Ehh, it’s okay… mostly anti-climatic and ethereal philosophy over characters and action.

Very abstract, nothing much of consequence happened for the first half of the story. Abstract, high-brow stories can be good, as long as they are grounded with character actions. Also there is a large gap between the end of Dune and the start of this story. Not just in terms of time, but Dune ends with Paul slightly realizing the purpose of the holy war, but Dune Messiah begins with Paul already committing the holy war. It’s pretty much a completely different character. It feels as though there should’ve been an intermediate story in between Dune and Messiah that bridged the gap.

I really liked messiah, the characters, world and the religious aspect. Time to get the 3rd book !

Like the title says this book by itself is a really solid read. Characters and events feel real and descriptive. For the series, this has been my least favorite book. Coming off the first book, so connected and understanding of all characters, it’s hard to watch them continually make frustrating decisions.

A fitting end for an emperor

Dune: Messiah putting it simply is more of everything you loved about the first book, while some portions were a bit slower paced, building the narrative payed off with a fulfilling conclusion.

The world is already built from the first installment so this one plops you right into it. It also adds more interesting story elements, new characters, and brings back some old ones. The philosophical, religious, and ecological themes of the book are still as top notch as the first. This one dives deeper into the politics of the emperium. If you’ve just finished the first book and are looking at reviews and wondering if you should continue the saga, this is your sign.

Messiah wasn’t horrible, but just like many second acts, Messiah faced the impossible task of following a generational tale. Skippable.

A bit of a slog but worthwhile, nonetheless.

People are mixed on this book but I thought it was an excellent addition to the Dune series!