Rating: 
Summary: It's perfect!
Review: After Dune, Dune Messiah is my favourite.This book shows you a different part of Paul Atreides' personality and tells u more about his life as an emperror.Also it deals with her sister,Alia, destiny(a tragic one unfortunately).The end is special,something u won't imagine at all while reading the book.
Read it,cause it's astonishing!
Rating:
Summary: Read It.
Review: If you liked Dune, then you will like Dune Messiah.
Rating:
Summary: Best of the series
Review: Out of all the Dune books this one really stuck out as the best. I find it odd that many people hated it.
I guess it's all a matter of what you're looking for. There isn't much action but the personal aspects of how Paul's life fits into the bigger picture are explored a bit more than in the other books.
I guess it all depends on the reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Initially slow, but a MUST-READ for "Dune" enthusiasts!
Review: In comparison to the original "Dune", "Dune: Messiah" is a lot slower and takes more dedication. After immediately reading it, I was a bit disappointed, but that was before finishing the other books. "Dune: Messiah" now reveals itself to me as a gateway into a larger universe as envisioned by Frank Herbert. It foreshadows events that take place in the following books (not necessarily in order) in detail so that one might better understand Muad'Dib and how he is a springboard for all that happens with his son Leto and beyond.If you casually enjoyed "Dune", I do not recommend "Dune: Messiah" as it requires reading the following books to fully understand. If you were enthralled by "Dune", and intend to read the entire saga however, reading this book is a MUST. It is necessary to understand and enjoy the following four novels.
Rating: 
Summary: The weakest volume in Science Fiction's best series
Review: For me, "Dune Messiah" is clearly the weakest book in Frank Herbert's "Dune" series. The problem from my perspective is a significant and radical shift in the character of Paul Muad'Dib. One of the things that particularly struck me in "Dune" was the sense in which Paul was similar to the Messiah awaited by the Jews: King David reincarnated to use the sword to sweep away the oppressors of his people. However, in "Dune Messiah," Paul becomes more of a traditional Christ figure, down to the symbolic crucifixion that makes up the climax of the book. For me that was too much of a shift to accept, because I felt it undid one of the principle strengths of the original novel and all you have to do is put the two volumes side by side to see that this is not another epic novel. However, this does not mean that you should skip "Dune Messiah" as you work your way through the series, because it does set up several new elements that are ultimately more important than much of which was originally established (i.e, Duncan Idaho as a ghola, the twins, etc.). My strong recommendation has always been that you need to let time pass between each of Herbert's novels, because each one goes off in a new direction. I think that if you read them one after the other you simply cannot appreciate the strong points of each shift. So if you let time pass and then have a hankering to go back to Arrakis, I really believe you will be more open to the changes. Maybe the shock of the first change of direction has stayed with me, or the fact that the epic heights of the original "Dune" can never be equaled, but others have struggled through this second novel as well. However, everyone who has worked their way through the entire series has found it well worthwhile and we all would trade all the prequels for just one more volume from Frank Herbert.
Rating:
Summary: as good as the first Dune book, very entertaining
Review: This book is all about conspiracy. I found it quite intriguing and entertaining. The characters come alive and the plots (and plots within plots) make for great reading. There is action, but not as much as in the first book. Dune Messiah focuses more on drama, suspense, intrigue, and mystery. I look forward to seeing Dune II as a movie next year. I also look forward to reading the third Dune book very soon.
Rating:
Summary: A must read, along with Dune, in light of current events
Review: I first read the Dune series in the late 80's after the first movie came out. I have just begun re-reading them after 9/11. I particulary find the manipulation of politics and religion by first the Bene Gesserits and then by Paul to be quite interesting in light of the current events. For those who have only seen the movie, Paul may seem to be a romantic hero. However in a 1980 interview Frank Herbert compared Paul Atreides to Hitler, and warned of the dangers of a charismatic leader gaining influence on a population. I reccomend that people read Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune. You may see some comparisons to our current "war".
Rating: 
Summary: Unattractive sequel to a brilliant progenitor
Review: Some books should never beget sequels. They are so perfect that any attempt to serialise them will only succeed in making the sequels look bad. Dune is such a book, and the sequels all meet their destinies by indeed looking bad. Some critics have even suggested that Herbert wrote the sequels only to cash in on the popularity of the original. This is uncharitable. Herbert wrote the sequels because he believed that he had important things to say. The problem is that he throws out most of what made the progenitor so good in order to say his Important Things. Nor does it help that those Important Things don't turn out to be too important. Crusade as a cleansing social/moral force; the psychoanalysis of prophesy; the pitfalls of omniscience; all are themes that have been explored more deeply and more cohesively by other writers. Moreover, such themes are out of place in the world of Dune. Dune was effective because it was simple. The Fremen commanded our interest because their outlook on life was as stark as their environment. Jessica commanded our sympathy because she chose her loyalty as consort and mother over her instilled training as social engineer. Paul commanded our respect because he continually overcame adversity, displayed courageous resourcefulness and showed himself in every way his father's son. These are all characteristics with which we can identify because they satisfy our yearning for love, honour and justice. And in Dune, Herbert successfully elevated them from the commonplace to the heroic by keeping them free of unnecessary artifice. In Messiah, Herbert forgets this principle and overindulges in cleverness. Every character has inscrutable agendas, unfathomable layers, infinite subtlety. Such properties must be used sparingly. When they are slathered on with a trowel, as they are here, they only succeed in turning the characters into caricatures of themselves. I was nauseous after the umpteenth description of such and such a verbal blade unerringly penetrating to such and such a depth because it was precisely engineered with such and such a sub-harmonic and delivered with exactly such and such a sneer. Ohh Puhlease! This is an unattractive work and the sequels that follow only get worse. But when a writer composes a masterpiece as fine as Dune, I suppose he can be forgiven his later excesses.
Rating:
Summary: Get The Whole Picture First
Review: You might think this book is awful after just reading it... This may be because it's a very sudden change from adventure / action to political intrigue and complex storyline. I don't know, personally I loved it, and I thought it was excellent, if not the best, until I read God Emperor of Dune. My advice to you is: you might not fully understand some of Paul's actions until you've read , Children of Dune & God Emperor of Dune. You have yet to discover what that terrible fate consists of, and how small Paul can be compared to his son Leto II. What I don't aprove at ALL are those people saying "I didn't like this book, don't read it and don't read any book after the first/second/and so on". Besides, even when you might not like Dune Messiah's complexity or Children of Dune's super-human theory, it doesn't mean you won't like the rest of the series. This is different for every reader. I personally love Dune Messiah and God Emperor of Dune, because of their complexity. Others may prefer Dune or Children of Dune because of having adventure/action. It's up to you: Dune is a very balanced series and it's impossible to love every single book, or to determine which one is the best. Anyway, we have to admit Frank Herbert had a prodigal brain... how did he do to imagine an entire planet's ecology, an entirely different human society, such a distant future? Dune universe is practically perfect!
Rating: 
Summary: This book is really bad
Review: After reading Dune, which I loved, I was quite surprised that this book was so awful. It's just horrible! Dune is among the best books I've ever read. Dune Messiah is among the worst. There isn't much of a plot, there's very little action, the characters are flat, everything is completely predictable, the philosophizing is juvenile and, when the book is not sickening, it's just boring. My advice: Avoid this book entirely.
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