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The Butlerian Jihad (Dune Series)

The Butlerian Jihad (Dune Series)

List Price: $60.00
Your Price: $42.00
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A bland space opera, and poor for Duniverse
Review: I'll look at this book from 2 perspectives: a new story in the Dune universe, and a standalone science fiction story.

Starting with the Dune universe, I have read Frank Herbert's original series of 6 books and count them amongst my favorite stories. The Butlerian Jihad does not capture any of the things I liked best about the original Dune novels: deep characterization wherein you really come to understand motivations, mindsets, and transformative experiences; intelligent characters who assume other characters are also intelligent; conspiracies and plans-within-plans that are not overtly obvious, but are delicately woven tapestries.

In The Butlerian Jihad, the characters are very bland and archetypal. The heroes, Xavier Harkonnen and Serena Butler, are so generic that I simply did not connect with them. Omnius and the thinking machines appeared so uncalculating, unintelligent, and weakened by very human behavior, that I was disappointed in their role as powerful villains and that this was what Frank Herbert's Dune novels referred to as the age of thinking machines. Butlerian Jihad characters explain all of their actions and repeat expository nonsense, discarding the notion that they might be intelligent or that their listeners are intelligent.

So, I am not going to get a Frank Herbert Dune-style book, nor will I get a successor storyline that fits well into the mold. Now, let's look at The Butlerian JIhad as a standalone science-fiction novel. We still suffer from shallow characterization and simple plotlines. In addition, the writing leaves much to be desired. The authors are competent in many ways, helping us understand the action through fluid wording, and building tension with growing challenges and dynamic events, but many times there are just some poor descriptions. An example: page 24 of my paperback "...the cymeks marched forward, moving as individuals, not an army -- mechanical mad dogs spreading mayhem." Then on the next page, "He studied the blackened paths of the graceful, titanic cymeks on his screen." They are mad dogs, but also graceful???

Other reviewers have mentioned Erasmus as an interesting character, and I will echo this. He is a machine obsessed with learning what it means to be human. However, I felt his seemingly unnecessisary evil slant made the character a bit less powerful; in one of the first scenes involving Erasmus in the novel, Erasmus kills a human at random to show you that he is dark. There are other ways to do this that keep me thinking of Erasmus as interesting instead of "just another villain."

Well, to this end I say, do not read this book if you are a Dune fan, unless you like the other Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson books. And only read it as a sci-fi fan if you like action and space opera, even when the characterization is a bit shallow.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Imitation Is The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
Review: Being a fan of Frank Herbert's original Dune chronicles, I had been excited about the prequels. I approached 'House Atreides' with cautious optimism. The style was noticeably different from Frank Herbert's; but it was an enjoyable book all the same. However, I was sorely disappointed by 'House Harkkonnen'. I imagine my initial euphoria about the resurrection of the series was negated by the two-dimensional nature of the characters, the lack of subtle plots, and the fact that it suffered greatly in comparison to the original. It felt a bit like reading Star Wars after having enjoyed Asimov's Foundation series.
The first two may have been decent books by Sci-Fi standards, but 'House Corrino' was just bad. The book depends solely on short chapters and fast-paced action. All pretence about following Frank's rich, layered, complex style is completely abandoned in favor of humoring the brand of reader who rejoices in the continuation of the series for its own sake (myself included).
Now, for the 'Butlerian Jihad': before reading this book, I had never had the displeasure of being truly irritated by a character in a book. The 'Butlerian Jihad' has the dubious distinction of presenting a plethora of characters that seem to be have been penned for their sheer ability to irritate the dogged fan.
At that point, the final wispy ashes of my optimism for this series were finally dispersed.

I have since made a conscious decision not to read any more books in this new series. To those Dune fans braver than I, I salute you.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: By far the weakest Dune book
Review: I love very much the book Dune and its sequels. But this book is very different. This book could serve as the storyline of a third class sci-fi production of Hollywood dripping with blood and nothing more - an interesting book, but it is very-very far from the original books of Frank Herbert. Borrow it from a library and read it, then forget.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Prequels Eclipsed by the Original Vision
Review: I'll just start by saying that I'm glad other Dune readers are not treating the material from the prequels as 'canon'. Despite the fact that Brian Herbert shares the blood of Frank Herbert, it was Herbert Senior who had the true vision and the philosophical mindset to write the books in a meaningful, thought provoking way.

This review is not to disparage Brian Herbert's writing ability. I merely noticed that while reading Herbert Senior's Dune, humans were at the center of the story. It was a story about human society and human abilities.

Somehow, the image F. Herbert painted of the Butlerian Jihad was something more akin to a religious explosion. B. Herbert's vision seems to be the 'typical' sci-fi fare of evil machine villains, like Terminator II..with one difference. Arguably, the Terminator series would be a better precursor to the original Dune than the Butlerian Jihad is. Mainly because the creators of the Terminators were human, and the Terminator programs were created by technological increases in mechanical logic. Thus, Terminators are 'thinking' robots. Even the Borg from Star Trek would serve as a better precursor to Dune-the combination of human and technological for 'perfection' at the loss of human qualities would state the story better.

However, B. Herbert's take of evil robotic supervillains seems more like a typical science fiction ploy. Not to give the story away, but some scenes in which the robotic villains take part seem like those scenes in Saturday morning cartoons where all the supervillains stand together and laugh evilly for no reason at all while they plan a plan that makes no sense except to show how evil they are.

