Dune Messiah — Book Review

Short review, spoiler sections clearly marked below subtitles.

TL;DR I preferred Dune Messiah to its predecessor, Dune. It’s everything that Dune was but more extreme and faster paced.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the long descriptions of sand and thirst as much as the next reader—but I do prefer Dune Messiah’s scathing political intrigue.

For a summary, you can find my two-minute Dune Messiah review on TikTok!

Dune Messiah, Villenueve, and Lynch

Minor spoilers in this section for the end of Villeneuve’s Dune Part Two film, and minor spoilers for the overarching plot of Dune Messiah.

A lot of people have talked about the differences between Dune and the new films, but I don’t see so many people talking about how Messiah influenced their production. And when I say people, I do mean ignorant internet warriors rather than columnists who have researched their topics.

It interests me that so many individuals feel the need to slate Lynch and Villeneuve’s films based on some uninformed opinion that neither director properly ‘read’ or ‘appreciated’ the book(s), when, from my perspective, both directors fell victim to Dune Messiah’s gravitational pull. Messiah leaves its shadows across all of their films. Surely, anyone who has read Messiah can see its presence in Edric and ‘the moon!’ in Lynch’s film, and also in Villeneuve’s desire to plant the seeds of a Fremen rebellion against Paul earlier than Frank Herbert’s Dune did.

My take is that both directors love the Dune series so much that they had to include elements of Messiah as early as possible.

I’m so curious to see Villeneuve’s Dune Messiah at the cinema. I doubt my favourite elements will make it onto the big screen, but I’ll hope until it’s over.

My Favourite Moments of Dune Messiah

Big Spoilers for Dune Messiah

Dune Messiah felt like a reward for struggling through Dune book one. Alia has always been a strange character, but in this sequel she really inhabits her difference and even weaponises it.

Jessica’s absence was interesting. Her children develop without her guidance (or closeting, perhaps both), which felt key to the direction of the plot. Nonetheless, she’s one of my favourite characters in the series, and I was sad to read that she wasn’t an active presence in this book.

Scytale is the newest, most exciting addition to the Dune cast and, unfortunately, won’t be returning in future titles. Scytale shares a lot with one of my favourite literary fiction characters ever (Steerpike from Gormenghast), and I loved to read about his presumptuous, people-hating ambition as it spiraled into ever-greater monstrosities.

As a shapeshifter, Scytale is one of the many indicators that Dune Messiah is much stranger than its predecessor. There’s also the somewhat erotic scene with Alia fighting a robot in the nude, the escalated question of whether incest will occur in these books, and a romantic, philosophical zombie.

I always felt that Dune leaned more towards traditional fantasy elements than sci-fi ones, and Messiah cements that belief even more firmly for me.

My Criticisms of Dune Messiah

My main difficulty with Dune Messiah is that its female characters take a step back from politicking, fighting. and activity in general, and instead get pushed around by whichever man is in the room at the time.

In book one, Chani was vibrant and active. In Messiah, she’s loving, but grumpy and stifled.

Irulan enters the main stage, only to have her plans consistently and quietly squashed by everyone.

Jessica is simply absent.

Gaius Helen Mohiam is quickly imprisoned by Paul and outdone at every turn by Scytale.

Alia has the most energy and effect on the narrative, but at the same time, she feels separated from the main struggles.

Even the spoils of Paul’s first victory, Jamis’ wife, Harah, is mentioned in this book but kept to the side. In Dune book one, she offers insight into seitch life and is a friend to Jessica, Paul, and Chani. In Dune Messiah, she’s simply one of Stilgar’s wives. I can’t remember if she even got a spoken line of dialogue in Dune Messiah.

Reading Dune Messiah made me feel like perhaps Frank Herbert had been making an active decision to include women in the plot of Dune book one, and that he simply forgot to maintain that stance in book two. It felt quite old-fashioned to read, especially in a series that already has a few problems with prejudice.

Summary of Dune Messiah

I’m not sure how many more Dune books I will read, but I think I will read Children of Dune! Before that, though, I need to go back to Brandon Sanderson’s Cyotverse… It’s time for some Starsight!

Edit: I found God of Emperor of Dune, the fourth book, in a secondhand shop in 2025. Subscribe to the blog for an email update when I review it in the months following the release of the Dune Messiah film.