Rating: 
Summary: A new beginning for the Dune series
Review: God Emperor of Dune, the fourth book of the Dune series, begins a new saga in the Dune chronicles. Set over 3000 years later, the son of Muad'dib, Leto II, has undergone a horrible transformation, and now rules with an iron hand. Although his rule is for the benefit of mankind, he is feared and hated. This is the most philosophical of the Dune books, and sets the pace for the second trilogy of Dune. Although an excellent, occasionally God Emperor gets too involved in the inner workings of Leto's mind, which slows the pace a bit. However, this is a must read for anyone who love Herbert's Dune books
Rating: 
Summary: A primer on the uses of power, politics and propaganda.
Review: Herbert continues the saga of the Atreides with Paul's son
Leto II who has paid the ultimate price for becoming humanity's savior at the sacrifice of his own. A compelling
lesson on the use of power, politics and propaganda in
controlling the destiny of the masses. As great a classic
as Orwell's 1984. A must read for students of political
science, sociology, and history.
Rating:
Summary: Leto II takes over the universe!
Review: A wonderful continuation of the series! Leto II has taken up the challenge of prescience like his father never could and ultimately he pays the price for humanity's evolutionary salvation. However, all the power groups of the previous chronicles must pay homage to their God Emperor
Rating:
Summary: A book made to make you think
Review: Before I say anything, I would like to state my outright disgust of Mr. Chow's review. He is the classic example of a man who pretends to be a "intellectual" by snubbing a work which he is jealous of. The irony of his review is that he is not clearly stating his own motives in writing the review that criticized Herbert's supposed lack of "clarity." The other irony of his review is that he is tailoring it to the "unwashed masses" who distrust and hate anything intelligent or that might make itself more intelligent than they are. Mr. Chow is playing off the concept of ignorance in order to maintain ignorance. I will state this clearly for you, Mr. Chow : you are a hypocrite and I very much dislike your narrow sighted review of this excellent book. Mr. Chow is also unable to grasp the fact that what is said here essentially boils down to opinion.My Opinion: this book was designed to be heady and challenging science fiction, not an official work of hard philosophy. To read this as a hard philosophical work is to miss the point, Mr. Chow. You can run back to Nietzsche, thank you very much, while I enjoy this book. Mr. Chow is one of those men who frowns on ALL creativity because of his supposed "higher acedemic standards" (i.e. he wants to be "better" than all of us) which are really just a mask for his own childish motives of inner craving and jealousy. Creativity is the means by which things are created, both good and bad. To frown upon all creativity is to render one a nihilist. So please go back to reading Nietzsche, please, because it seems like that is all you will enjoy. Granted, I have my own motives at work here in my defense of creativity and intelligent science fiction. However, my motives support the arts and I am in favor of supporting and helping the "unwashed masses" as you call them instead of frowning upon them / taking advantage of their fear of anything intelligent to maintain their lack of intelligence all the time. You are a "closet aristocrat" as Leto II would say. Consider my review a revolt against your aristocracy. If you are in search of heady, engaging science fiction full of mystery and excitement, look no further. My one complaint with this book is the terrible cover art. I very much wish they had removed completely the old, phallic cover painting used with the old editions. It is rather disgusting, and is a terrible way to present this novel to the public. It is due to this artwork that I give this edition 4 out of 5 stars! Bravo, Frank Herbert!
Rating:
Summary: Perhaps the single best Si-Fi book of all time.
Review: A text whose depth of religious, historical, philosophical and emotional insights touch at the very essence of what humanity is. As someone who has read the 6-books of the Dune series more than 7-times each, I find God Emperor to be a gifted presentation set within the perspective of a truly unique point-of-view. As with the entire Dune series, Herbert forces us to focus within ourselves to answer the deeper questions and issues raised so masterfully in his book. The relationship and dialogues between the God Emperor Leto, and Moneo, his Majordomo has to be some of the most insightful, honest theater in Si-Fi history. From the silent obeyance of the massive Nayla, or the fostered rebellious attitudes of Siona, the shimmering 'Golden Path' that will finally and forever perpetuate humankind in the Universe has been set into place personally by Paul Atreides' son Leto. With Leto's selfless sacrifice of an unimaginable 3,500-years, his metamorphosis of worm and man; man and God, legend and religion with his logical-brilliance of the all-female "Women of the Imperial Guard", the Fish Speaker Army that holds an iron-grip on the human universe- Herbert creates the single most enjoyable, readable, profound, and meaningful book in his timeless collection. This book also ties the Paul Atreides side of the Dune series to the Bene Gesserit-led books in a singular, keystone fashion. The development of the Ixians, and the Tleilaxu; the downgrading of the Guild, and the Bene Gesserit and the extermination of CHOAM and the Great Houses add a great deal to both the overall and continuing plot lines of the Dune series. More so than the rest of the series, this book forces a closer examination of religious, social and interpersonal beliefs, and in a truly long-term thinking frame. This book also stands unique among the Dune-sequels as being the only one that can be easily read, understood and enjoyed without having read the other books. It would be interesting to have originally read this book first, then Dune second. I will never bore of Leto's character or his integrity. Please read this book, and when you finish it, read it again. -Scott Craig "Religious institutions perpetuate a mortal master-servant relationship, they create an arena which attracts the prideful human power-seekers with all of their nearsighted prejudices! Ultimately, we must realize that we are all servants unto God, not servants unto servants." -Frank Herbert 1981
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Continuance of the Dune Epic
Review: To be honest, it took a bit to get into this book. Sure, the same old groups are there (Atreides, Bene Geseret, The Guild, and a remnant of the Freman) and there are two people that carry over from the previous tale (The Ghola Duncan Idaho and Emperor Leto II). But this seemed to be nothing but conversations and lacked action, which the first Dune book was chalked full of. But after became familiar with all the new characters I slowly began to like and then fall in love with this book.
