I enjoyed Dune Messiah. It wasn’t as good as the first book, but very few books are. Frank Herbert carried on Paul’s story to it’s conclusion — an act that we knew must play out as well as Paul did. Frank Herbert wrote about prescience, about a protagonist with oracular vision without it being boring. Near infinite vision isn’t a gift, it’s a curse. The alternative would have been to spell out the ending for us, but instead Herbert lets us experience Paul’s turmoil.
I have really enjoyed reading this book again. The first time I read it was as an e-book, the second was as an audiobook. Both experiences are worth while. The narration is a bit janky, as narrators switch without rhyme or reason. Sometimes female voices are female, sometime they’re not. I really enjoyed reading again and knowing the vague shape of the story that was unfolding. How I remembered the plot unfolding was close, but not quite right. Sort of like Paul.
The story was short, featuring mostly state craft. We follow Paul and his government after a short (12 year) Jihad. There is a plot to assassinate the emperor, but how do you kill someone who is prescient? Give him a gift that he can’t refuse. I particularly enjoyed the trickery and cunning that each character displays. Paul’s struggle with prescience through all this, knowing the outcome and being forced to walk it is both satisfying and tragic.
Alia the witch has now come of age. Her training as a Bene Gesserit seems to fail her with Duncan Idaho around. I’m excited to read again about Paul’s children. They were born into awareness in the same way Alia was, but these are the children of the Kwisatz Haderach.
Now that I am two books into this epic, I think I will continue. Maybe I’ll even give his sons’ books another try.