Dune Messiah

I don't have the best track record with this Dune universe, but I keep pressing on. Prior to this novel, my average rating for the series has been 2.75. (Granted this includes the Brian Herbert/Kevin J. Anderson Prelude to Dune which greatly drags this rating down.) Nevertheless, I'm not overly impressed with Dune, yet I keep going. My goal when I started was to make it to the fourth book of the original series, God Emperor of Dune. Why? For starters, four books should give me an adequate overview of the series. Primarily, I was told God Emperor... was likely to be my favorite. We'll see...

Dune reminds me a little too much of Star Wars. And get this, I hate Star Wars. Good versus evil in space, sword fights, patriarchal societies, blah blah blah—it's Dune, no it's Star Wars. I can't help but wonder if time is cyclical, if the future is Dune, the past is Star Wars and the two meet, making a never-ending loop. But Dune is better, right? I mean, for starters, Dune came first. In fact, George Lucas must've greatly borrowed from Dune, right? Secondly, Dune spends more time philosophizing and less time fighting. And third, sand worms! Jabba the Hut would be an appetizer for the sandworms of Dune.

But in this book there are no sandworms. Sorry to disappoint you, but Dune Messiah is disappointing. It reads more like an epilogue or supplement to the first novel. Not much happens until the end and even that didn't impress me. And did I mention there were no sandworms? What's the point?

I'm not sure when I'll get around to Children of Dune, but I do still intend to read it. You have two books with which to impress me, Mr. Herbert; at that point, if I'm still not impressed, I'm moving on. Now, show me what you've got.