have Dune, Dune messiah, and children of Dune. THey are a totally different trilogy than the next three.

They are different not only in mood and actual style of writing, but also you are talking about more than 3000 years time difference. There is a major rift in feeling between the two trilogies, and people are strongly divided against it. kinda like coke and pepsi.lol

GEOD is weird, at first I hated it. It took me a full 6 months to read, thats right, 6 months.lol I read it, put it down, read it more, put it down. Finally I had to force myself to finish it. about a month later though it started to grow on me after reading it. I saw how very facsinating it was, how it is more of a character study than the other dune books. THe whole book is focused on Leto II who is one of the greatest character creations in science fiction. It is rare to have something so unique created, that it takes deep thoughts to unpick. It really isnt full of action, but who in the heck can say any of the books are full of action? I mean they do have some, but it is more of a political drama, a mind-thriller. It is a stimulator of the intellect. That is why GEOD is so great for me, because one of my favorite characters ever created is in that book, leto the tyrant. He is the ultimate intellect, and is so different from any other, that it makes you unravel it all. it is a mind-thriller of the greatest kind.

that is what I think anyway.

well said.

[rosoner2]

i am reading Emperor now for third time and i will read it sure few more times. It is great, and you can learn lot of things

[Inoculator9]

God Emperor of Dune is more, as Van said, was more about the paranoa and intrigue side of things. In the first three there is the obvious intrigue, but in GEOD everything is something other then what it is, lol. Everyone is doing some sort of political maneuvering. I thought it was more stimulating to read it, I was more thoughtful as I read it.

[TMA_1]

totally inoc, I felt teh same way.

[SpiceGuid]

When reading GEoD the first time I was impressed by LetoII immense powers. But when reading GEoD the second time I realized LetoII powers inspire fear yet they are merely mind gadgetry. Prescience can't be used because future must leave opened, no-rooms nullify vision, and memories are merely company for eternity.

LetoII rules by fear, by spice, and by being two semi-gods (Shai-Hulud and son of Muadib).

LetoII is a different character when you read the second time.

LetoII is not a tyran, he rules because everybody want a leader, not because he's all-mighty, his situation is actually precarious, he has no actual control. But Duncan disagrees. And Duncan fails because he prefers restoring freedom rather than acting freely.

GEoD is my preferred Dune novel.

It even has an impossible love story so may be even my momma could like it.

A question for Vanguard3000:

Evil finally being good, is that the same twist as Hellstrom's Hive ?

[SpiceGuid]

The similarities with "Hellstrom's Hive" are actually striking:

At start:

Duncan is the typical atreides hero that is supposed to save the universe from the villain, namely the hideous and tyrannical LeotoII.

The story:

Duncan makes attempts to eliminate what is supposed to be the monstruous threat, but repeatedly fails.

The pivot:

The love story is pivotal. Obviously LetoII is the lover, whereas Duncan is just sexually actracted. That is what changes the reader mind about LetoII and Duncan.

At end:

LetoII is the typical atreides hero that saves the universe thanks to his far-reaching vision. Duncan is the villain who conducts the universe into chaos because of reactionary values and love jealousy.

So the reader is tricked which explains why some can't read GeOD to the end, or like it only at second reading or second thinking (as demonstrated by this thread).

Also it seems like there is some reuse, non-Dune novels can be testbed for Dune novels.

[Moose212]

I finished the book. One word. Amazing. I think as suggested I should read it again in the future to maybe get a better understanding of it. I'm moving on to Heretics of Dune next. Any thoughts on that book (no spoilers please)?

[Andrew]

Well When I first started reading Heretics, I got lost at first. but if you stick with it it gets really good about 1/2 way through. It has lots of action.

[Emperor Harkonnen]

wow! u managed to read the book in one month and 10 days! that's really amazing. I use like half a year to read a dune book...but then again I don't like reading. only dune! ;)

[Inoculator9]

I read it in a week, lol... could've finished sooner, but good books deserve to last :)

And as you said Moose, it's very good to read it again. Dune books are really philosophical works with extra elements, and you learn and comprehend more each time you read it.

[Moose212]

60 pages into Heretics and Herbert has sucked me in already. I can't put the book down.

[Alia Atreides]

I have read GoED several times while it is a diffulcult read as it is more political than the first three novels.

I did enjoy it for instance it showed the theroy of the innclination effect or rather a 1000 years from now who is going to care because history will have changed by then.

Planets are now longer known by their original names. Cities have grown where there was once desert.

If you review history here it is the same... countries and city/states that exisisted in the 5th cenutury no longer exist names have changed and contries have been redivided. A 1000 years from now it will probalay be the same here.

As for the story the big thing that really got me the most was that it was so far ahead of space. There were so many characters that I loved that we never learned thier faith (Stilgar, Gurney, Ghanima, Farad, etc.) that I would of loved to know more about.

HoD Rocks btw :)