Just Finished re-Reading: Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert (FP: 1969) [221pp] 

[WARNING: If you haven’t read the first book, still haven’t seen the movie (and want to) or don’t want the plot ruined for the second movie the following WILL contain spoilers!] 

A little over 20 years after the events on Arrakis and the defeat of the Emperor Shaddam IV, the new Emperor Paul Atredies known as Muad’dib still struggles with his terrible legacy. Throughout the known Universe the forces of Jihad released by Paul have already been responsible for 60 billion dead and the war goes on. Equally appalled and frightened by his fragmentary visions of the future Paul tries to reduce the carnage as much as he can, but he knows that more and more death follows his every action – or inaction. Slowly, too slowly, he begins to realise that the path of least resistance, of least death, might not be the best path. Meanwhile, although his many enemies have been defeated, they have not been vanquished. Arrayed against him are the most powerful organisations in the universe – The Spacing Guild who are, seemingly, invisible to the Emperors prescient sight, The Bene Gesserit who are desperate to get their genetic manipulation of bloodlines back on track, and the Tleilaxu, a guild of assassins and manipulators of flesh itself. A core element of their plan is to offer Paul something he cannot possibly refuse – a perfect copy of his closest friend and teacher: Duncan Idaho. Even Paul cannot see the consequences of accepting the ‘gift’ but he does so anyway – setting into motion a cascade of events that will change everything. 

I first read this around 40 years ago and not long after the first book, Dune, blew my mind as a teenager. As with re-reading anything that had such a profound impact on your youthful self it was a strange read with ‘echoes’ and memories of my first read interspersed with memories of the Sci-Fi Channel adaptation which they smushed together with the next book Children of Dune. I can see why they did that – Messiah is largely people talking in rooms, either plotting against Paul or musing on the deeper meanings of things seen and unseen. Most of the ‘action’ takes place on Arrakis with only a few mentions of other worlds. The notable addition to the Dune universe is that of the Tleilaxu ‘face dancers’ who can imitate almost anyone to get close enough to kill them. They’re an interesting group who also meddle in biological engineering and especially cloning. I think an important part of this volume is the doubt eating away at Paul and his struggle, not only with the huge power he now has, but with the fact that he knows he’s not the ‘god’ figure most people see him as. People think he knows everything because he has prescient ‘sight’. What they don’t realise is just how complicated this is and how stifling it is seeing the consequences of your actions play out in myriad possible futures – knowing that as soon as you act some of those possibilities wink out of existence leaving fewer (and sometimes worse) choices ahead. But what I found the most interesting is that Paul isn’t what people think he is – and that includes the Guilds in opposition to him – and even more interesting is that HE isn’t what he thinks he is (or has been led to believe he is). One of the many reasons why this series has gained the acclaim it has is, in my opinion, the fact that you can read it on multiple levels. On the surface its essentially Game of Thrones in the far future. But it’s actually MUCH more than that. There is just so much going on here – not just about power and its abuses but about technology, fate/destiny, free will. You can read a section, a paragraph, a sentence and go down the rabbit hole of implications built on assumptions built on deeper implications. Much more Dune to come. Obviously recommended.