Without great pain, it is impossible to transcend

A must read for any fan of the series, KEEP GOING, for only a true fremen would.

16 people found this helpful

Strong start; ridiculous, stupid ending

After 5-10 chapters, I had decided this was my favorite book in the Dune series. Wonderful characters and plot lines. The book continued to be very strong through the middle 1/3 before Herbert drove it off a cliff.

**SPOILER ALERT**

In the final 1/3 of the book, one of the main characters develops what is, essentially, a super power - an almost catastrophic broadside to the book’s integrity. Worse, descending further into farce and totally catastrophic, we learn that the villains enforce their political domination through violence and, wait for it, mind blowing sex. The sex is so mind blowing that one conjugal experience has you hooked forever - you can’t live without it and will do anything for the villains, who supply you with it.

Utterly stupid.

I believe Herbert died shortly after this book was published. I’d like to think he just didn’t have to write a non-ridiculous ending.

7 people found this helpful

Herbert is a genius

This is my favorite book so far, it didn't seem slow to me at all. There's so much to these books, maybe they aren't full of hollywood style action, but the plotting and psychological action is intense, as with all the dune books (at least to me). Awesome stuff, and Simon Vance rocks.

20 people found this helpful

A Marked Departure

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

CAUTION: For those of you who have not read/listened to the Dune series, do NOT start with this book.Though I was looking forward to the last book written by Herbert himself, the thread of continuity between the central themes seems to have been broken after God Emperor.

Any additional comments?

What I find most out of character is the overt gratuitous sexuality that reared its head toward the end of the book, and was nowhere to be found in any of Herbert's other works previously. It's almost as though someone took over for him at the end, or the publisher said: "Frank, we need some sex in here or it won't sell."

Yes, I'll listen to it again, but the core trajectory and central theme of Herbert's original story line seems to have gotten lost in the sauce somewhere.

11 people found this helpful

Good Book

And a great reader. This was my least favorite of the Dune books when i read them and I listened to an audio version I got from the library a few years ago. But this reader drew me in to this story like never before and I caught more of it than i ever did before. I look forward to hear Chapterhouse.

19 people found this helpful

The opera continues

Operatic. That's the Dune series...lots of machinations over long periods of time, interrupted by brief spates of action. More happens in Heretics of Dune than in the last few books, but most of the activity occurs off-stage, as it were.

First off, this is the fifth in Frank Herbert's Dune series; they won't make much sense if you don't experience them in order.

It is 1500 years since the death of Leto II, the God Emperor (a/k/a the Tyrant), and the planet Arrakis/Dune is now called Rakis and is desert once more. The factions of the Duniverse (mostly the Bene Gesserit, the Tleilaxu, the priests of the God Emperor and the newly arrived Honoured Matres) are maneuvering for control of the all important spice. The balance is upset when a young girl who can commune with the worms arrives from the desert.

As is the case with all of Herbert's Dune books, Heretics is a slow-mover. The story is the characters and their machinations, rather than starship and laser battles. There are more "action" bits (i.e. the starships and lasers) than the previous few books, but they are mostly referred to after the fact and not narrated directly (which is irritating).

My opinions on this book are mixed. The story itself is interesting, but slow. The prose is great but the story feels disjointed in places.

I still like Simon Vance's narration.

13 people found this helpful

The worst parts of the Dune series in one book.

The original Dune and Dune Messiah are my favorites for many reasons. They are decently composed and the themes were interesting. as the series progressed, more and more the mood becomes oppresive and pretentious. specifically the constant self referencing "philosophy" Herbert insists on hammering into your awareness becomes grating and tiresome (see God Emperor Of Dune). This book is a sequel of GEoD, not of Dune, and has the same monotone pacing and obnoxious non-sequitors. the ending is jarring, and the odd fixation the author has on sex comes across as unhealthy in the last chapters. Overall, I choose not to include this, children of dune, and God Emperor in the cannon. it's easier to imagine this series ended at Messiah and Maud'dib's retreat into the desert to die.

3 people found this helpful

Mixed Feelings

This series is addictive despite how disjointed the stories are as a whole. It is difficult to reign in the concept of thousands of years passing from one book to the next. Especially since with the exception of Duncan Idaho, there is not one character from the last book remaining and keeping track of who is who and how they fit into the overall plot, is a daunting task.

That said, this is not a stand alone story. The main issues posed by the storyline are not resolved and this is the first book in the series that ends in a way that is incomplete without the next book in the series. That was a bit disappointing.

It also needs to be said that there are graphic descriptions of a sexual nature that border on the pornographic. I am not a prude and was not disturbed by these descriptions but in retrospect, I don't see how these sequences advanced the storyline. They could have been done with a bit more finesse and I have no doubt that there are people who would be offended by them.

The subtle complexities of political maneuvers by the major characters provide the most intrigue of this book. Frank Herbert managed to hold my attention through the end despite the tedium of Miles Teg and Duncan Idaho spending 3/4 of the book trying to get off the planet Gammu. This reminded me of Indiana Jones trying to escape the mines in the claustrophobic "Temple of Doom."

Obviously, I have mixed feelings about the book but I enjoyed it overall and consider it a worthwhile read, if only to complete the series.

25 people found this helpful

Disapointing and disjointed

As nother reviewer has commented due to the time lapse between book 4 and 5 that the continuation of the story is difficult. I enjoyed the first four books as I was able to follow persons from the pervious books. With this book it seems that Duncan was tossed in for good measure. I never really understood why he was included in this book.

I found myself acutally wanting this book to end. The only reason I finished it was because of the investment I had made in the other four books I figured I should continue the series to its end.

15 people found this helpful

Okay dune book

This dune book has some really good character setup, and it seems to be preparing for some cool stuff in later books. the later part of the book got really cool, but was marred with cringy sex content. not sure what the author is getting at here, but that could have been left out.

2 people found this helpful