Dune Messiah, Frank Herbert

It is interesting that Brian Herbert’s introduction to Dune Messiah comes with a disclaimer that not all fans of his father’s original novel will be satisfied with the sequel. I definitely agree with that sentiment, and even tampered my expectations going into this novel as a result of this and similar disclaimers about the Dune sequels. Lucky for me, I am not one of those fans who felt underwhelmed by Dune Messiah. Dare I say I almost love it more than the original? Tonally, this is a very, very different book. While Dune does a lot of heavy lifting in world-building, establishing inter-planetary politics, and focusing on ecology and technology, Dune Messiah is far more intimate and limited in scope. Everything here is tighter and more focused: the page count, the cast of characters, the setting. I don’t think it’s an overstatement that this novel is almost entirely a series of conversations between characters scheming and musing on the future. If you’re looking for big action scenes, knife fights, and worm-riding, you’ll be left disappointed.

Thematically, I loved what Herbert did in Dune Messiah. This novel is heavily preoccupied with exploring the consequences of power. It pulls on the threads of what happens after the “chosen one” fulfills his destiny, when the rebel has to actually lead, and just how much a messiah can do to save his people, his loved ones, and himself. In recent years, a number of beloved franchises have attempted ill-conceived deconstructions of their heroes that, in their failure and laziness, only serve to alienate fans, confuse audiences, and undermine the lore, morality, and narrative (looking at you, Star Wars!). Dune Messiah is a template for how this can be done incredibly well. By the end of this book, Herbert successfully recontextualizes the character of Paul Atreides in a way that is still fully respectful of the character and ideas Dune established. There are so many wonderful quotes and musings on politics and power in this book, that I won’t even try to list them in this review.

The supporting characters in Dune Messiah are not quite as compelling as in the original novel, but there are a few standouts. Scytale is an incredibly cool villain who presents a completely different threat than the Harkonnens in Dune. And Hayt presents a great new science fiction idea to this universe. The returning supporting characters are not quite as interesting as they were the first time around, with the exception of Irulan, who has a bit more to do this time around. Chani, Stilgar, and the Reverend Mother Mohiam are a bit on auto-pilot, and I remain very much not a fan of Alia. I also definitely missed having Jessica as a main player this time around.

The plot is solid. There were a few times I started to have my doubts and I found Herbert veering into terrain I worried would become underwhelming or just a bit too strange. But ultimately, I would advise readers to trust the process. The ending of this book is so incredibly worth it. It is far more powerful and emotional than the ending of Dune. I would even say it can serve as a fitting end-point for this story, but I have heard good things about Children of Dune as a strong closing chapter to the original Dune trilogy. This time, I’m definitely going in with high expectations!