BookOwl

  3/5 stars *Spoiler alert!*   I gotta say, the Atreides are one exhausting bunch. I thought the Skywalkers were bad, but at least they only messed with a galaxy. The Atreides have a whole universe. God Emperor of Dune encapsulates the 3,500-year reign of Leto II, who at the end of Children of Dune , merged his consciousness with that of a sandworm. “‘For what do you hunger, Lord?’” Moneo ventured.   “‘For a humankind which can make truly long-term decisions. Do you know the key to that ability, Moneo?’”   “‘You have said it many times, Lord. It is the ability to change your mind.’”   The transformation of Dune into a humid world full of water—the deserts in retreat aside from the carefully preserved section Leto inhabits as his seat of power—is mostly complete, as is Leto’s transformation into a sandworm, the last one on Dune. No new spice mélange is being produced, so everyone is hoarding it and doling it out for favors.   To get back to a world with...

4/5 stars *Spoiler alert!* “There needs to be an error code that means ‘I received your request but decided to ignore you.’”   Rogue Protocol , the third Murderbot adventure, lights a bit more of a fire under Murderbot when people start worrying where the liberated SecUnit is. Because he’s not with guardian Dr. Mensa. Of course, this is all because of the continuing investigation into Grey Cris, an incident of planetary survey murder that touched off the whole series. They want the evidence the SecUnit can provide and the whole case is put on hold until further notice. Murderbot:   Trying not to freak out, Murderbot instead decides to hitch a ride to another planet where Grey Cris has done ill, a planet slated for terraforming mysteriously abandoned, so he can gather more evidence against the corporation on Dr. Mensa’s behalf. Murderbot gets his opening when a new company, seeking to repossess the abandoned operation, hires security (two human security guards) to protec...