The whole story is fantastic but the last chapters kept me going, and sometimes going back to read the story of how Muad’ib changed the Dune universe, during the last days of his life (so it is said!). Great read… for me this is the third time and still love it!

The second in this series provides more detail on the underlying philosophy adopted by the author. He does this through the frequent use of internal dialogue sometimes at the expense of the plot. But it’s still a compelling story and a must read.

Denser and slower paced than Dune, but so rewarding in its conclusion. And the stone burner!!!

Excellent follow up to my all time favorite sci fi book. This story is obviously quite a bit shorter but an appropriate ending to Paul’s journey started in Dune. Paul is someone I found myself pitying. Plagued with power he tried to avoid and visions he couldn’t escape and a terror that he helped unleash that made him a monster but also someone trying to survive and he essentially looses everything.

Definitely a clearer picture of who Paul really is in this one. You get more of the true message of what Herbert wanted you to see the main character as in this one and the ending is bittersweet. You’ll feel bad for this character who gets what he deserves in the end. Some of the character development happens very quickly. Characters willl suddenly act out of character and sometimes it isn’t explained. Some parts of the story you can see coming a mile away and others are so vague you’ll still wonder what it was about when you’re done. Still, a great book and a great sequel. Oh, and the page count was much easier to bare.

3.5 Here, is a book that will leave you with more questions then answers by the end of it. In here the story explores Paul’s mind more deeply only to leave the audience frustrated. The way his prescience powers work is still incoherent, Paul’s is a lingering character during the whole story, whose intentions are never truly revealed. The story never really takes a point of view on which to look at the character with, is he evil? Then why is his actions constantly being reasoned? Is he good, then why do strokes of evil are displayed? We’ll these be answered in the next chapter? I’ll wait to see. However the book also contains very interesting ideas surrounding power, religion, tyranny, a compelling conflict of power, the burden on those holding it and a very tragic arc for Paul, who became consumed by his powers, who became a slave of time despite his ability to weave through it.

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.