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God Emperor of Dune (Dune Chronicles #4) by Frank Herbert

"600 pages of talk, of why Leto II is the greatest and best. And even if you're supposed to feel something, sympathy, pity, etc, Herbert ruins it all by making all of the characters flat, emotionless and mindlessly devout. This book was such a disappointment I can't even properly express it."

1 Star

Pros: The book started off good, full of danger and excitement/I had hopes for Siona and her rebellion but as always, Leto's prescience and omniscience took all the suspense and surprise out of everything. 

Cons: Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, all Leto ever does is talk. And what little action there actually is is few and far between. 

Full Review: 

Leto II has become more than a man. He is now a living God. The God Emperor of Dune, to be precise. And though there is "peace" on every planet in the Galaxy, it is a forced peace. He is told by his numerous ambassadors that people are unhappy, that they feel as if they're pigs, wallowing in their own filth. But for the most part, there is peace, a forced tranquility. 

Leto II is omnipotent, all knowing and almost all powerful. Though he does have weakness in certain parts of his body. After developing the second skin of sand trout in Children of Dune, his body has undergone an intense metamorphoses. He is slowly but surely becoming a sandworm. He no longer has legs or feet, just useless flippers. His arms and hands are still there, as is his face, but the rest of his organs/brain/heart etc, have spread throughout his body. He is really no longer a man. He is something completely different and he honestly and fervently believes that all those should worship him. 

As they say, pride cometh before a fall. The same thing that happened to his father, Paul Muad'Dib happened to Leto and to be honest, I was glad for it. Never, in recent memory, have I read a book where I wanted, so badly, for the protagonist to fail. He was arrogant, self absorbed, self important and grotesquely in love with himself. I felt the same as the 746,350th iteration of Duncan Idaho, that this "thing" was not a God and should not be worshipped. It was a "creature" and should be despised. 

I've been holding out hope that this series will at some point hit a turning point. That it will at some point become like the first book and have some semblance of a story line, of a plot, of characters that the reader actually cares about. But I'm beginning to become convinced that no, this will never happen. 

This book was a let down in the most extreme way. I kept reading just to see if something would actually HAPPEN and suffice it to say, even when something did happen, it was drawn out and by the end of it, just felt unnecessary. 

I have the next two books in the series but with how abysmal this one was, I'm seriously reconsidering reading them. The first book was so good and each subsequent book has been more and more disappointing. 

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