I liked most of the new characters, and the writing was super easy to follow, but there was a lot of talk about

breeding,

and that was weird.

I really did have fun, but Frank needed an editor that wasn't afraid to cut the fat and trim this book down. We read parallel stories of Sheeana and Duncan that converge in the end. I really liked Duncan this time around until he gets his memories back. You really felt for him, essentially locked up with only semblances of parental figures and never really know what's going on. I liked the characters and the character work here, especially Odrade and her relationship with Miles Teg and Taraza. And the latter two's relationship with each other. It all made for great drama. 

Honestly felt more digestible than God Emperor but definitely stranger in the philosophy - I really don’t know what to expect in the next and final one. I mostly love Herbert’s writing style, it’s easy to get absorbed. Teg was my favorite character and I wish there was a greater exploration of his developments. The ending is abrupt (per usual) and relatively very little action takes place “on screen.” 

A return to some of the fundamental story telling in previous Dune books found in Messiah, and Children, Heretics is a lot more character-based than the philosophy-heavy slog that God Emperor sometimes felt like. Despite Arrakis being recognizable again, aspects of Frank Herbert’s story telling doesn’t. The inclusion of sex-driven plot was the single most disruptive part of the entire series, and is a big factor in why I DNF the last book in the series, Chapterhouse: Dune. 

Took me long enough to continue reading these. I've been loving the series up to this point, including the more divisive God Emperor of Dune, and I finally decided to get to this next one recently, and I have to say...it's easily my least favorite so far.

Herbert's prose has always been very unique, sometimes being a bit detached and slightly difficult to follow, but it definitely hits that peak with Heretics. The flow of this novel is somehow simultaneously slogging and erratic, with individual scenes taking significantly longer to get through than ever before with constant interruptions of internal dialogues and reflective musings, as well as regular flashbacks to previously unvisited scenarios to give context in certain situations, which is an interesting storytelling choice that can admittedly work in some cases but doesn't really come off well in such a deeply detailed and elaborate work as this, making it rather messy and sometimes unfocused.

Another aspect that really annoyed me ALL throughout is the fact that, unlike the more naturally unfolding (yet still very complex) plots of the previous novels, every character seems to be able to read every person they interact with and divulge and demystify just about every aspect of every conflict and conversation they're in in just the right way to conveniently move the plot along in the way Herbert needs it to, or in some cases we have just the right kind of change happening or character showing up at just the right time for just the right purpose, all resulting in a very awkwardly forced story progression (this is all at its very worse in the final chunk of the story as well). I can't tell you how many times I sighed or rolled my eyes at a character coming to get another immense revelation that felt totally unnatural.

Despite these glaring issues, though, Herbert's prose in of itself is still very good, albeit at its most difficult to penetrate yet, the story in general is still decent enough despite its progression problems, and it has some otherwise interesting and unique characters, especially Miles Teg who I found myself liking very much. It's not a bad book, and I had no real issues getting through it, but its easily the most flawed of the Dune novels up to this point.

6/10

This was significantly better than God Emperor of Dune and the plot was compelling, full of twists and turns. The characters were interesting and I appreciate finally having some women in the spotlight as major characters. However it full dropped from a 4 star book to a 3.5 star book with the sexual assault scenes at the end and it was WAY more weird about sex than it had any right to be.