Here's my original review back up now:
BTW I got a quick peek at PoD tonight. I read the first 4 chapters in about 10 minutes.
First chapter is the excerpt so i skipped it. (BTW I found another mention of the Shrine to Leto in CoD which reiterates that its a rock cairn, and not a huge effin pyramid. CoD, which is after DM. So yeah, PoD is wrong, unless in Irulan of Dude it gets blowed up.)
Second chapter started out with a really cool idea of teaching the Fremen combat training around water. The coolness lasted about 1 paragraph. Then, a page later, Gurney seems to be acting the pederast with a cute Young fremen recruit who is designed under the cute young puppy cutout. Gurney tries to BRIBE the fremen into getting into the pool with a gold coin. (I'm not making this up). He immediately reminisces that Fremen are above bribes but throws the coin in anyway then start pushing fremen into the pool. The cute young fremen tries
so hard to get that coin, but ends up drowning. Gurney dives in and pulls him out and gives him "resuscitation" after calling for a medic. I'm pretty sure if the scene continued any further Gurney would have been inviting the CYF back to his room to see his "Baliset".
I'm not making this up.
The next chapter starts with Stilgar preparing to invade Kaitain. The first paragraph again does a good job of setting up Stilgar's mood about being off planet, then immediately disintegrates when Paul's adopted kids show up to talk to him and seriously act like schoolchildren off on a field trip with "Unnca Stilgar" (kidding)yelling "Yippiee! (Paraphrasing) and acting like retards (not making that up)
I only got through the first 20 odd pages, and I felt like banging my head on something hard at least 4 times. I skipped to the end scene, where Fenring attempts to assassinate Paul. Fenring gives up and surrenders when he sees them save Paul with the spice trance-coma trick. He literally just turns off his shield and sags his shoulders. I closed the book at that point.
SandChigger wrote:The scene where Alia taunts and then allows Korba to kill an envoy from Shaddam during Paul's absence was equally so, and trite to boot. I don't recognize any of these people.
Yeah...Alia should have had Korba executed for that. Paul would have. I loved how the envoy's "ornate cane" suddenly turned into a "sonic staff" which is apparently a weapon. Except that he is described as a wobbly old man and I'm PRETTY DAMN SURE the fremen are adept at checking people for hidden weapons after dealing with Sardaukar. Also...the Envoy is there to BEG Paul to make Salusa the paradise he promised he would at the end of Dune (They even quote the passage directly). The explanation is that Shaddam is used to comfort and Paul should keep his promises. Never mind the fact that he was going to terraform Salusa to destroy the Sardaukar. WHICH IS ACTUALLY MENTIONED BY THE ENVOY.
The Fremen invasion of Kaitain seemed pretty damn pointless to me. My mind would not accept fremen acting like Viking pillagers. Jamis's kids act like ADHD retards again. People are garroted and hung from fountains for not "surrendering fast enough". Fremen are vicious yes, barbaric, mmm not so much. BTW no mention is made yet about water rights for the dead. Battle scenes on water rich worlds would have been a good place to discuss that.
Also...I'm pretty damn sure Kaitain would have been surrendered up as part of Shaddam's holdings. You know, or it might have actually been pretty well defended. Apparently capturing the Capital of the Known Universe is pretty damn easy.
Hey KJA, Margot Fenring is a BG Reverend Mother. That means she is Bene Gesseritt. You know what that means right? No? Nothing about loyalties? Hello? Apparently Sardaukar don't have loyalties to Shaddam anymore either since several of their top commanders have defected. Sardaukar infighting over this might have made an interesting side plot...nope.
I can go on....and on....and on...but most of it you've heard already in the other books.
I think this book was designed to make retarded people feel better about their skills of comprehension.
(BTW there is a nod to Karen Traviss in this book for anyone aware of the Clone wars Army controversy. She claimed there were only 3 million total Clone troopers in the ENTIRE galaxy. KJA one-ups her by having Paul mention he'll have to conquer the galaxy with only 2 million Fremen warriors.) (Hey Kevin, its a Universe, not a galaxy)