This week for Book Series Wednesday I’m covering the sequel to Dune! It’s Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert!

Plot Synopsis: Twelve years after the events described in Dune, Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides rules as Emperor. By accepting the role of messiah to the Fremen, Paul had unleashed a jihad which conquered most of the known universe. While Paul is the most powerful Emperor ever known, he is powerless to stop the lethal excesses of the religious juggernaut he has created. Although sixty-one billion people have perished, Paul’s prescient visions indicate that this is far from the worst possible outcome for humanity.

Plot: I really didn’t enjoy Dune Messiah all that much, it was much too dark and not nearly as good as the previous book. Thankfully it’s not the last book in the series or I would’ve been incredibly disappointed.  That being said it does set up lots of plot threads for later books in the series.

Characters: The new characters we meet in this book aren’t nearly as good as the previous books characters, but again they do set up later plot lines. In particular I enjoyed Hayt quite a bit.

Overall: If it wasn’t a critical entry into the series I’d say skip it. However it is, so if you want to continue reading the series it’s a necessary read.

For those who like: Dune, Science Fiction, Darker Plots.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.