God Emperor of Dune
Frank Herbert
11 people recommended it in 6 threads, 2008–2023.
2 commenters pushed back on it — worth reading the threads.
What people on Hacker News said
The real masterpiece is God Emperor, where we get to see humanity over thousands of years, and we really learn Herbert’s most important lesson: beware the charismatic dictator.
God Emperor is difficult to get into, but worth sticking with. Actually love the opening sequence of that book more than any other, which describes some thieves being chased through a forest by a pack of guard wolves, as Herbert moves expertly from the thoughts of one thief to another as they are gradually caught by the wolves, starting from the slowest runner at the back. Fantastic writing.
God Emperor of Dune from the Dune series. Work up to it. It's incredibly rewarding.
This time through it's been shocking to me to see such parallels between the politics, policies, and consequences there of and the world today.
Goes to show different people like different things? Apparently, I'm more into the psychology and exploration of large-scale social patterns. People who like the other Dune books are presumably more into "action" sci-fi. Nothing wrong with that.
Where it comes up
- The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit) 2011 · 4 recommendations
- Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately? 2023 · 2 recommendations
- Ask YC: What's the most inspiring sci-fi book you've read? 2008 · 2 recommendations
- Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life? 2018 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently? 2017 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What is the greatest book you've ever read? 2011 · 1 recommendation