Dune Messiah
Science Fiction Adventure of All Time Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atreides, better known—and feared—as the man christened Muad’Dib. As Emperor of the known universe, he possesses more power than a single man was ever meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious icon by the fanatical Fremen, Paul faces the enmity of the political houses he displaced when he assumed the throne—and a conspiracy conducted within his own sphere of influence. And even as House Atreides begins to crumble around him from the machinations of his enemies, the true threat to Paul comes to his lover, Chani, and the unborn heir to his family’s dynasty...
Stats for nerds
17recommend
56mentions
47people
2008–2026years
32% recommend52% neutral16% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Read them, listened to them, watched the movies. I liked the first three (Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune) the best, but I've gone through them all. Have you? What did you think?
The ban on thinking machines seems like something that's particularly relevant in the age of AI. Will we reach that stage as well (post WW3, perhaps?) or will AI be benevolent and benefit society?
- Do read Dune Messiah, the sequel to Dune. I believe it was written specifically for those who failed to get the negative implication from Dune. Hence, it was not so well received. It is my favourite in the series (well, maybe after Dune itself), firstly because it is very explicit about the tragic consequences of Paul's jihad, which was only hinted at in the first book, and secondly because of the way that it greatly enriches the literary universe of Dune by filling more details of the various political actors, the Guild steersmen, the amoral technologists of the Bene Tleilax, gholas, the mysterious planet Ix, and so on. And the Dune Messiah is surprisingly short!
You should probably read Children of Dune to round off the trilogy, just to learn the fate of Paul Atreides, although he is not the primary character in that book.
The second trilogy is distinct but the stories are told told in the same setting; enjoyable but not essential.
- I really like Dune Messiah. Most of it was written before the original book was published, and supposedly it was going to be part of it but had to be cut or the book would be too long. It's certainly part of Herbert's original creative vision for the story. However I know a lot of people read it and find the apparent inversion of the story arc uncomfortable to the point of dislike, but for me it's an essential piece of the puzzle to understand what Paul is actually going through in the first book, and the extreme lengths he's prepared to go through and sacrifices he's prepared to make to shift the trajectory of events.
The problem is that just like the other characters the in novel, Paul's family, adherents and friends, a lot of readers just want an uncomplicated hero story for him.
- Reread Dune Dune Messiah and Children of Dune.
Highly recommended.
- Those who walk away from omelas. The left hand of darkness. Foundation series. Blodchild and other stories. Enders game. Dune. God emporer of dune. Dune chapterhouse. Dune messiah. The traitor baru cormorant. World war z. Ursula K le guin. Octavia Butler. Isaac Asimov. Philip K Dick. Frank Herbert. Etc.
- In addition to everything everyone else said, I have loved all of Ted Chiang's short stories. And almost everything Neal Stephenson's written, with the exception of REAMDE (which I personally found rather forgettable).
I would also recommend Dune, but unlike some of the other commenters, I would recommend the entire series. At the very least, read Dune and Dune Messiah together. (I found the first 100 pages or so of Dune a bit tough going, but once you get into it, it's fantastic.)
