eren666's reviews
84 reviews

Treatment of female characters was stomach churning, if it’s supposed to be funny where were the jokes

The weirdly sexualized young female character really took me out of it 

Overall a great piece of fiction, despite the plots convoluted nature being on purpose- it did REALLY slow me down and I found the book dragged A LOT. I’d recommend Shriek to long time Vandermeer fans but nobody else. 

Hypnotizing

Reaching critical levels of Dune. 

Transformative. Crushing.

A truly amazing book. Some of the most beautiful, intense, disorienting writing I’ve seen. I couldn’t ask anything more of this book than it gives. 

I also like it more than the first one haha 

Spoilers Below

I would recommend this only to huge Frank Herbert fans who would be interested in how this book informs his other work.

The nicest thing I can say about High-Opp is that it provides an interesting look into the themes and ideas Herbert would explore much more successfully in his later work. Every character is an egotistical maniac, thematic discussion and conclusion are not well thought out and almost sound nonsensical at times. 

One huge issue is the gender stuff in this book- jesus christ. Though this was only my second Frank Herbert novel following Dune (which I loved and I plan on continuing to read through the series), I typically think he treats female characters mostly fairly (with the occasional misstep I expect from old men). I was surprised to find that this book only really had two fleshed out female characters, both of which were sexual/romantic interests for the galaxy brain smart straight white man who knows better than everyone else. 

One is constantly collapsing into tears between waxing about how much she loves the main character- despite the fact that he's a power hungry narcissist with no redeeming personality traits. I found myself cringing any time she was in a scene in the book (plus she's constantly described as elf-like and young looking). She literally utters the words "don't mind me- just being female again." 

The other is basically just a sex object who is traded between powerful men as a prize. Herbert makes a weak attempt to critique this, but it really goes nowhere as she ends the book having stayed virtually static as a character. Not to mention the worst moment of the entire book- when the main character flies off into a blind rage in an elevator and tears her clothes off. The main character expresses regret over this but NO CONCLUSIONS ARE DRAWN. 

This leads me to Movius, the main character. I often struggle with the archetype of the male main character who is just SO MUCH SMARTER than everyone around him. This is probably one of the worst examples of it I've come across bar Ready Player One. Dune is also guilty of this, but it somehow manages to stick the landing through displaying the weaknesses of it's main characters through the large, diverse cast of characters who constantly criticize him. My point is- I know Herbert can do this trope right. Sadly, Daniel Movius, is a sociopathic, unlikable, revenge addled freak who understands democracy, revolution, politics, and strategy better than anyone else on the planet- all because his dad was a history teacher. 

Herbert hilariously speculates that in a world with computers nobody would play chess- because you can just look up the best move!

The novel culminates in the main character taking over the entire government and going on a long rant where he continuously reveals genius insights about the course of history and human civilization while his lackeys go "what! that's crazy! wow!!!" It's probably the most entertaining part of the book- but didn't make it worth it overall.