Rating: 
Summary: Obviously as time goes on in Dune, the quality fades
Review: The first three Dune books are obviously five-star masterpieces, but I got sick of this one halfway through. A good half of the book is Leto on his cart in his chamber receiving people. For each line of dialogue there is a paragraph of thought. The book was promising in the beginning with the intense wolf chase, but thereafter I was wallowing in boredom. Sorry to all you diehard fans, but this book just isn't up to par with the first three.
Rating: 
Summary: DEEP
Review: Easily the slowest of the Dune novels, yet profoundly deep and satisfying. Leto II is basically a god and the novel steps inside his head and convincingly explains to us what it might be like to be a god who can see the future. The ending is sad but explosive and leaves hope for the future of the Golden Path.The quality and depth of the dialogue and thoughts spoken aloud in this book are simply unbelievable. Herbert covers religion, philosophy, human nature, government, and a whole host of other controversial topics. Tthe vast majority of other sci-fi authors can't even touch, let alone match, Herbert's genius in these topics.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent step forward in the series
Review: The writing style of Frank Herbert is unique in the extreme, which is what draws me back to his novels time and again. God Emperor Dune is a remarkable novel in that it twists plots into one melting pot designed by Leto II (the God Emperor). His Golden Path will not be denied and Leto knows what he must endure to ensure that humanity does not vanish from the galaxy. Duncan Idaho makes a remarkable return as does the Atreides blood line that Leto II has been manipulating for more than 3000 years. It is this manipulation that allows the Golden Path to continue and bring about certain traits that Leto II knows must thrive in order for humans to continue to exist. It is a startling realization in the extreme, when Leto II decides to take a wife and realizes that his Golden Path will be achieved before his wedding. What a concept! Excellent novel. Also, this novel REQUIRES that you continue on to Heretics of Dune. I can't wait to read that....again!
Rating:
Summary: Governing is to plan one's end
Review: Frank Herbert in this novel reaches a height of vision that is incredible. Leto II, tranformed into some worm by his symbiosis with the sandtrout, has imposed a more than three thousand year long peace in the whole universe unified under his authority. Dune has been completely transformed and has lost practically all its deserts and its worms, hence its spice. It is Arrakis. Leto controls the world by controling the remaining spice and hence being able to ration it and give it to anyone who needs it, provided they obey. But a new phase in human history is coming. He has managed to produce, through birth planning, the perfect female Atreides, Siona. He has also used regenerated Duncans for all that time and the last one is supposed to be mated to this Siona. But new progress is coming from the planet Ix. It is a new project of traveling machines that will not need spice as the Guild needs right now. This will open space to free transportation. They have also produced, from a few cells of an old opponent, Malky, the perfect woman that can capture the love of Leto II. This trap does work, and it is during the process of going to the celebration of their wedding that the others attack them and destroy them. Leto has to give his world to womeone else, and that someone else has to accept this world, willy-nilly. There is no escape. But the book is far more interesting as a treatise on political and historical government. « A leader tries to perpetuate the conditions that demand his leadership. » This is one force that comes out of history : conservative perpetuation of a given political organization. But at the same time, such a leader is doomed in his own perpetuation if he is not able to understand that he needs the outsider as well, the rebel, the one who questions and even menaces his power. He is really doomed if he does not give a position to that outsider, so that his own power is both reinforced and justified by this challenge. The book is the whole story of this final challenger who will destroy the leader of three odd thousand years, but who will also inherit this world and hence be able to move it to some change. Frank Herbert is perfect as a story teller both in the thrills and suspense he is able to create and in the fabulously intricate psychology of his characters. Such a story, such a book, and even the whole series of Dune novels are essential for us to navigate in our modern world, though it requires a good knowledge of quite a lot of human history, and a certain dose of realistic pragmatism not to transfer all that into everyday life, though it is satanically tempting. Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, Paris Universities II and IX.
Rating: 
Summary: An old favorite; wonderful in its scope
Review: I read this book when I was a teen - I read the first four Dune books in one week while I was sick during Spring Break one year. Reading them almost "in one sitting" is intoxicating in that you realize the breadth and scope of the Dune novels as they cover millenia yet connect time and space through familiar themes. As a child of the Radical Reformation in Christianity, the theme of overthrowing religious tyrants only to have new ones attempt to arise from within the reformation is all too familiar. The temptation to abandon personal responsibility to a "superman" (or "superworm")is one of the central struggles of the 20th century. Frank Herbert's genius is to remove us from our familiar surroundings to show us the dynamics of the abandonment of freedom.
Rating: 
Summary: How could it be this bad?
Review: The setting for the Dune world, with all its factions, and mix of jedi-type magic and politics is probably the most exciting, interesting, and marvelous setting I've ever read about. So how could this book be so bad? There is almost NO action and an immense amount of dialogue. At times I believe Herbert was just talking to himself, amazing himself at how clever he could be. It's everybody against the 'God Emperor' but how do you defeat someone that knows the future? Obviously Herbert couldn't figure it out either because he had to make Leto II purposely dense and uncaring so that everyone would have a chance. I loved the first 3 and still plan on reading the last 2 but they HAVE to get better. If you can find an abridged version of this book read it just to keep up with the story line.
Rating:
Summary: Not the best but still good
Review: A great book in its own right, God Emperor of Dune palls in comparison with the first book in the Chronicles. Like Children of Dune, it focuses more on religious and philisophical views. and although interesting, are a poor substitue for the action and suspsnse of the first novel.
Rating:
Summary: God Emperor of Dune.
Review: This is what the whole series is all about right here. Paul Muad'Dib was a failed messiah. Failed because he locked himself into a future that he could not stand to be a part of. Like his father, young Leto II also saw the path that his father fled from. But in looking deeper into that future saw the only way to save humankind from itself. The Golden Path. This book is set smack-dab in the middle of that golden path. Deeply religious and philosophical undertones drive this book right to the top of my personal best list. If I had to pick only one book that truly changed my perspective and deepened my thinking it has to be this book. Leto is a very rich character unparalled in any other series. Frank Herbert took the ideal of a higher power and what it must be like to be that power, and humanized it for all to disect and study. True Genius. If you're looking for the action of the first book, God Emperor might dissapoint you. Though there is action, it is the dialogue of this book that makes it the timeless perfection that it is. So if you want to take your mind on a consciousness expanding ride, curl up with this book and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: An eye-opener, to say the least
Review: How do I start a review of God Emperor of Dune? It simply blew me away. Leto Atreides II is the single most complex, interesting, and expertly crafted character in literary history. In fact, it seems a travesty to even call him a "character"; Leto is a person. This book is about a lot of different things, but it's mostly about Leto -- and believe me, you could write a hundred books about this guy. What really blows me away about God Emperor of Dune is how satisfying it is while still being totally open-ended. Herbert leaves you with a thousand unanswered questions, and it is by exploring these questions that you begin to truly appreciate the book. There are a few times when the psychobabble gets to be too much for even the most absorbed reader, but in the end the good FAR outweighs the bad, leaving God Emperor practically unblemished in my mind. My biggest worry is that people will start the Dune series and never reach this book...in retrospect, it's a tie with Dune Messiah for my favorite entry in the entire series. A slowly paced, terrifyingly deep, cathartic complete/incomplete masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: dune:land of philosophy
Review: After reading the first three books of dune,i ve understand that there is no chance to get the magic of first 2 books.franr herbert killed muad dib too early i guess and change the racial features of house atreides.this book is all about philosophy and action is out.
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