This book was incredibly dense, both in just how much info it's constantly dumping on you and the actual structure of how Herbert writes, so I'm amazed that I still couldn't put it down. It really gripped me from start to finish. Very few characters are uncomplicatedly good -- even the protagonists mostly have their questionable motives -- and I enjoyed the complexity of them. They felt more like people than like characters.

If I have any criticism, it's that the emotional impact of certain scenes felt.. dulled. Sometimes that made sense and I'm sure was intentional, like

Paul's reaction to the news of his father's death and Yueh's betrayal

, but other times did not, like

the portions of that same scene which were from Jessica's perspective instead of his

. It's not that I found characters' feelings unbelievable, it's just that, despite being a massive baby usually, I didn't really feel those feelings myself.

(I did tear up when Paul was talking Gurney down from killing Jessica though.. that hit.)