I just finished reading the book in preparation for this movie a few weeks ago. I understand why so many people consider it the greatest science fiction novel of all time and that its influence is off the charts, but IMO it hasn't aged well at all. It has some great characters and world building, but it also has one of the most anticlimactic endings I've ever read. I spent the entire book waiting for it to pick up, but it never really did. I also really despise 'OP chosen one' stories, and this is the quintessential 'OP chosen one' story.
I'm still hyped for this movie just because the director is GOAT though.
Holy shit
Did he get even more OP in the following books? He has atomics now? As if prescience wasn't enough.
Completely disagree. It's doesn't feel dated at all.
The ending was epic as ****. Sure, if you're expecting an epic war and a ton of action you may be disappointed, but that's not what the book is about. It's primarily about this very unique, well developed and evocative universe; certainly not a book for everyone.
It's the exact opposite of a chosen one story though. It's deconstruction of the trope. Millennia ago, the Bene Gesserit seeded various populations with myths and prophecies for their own purposes. Paul and Jessica would then use these to their own advantage to manipulate the Freman and make them believe that Paul was some messianic figure.
As for the the Kwisatz Haderach, that's not a chosen one either. Rather it's the product and culmination of the Bene Gesserit's millennia long breeding program.
Each House of the Landsraad has its own stockpile of atomics. Emperor Paul has access to the lions share of those weapons.
As for your second question yes and no. Paul does get more powerful but he gives up on being the chosen one . Leaving his son Leto to carrie the burden instead.
[SPOILER - highlight to read]: Does it matter if the chosen one is created by chance or by countless generations of specific breeding? He's still has the insane prescience abilities exactly outlined out by the Bene Gesserit (abilities inherent only to the one male that unlocks their prescience abilities as predicted), and he still has access to both male and female genetic memory as the Kwisatz Haderach. He's still leading the fremen to paradise in their jihad/holy war, and he's an still offworlder exactly as they predicted. He's still the only one capable of resolving the plot, and he fits almost every prophecy outlined (the ONE place he didn't was him outright rejecting the Bene Gesserit and refusing to be their tool; he still fit the fremen prophecy just fine though). Does it matter if the force that made him is more scientific than fantastical? It's no less a turn off either way.
I'm not an 'action scene' kind of guy when it comes to books (I actually really hate reading long and drawn out fights of people swinging their swords; the First Law series is commonly praised for its fight scenes and I glazed over every one). That wasn't the problem. The problem was the lack of emotional pay off at the end (and through the entire book, really). Paul didn't struggle at all throughout the entire book. There wasn't a single moment where he was unsure or in over his head (other than one which was wasted; I'll outline this below). Even his fight at the end with Feyd never had me doubting that Paul had the upper hand, and Feyd was the product of a generations old breeding program too (not to mention a seasoned and super trained fighter). It was the most blue balled ending I've ever read in a book.
The most interesting villain in the entire book who killed Paul's father and was the ruin of his family (Vladmir Harkonnen; dude was a child rapist too, a proper dickhead) gets killed by Pauls (also OP) child sister whom we have no real attachment or relationship to. Paul never even meets him! He died completely anticlimactically from poison and off screen! Then, Paul completely wrecks and overtakes the Emperors forces and claims the Emperor's daughter as his wife to place himself as future emperor with almost NO struggle (after all the hype around the Emperor, his trained super soldiers, and overwhelming forces). The only loss Paul takes in the final battle is his son, who we were just barely introduced to, and who dies off screen (legit can't even remember the kids name).
The coolest concept in the book is the giant sand worms, and Paul has NO trouble taming a gargantuan one during his fremen rite test. This could have been one of the most epic parts of the book, and Paul just nails it without problem after all that build up and dread.
Towards the end, we Paul meets the one person on the side of the Emperor/Harkonens who for some reason is completely hidden from his prescience. Count Fenring is someone he finally can't predict, and this guy has been built up all book. Fenring is on the opposing side, and concedes that it probably wouldn't be much of a struggle to kill Paul if he wanted. Then, he decides to side with Paul over the Emperor? The ONE person all book who could pose a threat and he just switches sides? Wtf?
Paul himself had no character development all book. He was perfect from the beginning and ended somehow even more perfect. He was the ideal fighter, the ideal leader, the ideal heir, the ideal husband, (etc...). The dude passed up his Bene Gesserit mother (the second most capable person in the book after him), with all her training and knowledge, before the timeskip even took place and not too long chronologically after the start of the book with little to no struggle.
Sure, you could say the ending is "epic" with Paul just massacring the opposition riding on sandworms with his army of fremen just because of the scale of it, but that doesn't make it engaging. There was no emotional pay off. There was no struggle. It was too clean. He just won, like he did all book, and it was a VERY quick, decisive, and overwhelming win.
There wasn't even any pay off Lady Jessica (the best character in the entire book followed by Duke Leto, Vladimir and Duncan; she was powerful but still struggled and made mistakes here and there which is IMO more engaging than anything Paul went through) being Vladimir's daughter. Her being a Harkonen should have caused some drama after how much it as brought up, but she never even met Vlad before he died. I admit there was some emotion from her side, what with the loss of Leto, the "abominable" product that is her daughter, and her estrangement from Paul, and that was great, but there wasn't much besides that.
Maybe it's a rose tinted glasses thing with you, but the book isn't as perfect as you make it out to be. Idk, maybe I'm missing something. I don't have the decades of retrospection and fan analysis you might. I haven't read any in-depth deconstructions or anything. This is just from the perspective of a new reader in 2020. It didn't hold up, and I went in with some fantastic expectations.
Really? Chalamet is almost exactly what I pictured while reading. What doesn't make him fit?
And I'll take your word for it. I haven't read any following books and [SPOILER - highlight to read]: the only son he has in the first one is died
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Last edited by Arachnid1 on Sep 9th, 2020 at 07:37 PM
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