Nick Perzacki’s Reviews > God Emperor of Dune > Status Update

Duncan is so fascinating with every reincarnation. I adored Hayt and was heartbroken when he died, and I really appreciate using him now as essentially audience surrogate, the only other person who remembers Dune rather than Arrakis. I also appreciate the Tleilaxu and Ixians having a more substantial role again - I find them much more interesting than the other Major Houses and the Corrinos.

A small but welcome change with this book is the new chapter formats from time to time. The chapters have always started with excerpts from relevant in-universe writings, but now we have interview transcripts and official assessments of the workings of the universe - I find it all very interesting. I’m also intrigued by the introduction of the Oral & Official Histories - the Oral seems controversial, I wonder why.

Oh baby it’s wormin’ time! Straight away this feels like Herbert at the top of his game. He quickly establishes a completely new Dune universe, unraveling the new characters and their relationships in a really engaging way, plus already some of my favorite of his philosophical musings; I particularly liked Leto’s discussion with Duncan on the historical part played by radicals. Also RIP Duncan #3 (+at least 20)