At the end of the third book, Leto covered his body with the sandworms of Shai-hulud and in doing so became nearly invincible. Following the "Golden Path" he started on in the third book, Leto controls the galaxy and is preparing the galaxy for the time when he must eventually pass on.
This book is high on emotion, much more than the previous books. I feel that Leto becomes the most developed of all of Frank Herbert's characters (with the possible exception of Duncan Idaho, who I'm learning even more about in the fifth book). You feel his loneliness, his troubles, and the demons that haunt him. You will weep for the horrible sacrifice he makes for humanity.
The first three books lead up to Leto's reign. If you are interested in seeing where the "Golden Path" reads, you really should continue the series. This is highly recommended if you loved the first three books.
Rating:
Summary: The best since the original
Review: This is the fourth book of the original six-book "Dune" saga by Frank Herbert, a series that is usually considered to be one of the landmarks of science fiction. In my ongoing quest to read all types of literature that attempt to be mythic and/or epic in scope I knew I had to read Herbert, who blends far-future technology, philosophy, religion, and complex descriptions of the inner workings of his characters' minds to create a story that truly ascends to the level of mythology. It would take too much space to describe the plot that leads up to this fourth book. I will say, however, that God-Emperor is the best book in the series since the original, and Herbert tones down (at least somewhat) the complicated, ambiguous, bordering on meaningless philosophical and political discourse that made earlier novels hard to follow. Like Arthur C. Clarke, Herbert was working from an entirely secular worldview, but makes a valiant attempt at describing the human condition and human hopes for purpose in that context. The ultimate goal of the title character, the man-worm "God-Emperor" over all humanity, is to perpetuate what he calls "The Golden Path," which is code for human survival. Here is the great secular hope described: perhaps one day humanity will advance so far in our abilities that we can create our own meaning and purpose, without finding it in some outside, transcendental source, a source that traditional religion has always provided. That project is hopeless, but in the hands of a creative genius like Herbert, it makes for interesting fiction.
Rating:
Summary: God Emperor of Dune
Review: With more than ten million copies sold, Frank Herbert's magnificent DUNE books stand among the major achievements of the imagination. The world has waited more than five years for this, the fourth, the greatest and grandest DUNE book of all. Centuries have passed on Dune itself, and the plant is green with life. Leto, the son of Dune's savior, is still alive but far from human, and the fate of all humanity hangs on his awsomw sacrifice...
Rating:
Summary: omniscient god or tyrannical emperor [no spoilers]
Review: "God Emperor of Dune" is the fourth novel in the "Dune Chronicles" over three thousand five hundred years after the previous book. The writing style resumes the comprehensive detail of the opening chronicle with its strength in grammar and vocabulary. The planetary changes initiated during the first novel have drastically altered the landscape, environmental and political.
Leto II remains alive, having gone through a metamorphosis since bonding with the sandtrout and evolving into a mostly sandworm creature with little humanity remaining. Exploiting this form and the myth behind Shai-Hulud, Leto generates a godlike image to enforce his will upon the universe and furthermore has shaped his own breeding program around the Atreides legacy to save mankind. The Duncan Idaho gholas have remained a link to the former Dune days yet ironically a lot of the Fremen tradition, the strength of the earlier novels, has been lost.
The constant conversations with implied meanings between Leto II (a vastly intelligent individual) and others grow irritating, generates a sense of mystery while developing a monotonous repetitive theme. No appendixes conclude the novel but still a glossary would have sufficed. A detailed map of the significant terrains, especially with the climate transformation, would have been useful.
I highly recommend the series to any fan of the science fiction genre.
Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Heady Stuff
Review: This book is not perticularly an easy read, it is very rich with philosophy, political intrigue and such.
It is a little hard to follow at times, but nevertheless it is a must read, especially if you are going to continue the Dune saga.
Even if this sort of book isn't your preference, Frank Herbert had a vision and will leave you confuzed if you skip this novel and read the following ones.
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