Book Five in the Magnificent Dune Chronicles—the Bestselling Science Fiction Adventure of All TimeLeto Atreides, the God Emperor of Dune, is dead. In the fifteen hundred years since his passing, the Empire has fallen into ruin. The great Scattering saw millions abandon the crumbling civilization and spread out beyond the reaches of known space. The planet Arrakis—now called Rakis—has reverted to … Rakis—has reverted to its desert climate, and its great sandworms are dying.
Now the Lost Ones are returning home in pursuit of power. And as these factions vie for control over the remnants of the Empire, a girl named Sheeana rises to prominence in the wastelands of Rakis, sending religious fervor throughout the galaxy. For she possesses the abilities of the Fremen sandriders—fulfilling a prophecy foretold by the late God Emperor….
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Well-written prose and some interesting expansion of world-building couldn’t save this book for me. Am I just getting Dune fatigue? Considering how amazing the first Dune book is, as well as the Dune universe overall, I am dismayed at how bored I was with this one.
Each book in the series has declined in its impact, I feel. By the time I reached this one, #5 in the series, I just care very little about the remaining characters now.
The immense jumps in time between books has far removed any characters I used to care about. There is some interesting stuff going on regarding the character use of Duncan this time around, but it’s not enough.
What made the first Dune novel so impactful has almost faded by this point.
But, as I said at the beginning of this review, the dialogue and descriptions are as on-point as always through the series, and there is some additional world-building going on that expands the depth of the Dune universe itself. But the plot just isn’t going in an interesting direction.
Unfortunate, considering the first book Dune is still the greatest sci-fi novel ever written IMO.
I welcome suggestions for a new contender in that arena.
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Dune has always been considered one of the seminal works of science fiction. The entire series is great, and there are a large number of sequels, prequels, etc. They are all written in similar styles and Frank Herbert’s son took over writing the books from Frank’s notes. Every one of the books has been great, and this one is no exception. There are a few issues in general with the post-God Emperor books, but it’s mostly just personal opinion. Keeping the character of Duncan Idaho around seemed like a crutch, and there are a *lot* of characters, so tracking all the plot threads can be a little difficult. It’s interesting to see where Frank was taking the series.
Unique science fiction story set in an interesting period of time on a sand planet.
An epic novel (series)
Such a wonderful world to play in 🙂
Another great read in the Dune series.
I read Dune many years ago and again recently. It was very good both times but better the second time. Set in an interplanetary empire there is intrigue and warfare between ruling houses Within this environment, the author has created a culture and a religion. An excellent stand alone novel, Duen is followed by several Sequels.
The worlds Frank Herbert creates are like nothing that you have seen before. The stories stretch centuries and are optimistic about what humans can achieve.
Heretics of Dune is the start of a story that concludes with Chapter House Dune. This is a time when the people from the scattering are starting to return and they have their own ruling hierarchy that is at odds with the current systems.
I highly recommend all the Dune books.
Heretics of Dune I read and re-read. I will read it again. Parts of it went over my head.
Another original science fiction book!