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Dune Messiah is a 1969 science fiction novel by Frank
Herbert. It’s the sequel to 1965’s Dune and is the second novel in the Dune
series. The story was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in
1969. Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, its sequel, were adapted
into a miniseries by the Sci-Fi channel in the early 2000s. Dune Messiah can be purchased here
Dune Messiah continues the story of Paul Atredies,
better known as Muad’Dib, which was told in the original novel Dune. Beginning
twelves years after the end of the previous novel, Paul is now the Emperor of
the Known Universe and possesses more power than any single person was ever
meant to wield. Worshipped as a religious figure by the Fremen, some of whom
have attributed him god-status, Paul faces the hostility of the other
influential families he displaced when he became emperor and a conspiracy
taking place right under his very nose. As his enemies plotting leads to House
Atredies crumbing around him, the true danger to Paul comes to his partner
Chani and her unborn child, the heir to his family’s dynasty.
I found the story interesting from several perspectives. As mentioned
above, Paul has become a religious figure to the Fremen and a great deal of
Paul’s inner conflict comes from the result of the Fremen viewing him as their
messiah. They believed he was a messianic figure during the events of Dune, since
he fit the criteria of one of their oldest legends. He accepted his role as
their messiah, but as a result, he unleashed a jihad which has conquered most
of the universe by the time Dune Messiah begins. (As a side note, jihad
is the actual word used in the text. The Dune series uses a lot of
Arabic or Arabic-sounding terminology and I don’t know why). I found Paul’s inner
struggle fascinating because very rarely do you read books with religious
themes that show the bad parts of being the focal point of a religion in such
stark lighting. Muad’Dib is the foundation of the Fremen religion now, and in taking
their religion off of Arrakis to spread, billions of people have died and many
worlds have been destroyed. Paul is the most powerful being in the universe, and
practically a god, but he’s unable to stop or curb the violence being done in
his name and by his worshippers. At the same time that Paul is resentful of his
role as this messiah, due to his prophetic visions, he knows that this isn’t
the worst possible outcome for humanity, as terrifying as it seems. He seems to
be operating under the idea that by being the messiah, and allowing the religion
to spread and accepting his god-like status, he can set humanity down a path
that leads to something other than destruction. I talked briefly in my Dune review
about Paul’s view towards his destiny, which is that he’s “the chosen one”, he
knows that he is, he’s never doubted it, but he seems to be the only person who
knows what that means and what it will really cost him. He’s destined for great
and terrible things, he doesn’t want to be, but he knows he can’t change it. Not
only is he unable to change his fate, he’s unable to change anyone’s which
becomes a driving force in why he makes certain decisions. He can’t prevent anything,
only delay it.
Paul isn’t the only person who has become a religious figure
in the years since he became the emperor. Paul’s younger sister Alia, who his
mother was pregnant with when they escaped into the desert, was born with powers
similar to Paul and, like only the most powerful Bene Gesserit, can access the
memories and personality of previous generations. She isn’t the basis of her
own religion, but she is a revered figure within Paul’s and finds the strain on
her, combined with other factors, to be too much. Alia is seen as an
abomination by some and a savior by others, which is both sad and disturbing,
since she was born with more power and knowledge than a child could ever know
what to do with. I’ve got a feeling that Alia not having a great grip on
reality or her true identity is going to become an issue in the next book.
Although a great deal of Paul’s inner conflict comes from
the inevitability of fate and his frustration towards his own destiny, the main
plot of Dune Messiah is only tangentially related to those two themes. The
overarching story revolves around a conspiracy between the Bene Gesserit, the
Spacing Guild, Paul’s wife Irulan who he married only to become emperor and the
Tleilaxu, another powerful and nefarious organization, to destabilize and dethrone
Paul and put someone they can control on the throne. They attempt many
different tactics to achieve this, from presenting him with a clone of a
deceased comrade to trying to manipulate him into impregnating Irulan so that
the Bene Gesserit don’t lose control of the bloodline. Even though this is the
main plot of Dune Messiah, there isn’t a lot done with this idea. It’s
very hard to successfully conspire to overthrow a ruler who is worshipped as a
god, can see every possible future and is an expert at reading people. This
plotline exists, or so it seems, mostly to allow certain moments at the very
end of the book to happen without them seeming to come out of left field. All
the conspiracy seems to do is give Paul another reason why he doesn’t want to
be emperor any longer, but knows he has to accept the role.
Dune Messiah feels very much like a transitional
book. I don’t know if that’s the word for it, but that’s what I’ve decided to
call it. By that, I mean that unlike Dune, this novel doesn’t introduce
a huge number of changes or a great deal of world-building. It feels to me like
Dune Messiah exists mostly to set up Children of Dune. Dune ends
with Paul usurping the Padishah Emperor’s throne and becoming emperor. Dune
Messiah ends with Paul leaving his life as the emperor behind to wander the
desert, the reason why he does this is a huge part of the plot, so I won’t say
exactly why. The novel consists of a lot of people plotting Paul’s downfall, a
tiny bit of personal growth and interpersonal drama for a few characters and then
setting the stage for Children of Dune. I know that with any series, the
first book sets up the second, and the second one sets up the third and so on,
but there isn’t enough story in Dune Messiah for it to be complete. I’ve
heard from others who read later books that part of Children of Dune could’ve
instead been part of the conclusion of Dune Messiah to make the story
flow a little better and feel more complete.
The novel’s also short compared to its predecessor. Dune is about
500 pages, with Dune Messiah coming in at around 275. It’s a shorter
story with a lot less plot, which made it kind of a disappointment in my eyes.
Dune Messiah is an okay book. It’s not bad, but I feel
like it doesn’t quite live up to the standard Dune set four years
earlier. Someone I know who read it described it as the weakest of the original
books, and I can somewhat see why they’d think that. I feel like it doesn’t add
as much as I was hoping, but maybe I set my expectations too high. It didn’t reduce
my love for the series, but I don’t think I have as much faith in Children
of Dune being as good as the original novel. I’m going to read Children
of Dune, because Paul’s story, the Atredies’ story, isn’t over yet. I’d
recommend Dune Messiah, but would advise any readers not to expect too
much of it.
