Book Thoughts: God Emperor of Dune

 Every time I finish a Dune book, I seem to spend the following day thinking about it. I think about the story so far, what it means, and how it compares to other books I've read or experiences I've had. I think of what I learned from it and at the end of all those thoughts, I also think, I should write this down.

Well, here I am, finally writing it down. It's taken me four Dune books, but I realize this moment is special. Right now, I can think of this story in a way I never will again. The thoughts are fresh, unspoiled and new. I don't want to lose this moment of excitement, as I did with the first three books. So, overall, this blog post is an attempt to memorialize my state of mind in this moment, the day after finishing God Emperor of Dune. Sure, I could write it down on a Word file on my computer, but this is more fun.

Of the four books I have read so far, I'd rank God Emperor of Dune as my third or fourth favorite. All four are excellent in my opinion, but Dune Messiah and Dune still pull ahead for me. The ending of Dune Messiah brought tears to my eyes as I finished it in a crowded airport terminal, waiting on a delayed flight. For its ability to transport me to another world in that not-so-ideal situation, it may always hold first place for me. Dune probably gets second because I love an origin story and it was more relatable. Also, the excellent 2022 movie may have elevated it for me as well.

While God Emperor falls behind those first two, I believe its ending places it ahead of Children of Dune, which felt a little more aimless and muddled to me. Even so, I'll always love it for the gems it gave me, such as the preacher's speech about uncertain future, and equating absolute prediction to completion and, ultimately, to death (pages 330-339 in my copy). This hit home for me, as someone with a mundane, predictable desk job.

So, while God Emperor had a superior ending to Children of Dune, with an immediately impactful climax with well-established consequences, I felt its middle had one unexpected shortcoming. 

The epigraphs!

I fell in love with these blurbs at the beginning of each chapter after reading the first book. They really helped to frame my mind to get ready for the theme of that chapter. It also felt rewarding to understand something presented in a (maybe unnecessarily) complex way. They gave such depth to the history of the universe Frank Herbert created, and I loved feeling that. However, in God Emperor, all the epigraphs are from the God Emperor's journals. I believe this intentionally delivered a message that the God Emperor is truly at the center of this universe now, but that made it feel so much more shallow. That was probably also intentional to make the reader feel the same way as the civilians that lived in this suppressed version of the universe. Now that I understand these intentions, I may appreciate the epigraphs more during future reads, but at the time it was a let-down.

The overall theme of the fourth book seemed to be this attempt to zoom in on the God Emperor to tell a very human story about a very inhuman being. I think it succeeded. We get to know the God Emperor as a supremely evolved version of a human, to the point that he is very difficult to understand and relate to. But, then, he falls in love with someone and begins to become, maybe not more easy to understand, but definitely more easy to relate to. 

Strangely, at the same time, he becomes less likable in a way. I'll be referencing more specific things about the book now, so fair warning for spoilers. At the beginning of the book I am still thinking of the God Emperor as an evolved version of Letto, a character I liked in the previous book. He is on-task, working toward his golden path, and I respect him for it. But then, when Hwi is introduced and he falls in love with her, he becomes distracted and begins to make mistakes I didn't think were possible for him. So, his character has this strange progression that makes him less likable as he becomes more relatable, which is something I don't think I've ever experienced before.

These impossible mistakes ultimately lead to the God Emperor's downfall. Literally. While the ending of the book was exciting, as I said before, there was still something lacking that is familiar to the other Dune books. In general, I think Dune books have strong beginnings and middles, with endings that don't live up to the same standards. The beginning of each book introduces the new version of the world and universe to us, and we are excited to learn about the effects these introductions have on the setting we knew before. The middle is filled with captivating storytelling that makes you think. And, all throughout, the characters are accomplishing amazing feats that make you chuckle to yourself as you read them. And I think to myself, to defeat these supremely clever characters, their enemies must have to pull off something equally or even more clever. But, that never seems to happen in Dune.

In Messiah, my favorite, I think of the moment the bomb is dropped and Paul loses his eyes. At the time, I had to reread it to make sure I understood what just happened. Although Paul losing his sight ended up being an excellent plot point, I felt the event that caused it could've used a bit more foreshadowing. To me, it felt random and I wondered why their enemies didn't make that move earlier. 

I think the same can be said about Paul's death in Children of Dune, which I thought would be much more climactic. I suppose the point of him dying the way he did was to emphasize the point that he had been reduced to something less than what he was before when he went to Jacurutu. I couldn't let go though. I was fixated on the fact that Paul's flesh embodied that preacher and I wanted him back. But, an event that felt insignificant put an end to my hopes. 

Finally, Letto's death in God Emperor. He should have been able to see it coming. I suppose it's possible he did, since it seems he accomplished his goal of imparting the golden path on Siona. But, after her test with him in the desert, I didn't feel like Siona still truly wanted to defeat him. I understood Duncan's motivations much more, but when they quickly threw this plot together at the very end of the book, it just didn't feel satisfying. They're going to kill the God of their universe and the only real effort required is to scale a tall wall? I enjoyed reading the climb, but I think it definitely could've done with some more foreshadowing too. I don't want to hear about Duncan's climbing experience for the first time as he is on the wall. That just makes it all feel thrown together.

But, like with all things I initially consider shortcomings in the Dune series, there may be a deeper meaning here. First, there is always the excuse that Paul or Letto do see these things coming, but let them happen for the overall goal of a golden path or terrible purpose. Or, perhaps Frank Herbert is trying to create a narrative around the topic of simple solutions to complex problems. The complex problem typically being our protagonist's competence and the simple solution being a well-timed bomb or lasgun shot. 

Whatever the reason is, I still enjoy all the Dune stories so far. Any story that makes you think, feel, laugh and cry is special in my opinion. So, I look forward to moving on to book five and discovering how this universe has evolved. Hopefully I'll feel inspired to write about that one too. Until then, happy reading to everyone!

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Dan Tilley