After loving the first three books in the Dune series, I found "God Emperor of Dune" very dull and pedantic, a realization that made me sad. Can anyone share their experience with this novel?

I personally loved it, but I realize I am in the minority. I was so saddened by Herbert’s premature death, as I’m sure he had several more books running through his head.

It is my favorite of the series by a sizeable margin. I love the ideas it brings forward, and the Golden path is one of my favorite concepts in SciFi literature. However, many of the points you've listed as negatives are ones I enjoyed quite a bit, especially the philosophical angles of religion and government. Besides one particular scene near the end with some cliff climbing (You'll know when you get there and it is really bad), I really don't have major complaints and really not even many minor ones. I will say the last two books in the series are tonally much different, and if you don't like this one it may be worth trying out Heretics to see if you like them. They expand on many concepts introduced in God emperor but much of the story and dialogue comes through characters not seeing the universe on such a grand scale as Leto does, helping it feel more human imo.

God Emperor was not enjoyable for me. I think Dune is a fantastic novel, but there is definitely a shift in the philosophizing as the novels continue on. And God Emperor just is not fun. So, as much as I enjoy Dune, I didn't get past God Emperor.

I loved Dune, but didn't really enjoy book 2 and 3 so much. It was God Emperor Dune that reenvigorate my passion for the series. I also enjoyed the last 2 books Frank wrote in the series. I liked that God Emperor Dune was different, and set a new theme for the rest of the series. If you don't hate God Emperor Dune by the time you're finished I encourage you to press on with the rest of Frank's novels in the series.

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GE is definitely the most... philosophical dune book? Its definitely lacking in almost anything you could call excitement. I think its a good place to go from the second book though. I really like the 3000 year timeskip, and I think every series should have one. On my first read through it was my favorite of the 6, but now I think its maybe second or third best.

God Emperor is quite different in tone, but it's my favorite sequel. It's like Dune on steroids. Frank Herbert's most cynical and dark view of what a leader who is never questioned or opposed can become.

It's Frank Herbert turning the embodiment of a myth (Paul as the result of the missionaria protectiva) into a literal worm/person/god.

It's Paul gaining powers and knowledge to control one planet and expand his influence, and Leto II as the omniscient ruler of the galaxy

Paul fighting to keep his humanity and "divinity" in balance, and Leto II abandoning his humanity and becoming a god.

If you take away the supernatural stuff, what started as a charismatic leader using the faith of the locals to assert his domain over his land and independence from an Empire, ends with another leader establishing a even larger, ruthless, and more despotic new empire based on that faith.

Im in total agreement. Dune is one of my favorite books. But the sequels are boring!

I pretend anything after the first 3 Dune books doesn't exist

That’s the one that stopped me too. First three are A+, B-, and C. I spotted the trend continuing.

FWIW I really enjoy the last quarter of God Emperor, but I also don't think that you're particularly wrong in your current assessment, and I never finished Heretics or Chapterhouse, so I can't honestly advocate finishing GE.

Bummer. I loved the 1st, and am getting bored as hell trying to get through the 2nd book.

I had fun with it. Leto is simultaneously very inhuman and very human, seeing him struggle with that is quite interesting. He actually comes off to me as he is, which when dealing with a nigh-omniscient being is really hard to pull off. I liked all the large scale ideas and craziness, and how a book that talks so much about humanity can feel alien (like the Worm himself).

Now, the first volume is probably my favorite from the series, but I like them all, the last 2 a bit less so because it is a lot of setting up for a final instalment we never got.

I didn't love it so much either, too internal for me, which was probably the point.
But it did have one of my favorite passages from any of the series. It was the one about his ancestral memory of music (http://www.jacurutu.com/viewtopic.php?t=3041). Also, it was published 9 years after this scene from MAS*H (https://youtu.be/aYSG8AQO3tw) and I've always wondered if that was an intentional wink, although Herbert never really seemed like an "Intentional Wink Guy."

I couldn’t get past the first 30 pages

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That book was interesting to me in that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and simultaneously felt no need to finish the series.

I found it extremely interesting, large-scale, and encompassing of the Atreides story. I did not like the third book, and almost stopped there. I'm glad I did not.

I enjoyed all 6 of Frank Herbert's "Dune" books. Yes they change in tone from one book to another. But that's to be expected due to the length and breadth of the storyline/timeline. I also very much enjoyed the Brian Herbert/Kevin J Anderson prequels and sequels. They are written in a different style but that's to be expected too since they are different writers from different eras. Also, a couple of them are a bit long-winded. But overall very enjoyable books and they fill in what happened before and after the original 6. These stories are taken from notes/outlines Frank Herbert had for the "universe" that he never got the chance to write due to his untimely death. That's why his son took over writing them. I'm in the minority though in my enjoyment of them. I say, give them a try.

i loved god emperor bc i love leto ii’s big worm man body lolling about. it was my favorite book of the series. it’s a bastardization of the world in the books before.

It's Dune, man. You just gotta keep reading. It all goes nutty again soon enough.