I liked Heretics of Dune on my second reread. I had forgotten how much action there is in this novel. Not as good as Dune but better than Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, and God Emperor of Dune. My sense is that FH struck gold with the first Dune and then Dune Messiah slipped a little bit then each subsequent novel got better. I enjoyed spending time with the Bene Gesserit in Heretics of Dune and really enjoyed the Miles Teg character. ( )

10,000 years of political maneuvering and interstellar conflict peaks in a man vs woman proxy war where each side’s ultimate weapon is mindblowing sex? Heinlein said Strangers in a Strange Land, Herbert said hold my beer. ( )

To be fair to this, I think it suffers more from being read after reading some of the Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson prequels than it does on its own merits (or lack thereof). Unfortunately I can't turn back the clock and unread those books, so what I imagine would have been fascinating reveals and fun POVs back when this was only the fifth novel in the series are kind of uninteresting, leaving the characters, worlds, and plots to stand on their own. And they do not stand well at all.

For instance, I imagine a reincarnated Duke Leto POV would be more interesting if there wasn't at least one prequel already from the ACTUAL Duke Leto's POV, before and after he became the duke. That's not to say Miles Teg is boring... but he kind of is. And a reincarnated Lady Jessica would be more interesting if, well... same reasons. Duncan is honestly just a barebones Paul - he even admits it to himself - crossed with "God Emperor of Dune" Duncan. But he's not Paul, fighting a revolution and preparing for jihad. He's just a whiny baby who's typically trapped in a room practicing things or trying to sneak past his guards. And that's hardly interesting.

The rest of the cast are boring plotters who simultaneously don't care but also do care greatly about things that mostly happen off-page. This leaves you in a general disinterested state, wondering why you're meant to care about literally anyone or anything happening. And then there's Sheanna. Who is... there. And another whiny kid. But good on her for tearing down the patriarchal establishment, I suppose.

The big reveals were also ruined if you've read any stories about how the Tleilaxu came about, because you know that reveal before it happens. It was honestly just as gross as in the prequel, and here it's like... well. Other reveals are characters being like "and now we shall enact the secret plan to change the universe that we never discussed until now because secret" and then screen wipe. It's... it's not great.

This book also contains some of the creepiest and most unimaginative descriptions of sex that I've seen, even from Herbert. I honestly wish the man could come back from the dead to read a good erotica story. Seriously. Get some imagination in there. We're meant to believe we're seeing something impressive, but it's never described, and the most we get is vague references to characters experiencing an orgasm and losing control of their bodies, which is... basically just how sex works.

All in all, it was better than "God Emperor of Dune", mostly because things actually happened and the cast was at least slightly more compelling, and its aping of both "Dune" and "Children of Dune" in terms of plot and writing style gets you through more of it, but that's a low bar. It was largely a joyless slog of a book with a meh cast of characters, uninteresting politics, a weird obsession with joyless orgasms and the power of the orgasm (which, in the hands of a better writer, I wouldn't be averse to, but Herbert can't write erotica, so), societal sexism, and people calling women whores. Unless you're really invested in the story universe, skip this. ( )

I am happy to report that the fifth book in the Dune series has pulled me back into the Duneiverse after the slog of God Emperor of Dune left me less than excited to carry on. 1,500 years after the dramatic demise of the Leto/worm (the best part of the fourth book), the descendants of the people of The Scattering -- the great dispersal of people out into the universe as part of Leto's Golden Path to the survival of humanity, are returning with lots of money, lots of weird new inventions, and a bizarro version of the familiar social structures of the old civilization that continues with their old tricks. This book is heavy on the female characters, which is part of why I liked it. Who could resist the Bene Gesserit (the all-female order that has hacked their minds, bodies, and breeding system)! Lady Jessica is still one of my favorite characters of all time ( )

Vi er noen tusen år senere - etter Leto II sitt fall. En ny ghola er under dressering ved Bene Gesserit. Vi følger den noen og tusende Duncan Idaho på en annen planet. Siona og forgjenger-Duncan Idaho er long long gone. Tleilaxu har dyrket frem et menneskelignenede vesen basert på døde kroppsceller fra en opprinnelig Fremen - nemlig Duncan Idaho som opprinnelig var len topptrent kriger og livvakt for Paul Atreides, sønn av Leto I - the Duke.