God Emperor Of Dune: The Fourth Dune Novel (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback)

However, having said that it does still contain some excellent parts: the ending, the test of Siona, and the whole Ixian 'no-room' concept are fantastic, but the book has too many flaws to be as good as the others. The fact that Dune itself is no longer Dune, but an earthlike planet destroys the majesty of the place Herbert created in the first place. But the most frustrating thing is that fantastic characters like Harq Al-Ada and Ghani from the last (best) book Children Of Dune were crying out for a book of their own. These just disappear as the story skips 3000 odd years to this date, leaving a feeling of frustration as new characters enter the fray who are, lets face it, not a patch on the first 3 books'.

A good, but -not- great offering. Writer's block, perhaps?

The beauty of the Dune series is that it may be science fiction on its surface but it is a deep study of religion, politics and society, and this novel proves no different. The main theme in this particular instalment of the series being the blending of Religion and Government, in a far more extreme manner than even the Mentat-Emperor, Paul Muad’dib.

All the little details are there, from the esoteric technologies of the Ixians to the Face Dancers of the Bene Tleilax, and let's not forget the Bene Gessesrit. The plot itself revolves around Leto and his 'Golden Path' and those who wish to destroy it. I won't go into the plot anymore as I don't want to spoil the lavish tale which Herbert has crafted as the point of the review is to encourage you to read the book.

The writing style is exactly the same as that of the previous novels; "chapters" interspersed with musings and facts from archives and quotes from the characters. This styles allows the novel to flow without the need for proper chapters and makes for a compelling read, I literally had trouble putting this book down to get to bed.

All in all, a superb read.

It's essentially an in-depth look at the Imperial inner circle established by Leto at the end of Children of Dune. As ever, Frank Herbert tells the story largely through little soliloquies while characters talk with one another, though in this novel the boredom factor is upped considerably because there's only a handful of characters and the dialogue is frequently ambushed by Leto's incessant philosophical musing. The intellectual/philosophical aspects of Herbert's scifi world are incorporated far less subtly than in previous books, though Herbert's ideas are still fresh and intriguing - this novel answers the questions raised in the previous three books about what the Atreides' "Golden Path" for humanity entails.

Unfortunately it raises more questions than answers - just like Children of Dune, this book has been deliberately set up for a further sequel. Quite unsatisfying when you consider the amount of explaining and talking that goes on - Herbert tends to indulge in a deliberate obfuscation of the facts in his stories that can become annoying. Despite the book's weaknesses however, I still have to read the next one, and anyone who's read the third Dune novel really needs to read this.

There's absolutely no reason to read it as a standalone novel though - definitely read the previous three Dune books first.