1. Here he brings to fruition something he's been hinting at throughout: humanity resists change. He draws parallels to the Jesuits, nuns, Egyptians, and Greeks to drive the point home that history is cyclical. His Golden Path is not only trying to change this, but also trying to cull the weak so that humanity can have a better balance of people and ideas, a stronger core to build on for the future. He's changing, teaching, and pruning groups simply to shift the cultural structure to something he foresees as better and stronger for the post-Leto II universe—this is what separates him from the Bene Geserit: they forgot to account for their actions and changes and observations, therefore they lost their male Bene Geserit, therefore they erred, therefore they are pale shadow of what they were. This is all made apparent through Leto's constant comparisons between people and groups in the novel, and those in the reader's history. He denies the ability of another Leto II or Muadib to ever arise to this central power again, scattering the threads of humanity in the future. He created the human who cannot be predicted. Etc. This is wonderful integration of plot and point and avoids being heavy handed.
2. Is this series pattern going to continue? Adventure tale followed by introspective, sparsely plotted, explanatory novel? Whether it continues or not, the exposition here is great: it manages to communicate a few thousand years in a way that's engaging, informative, and still mysterious. Yes, both informative and mysterious simultaneously. I'm starting to believe this fine balance between esoteric and exoteric revelation is the central characteristic to the Dune series. I mean, Dune was about ecological intelligence, Dune Messiah was about coming to grips with being a part of the group that has done evil, Children of Dune was about finding individuality within a group, and God Emperor of Dune is about remembering your own humanity at all times and at all costs—but they all share this esoteric, zensunni philosophy melded to page-turner plots that seem to define the characteristic Dune-ness, Dune-ity. And it's great! It works. And boy oh boy does it work here.
3. By originally limiting the novel to a single character—this was written as a first person narrative—and only those people who matter most to that person, the book is able to explain that character much more than the other three books in the series were able to. At the end of Dune Paul is still a bit of a mystery. In Dune Messiah, the conspirators are not intertwined enough with Paul's story to really engage and explain the theme of Paul's struggle. Children of Dune leaves Leto II a mystery unsolved the end. This novel solves that mystery. The series seems to follow another pattern here: each successive book answers the unanswered questions of the last one, but in doing so, raises other questions.
4. This is more of a drawing room drama than the others. It centers on conversations instead of actions, and these conversations center on Leto II and his plans. By the end, the Golden Path is apparent, Leto II as a character is understandable and tragic, and the universe's history between Children of Dune and a point somewhere in the future is well understood—much more fully than between Dune and Dune Messiah. And Leto II's such a great character: fascinatingly selfless and motivated, suffering and amused, open and hidden. He is a series of contradictions perfectly balanced together, and the book serves to explain him well. Leto II is Solomonic, and it works.
5. Yet the plot points are important, exciting, and action packed. Idaho's unprecedented climb, Nayla's assassination, Siona's run through the woods, Leto II's panic, and Moneo's murder are the bones of the great plot. I mean come on, Leto II orders his own death! How crazy and interesting is that? What type of character does that? But in the context of the novel, it doesn't come off as empty sensationalism. Rather, it fulfills all of the main characters and leaves the book well wrapped up. Not fully wrapped up, like all the books the readers to left with questions—the Ixians and Tleilaxu, Siona and Duncan, the scattering and famine times, Duncan's ghola memories, Siona's hidden nature, and did Leto II's plan work? I end up wanting to know what happens next. Badly wanting that.
6. The book is utterly filled with symbology. Where the first book was a clear metaphor of oil, ecological health, and the human condition in the 1960s, this one is more broadly a metaphor for history. Yet by the fact of the world being so well built, so understood by the reader at this point, the symbols only symbolic within the Dune universe are apparent to the reader. The museum Fremen are a symbol for humanity in the novel, and their unquestioning acceptance of the boundary of the wall with plenty of water behind it a critique of the state of humanity. The lack of connection to a place or nature is contrasted with the conscious efforts to change the environment to lushness. This sets up a symbol of futility and human dissatisfaction which reinforces the museum Fremen symbology. Leto II's inhumanity and humanity are a touching, tragic symbol of leadership and celebrity.
7.The ideas fascinate me because Leto II is such a repository of contradictions and, like his Golden Path, he strikes a fine line between those contradictions to achieve a balance and purpose that is both endearing and interesting. These contradictions within Leto II reflect the Bene Geserit breeding of Jessica Harkonnen and Leto Atreides I to attain balance in the perfect man. Nature's not an objectively unchanging relationship—like the actions of the Fremen in Dune imply—but a constant temporarily. The Golden Path itself is an embracing of uncertainty and human nature—as the metaphor of the ecological nature, rooted in temporality—in order to bottle up the energies and creativity of humanity to, upon his death, spread them out and give them the tools for self reliance and unpredictability to ensure their future survival and diversity. The cycles of history are echoed and recreated in the fictional history in a fascinating breadth that not only helps the reader understand the preceding works, but reflects an interesting view of their own history as well. In other words, the ideas are applicable directly to the reader.
8. In this novel, he pulls off the introspection. I think that he does this mainly through three tactics:
—Centering the novel so steadfastly on Leto II. This allows the novel a focus that keeps it moving in a depth that remains fascinating. In Dune Messiah he was trying to do too much—there was too much extraneous stuff going on that was unimportant to Paul's central struggle. This subverted the centrality of Paul's struggle and made the novel feel scattered. Here, everything that happens is important to Leto II, and it keeps the novel focused and tight.
—He uses important, onscreen actions and plot points as structural members to hang the introspection off of. This keeps the reader involved and interested. It allows those introspective elements space to breathe. It also allows the novel to keep moving at a good pace. I don't think the actions distract or detract from the introspection, I think they strengthen it.
—Because the characters are just learning this stuff about Leto II and the universe, the reader is able to learn and question and struggle along with them. Therefore, Leto II explains some of his esoteric ideas thoroughly and it's much easier to follow for the reader. When Asimov does this in Foundation, it comes off patronizing and insulting to the reader because the protagonist is insulting the vanquished antagonist. But because Leto II is driven by love and selflessness, he treats his interlocutors kindly. These are also often indicated to be continuations of pre-novel conversations—specifically the ones with Moneo, Malky, and Duncan—so he lays out that his exasperation is due to repetition and boredom, not the idiocy of the foil, or the reader.
9. I'm left here with a sense of the puzzle this novel is. The Ixians sent Malky because he was all bad, and honestly so. Finding that Leto II loved him still, they then sent his opposite and succeeded in their goal. But it was also Leto II's goal. "Wheels within wheels within wheels," is what the Bene Geserit say of him, and this novel reflects that character trait in its structure and revelations. It's a satisfying story, a puzzle to ruminate on and tease apart after reading. But he gives us enough to go on that it ultimately works.
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