I would consider 'A Brave New World' or '1984' MUCH better examples of the way to set up Dune. Dune has never been about 'traditional' science fiction plot points. It seems almost a shame that the prequels seem to wallow in the sort of typical 'hero' vs. 'villain' storylines that Frank Herbert said he wanted to dispute with his series. I remember the brief essay F. Herbert wrote at the start of his branch of the series, regarding setting up heroes for worship.

There is a central weakness to the prequels that perpetuate 'conventional' plot lines and character types at the expense of the greater coherence of the story. The main differences I've noted I will list here:

EG: If Gaius Helen Mohiam was Jessica's mother, Jessica, Paul, Alia, Ghanima and Leto II would have had her in their Other Memory. This is not the case. I don't have my book with me, but I recall in God Emperor, F. Herbert made a big point in showing Letos' knowledge of the Bene Gesserit breeding lines when he said: "Tertius Eileen Anteac, you descendant of Gaius Helen Mohiam..." in the throne room scene. This shows that Mohiam is clearly NOT related to the Atreides, but belongs to a parrallel breeding line.

EG: Baron Harkonnen was disposed to fat, and lived a life of excess. Thus, the prequel explanation for how this came to be goes against the evidence in Dune and Children of Dune. Lady Margot, the BG Breeding Mistress, remarked that the Baron 'let himself go to fat', while Alia put on extra weight after being possessed by the Baron.

EG: Mohiam in the original series was one of the few Reverend Mothers with the Sight. Don't forget that a specific point made in book I of the series, was that she HAD to interview Paul Atreides because at this time in the books, not every Reverend Mother had access to some of her Other Memories. This distinction would call attention to the possibility that access to ancestral memories was no common among all RMs until God Emperor, when Leto II took control of the breeding program, leaving the bene Gesserit to refine their reflexes, sexual imprinting and memory abilities. So, if Mohiam was Jessica's mother, in the Paul/Gaius Helen scene in book 1, she would have noted that they were related; all Reverend Mothers with the Sight knew whom they were related to. They just could not always see the entirety of the Bene Gesserit design. You could argue that Helen Gaius was killed on Arrakis without being able to pass on her Other Memories...however, you would be arguing for this point rather than against it: you only had to Share other memories with people not related to you; if there was a genetic relationship, that person would already be a part of your ancestral memories. I'm sure that when Jessica confronted all of her female relatives, she would have seen Gaius Helen sitting there. Even Paul did not see Gaius among his ancestors, and he had a more complete access to Other Memory than Jessica did.

I think B. Herbert's prequels are a good, typical 'sci fi' read. But it is merely interesting to point out that many hard core 'sci fi' readers don't enjoy the original Dune series because of the human-centric storylines.

This book, and the prequels gets two stars. This book in particular could have been improved if the story was crafted in a way that the Jihad seemed more religious than a typical war. Perhaps if spaceship life support had developed into mechanized city and planet terraforming, eventually turning into artificial life constructs typical of nine to five jobs, arbitrary assignments, and big-brother sort of acitivity (Imagine the possibilities if B. Herbert had written the machines as a supercomputer created by humans to take away the problem of untrustworthy humans in government? - I envision a potential in my vision that would explain the Bene Gesserit's origins...machine made instructions as to population control and breeding lost the male Bene Gesserat powers of ancestral awareness, while the Guild developed because spaceships 'autopilot' functions would not travel unless the central computer accepted the risk).

I think the main problem with this story is that the robots are more super-villain than creation. B. Herbert should have showed why a religious term ('jihad') was used to describe the uprising rather than treating it as typical sci-fi fare a la The Phantom Menace/Attack of the Clones.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dune: The Bultarian Jihad: A great book
Review: Dune is a wonderful Sci-fi [Science Fiction] novel for kids who are a little Matura with dealing with love and violence. Dune has several main characters because during the book the point of view changes from person to person and from first to third person. Some of the Characters include the following: Salem Wormrider, the heart struck Officer, the beloved princess, the son of the cyborg, and the cyborgs Barbarossa and Juno. During the books is a Great War between planets and species. The two main species are the humans and cyborgs. Cyborgs have human brains, but huge mechanical bodies of doom. This sci-fi relates back to star wars. With jets and giant warships flying in space and over planets. Wars with different weapons break out, like the revolt of enslaved humans, the psychic blasts of psychic energy, the misunderstood genius, and of course the large lasers and weapons of mass destruction. Humans are not only enslaved by cyborgs, but by other humans also. This book is great, I loved it. If you had a choice to live, but let the universe go up in flames, or die and save the universe. You make the choice in Dune.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dune minus Ten Thousand Years
Review: The Butlerian Jihad is the first installment of a trilogy, a prequel of sorts ostensibly based on the notes and writings of Frank Herbert.

For those of you that don't know, The Butlerian Jihad takes place ten thousand years before the time of originator Frank Herberts immensely popular book, Dune. It is a collaboration between Brian Herbert (Frank's son)and Kevin Anderson. It is the forth book co-written by these authors that I know of, having just finished another trilogy/prequel, The House series (House Atriedes, Harkonnen and Corrin).

Unlike some other reviewers, I found The Butlerian Jihad to be an exceptional book. I believe it to be Herbert/Anderson's most accomplished manuscript. I finally got to experience the past which was vaguely alluded to in Dune.

We get to meet the beautiful, compassionate Serena Butler, who's son, the murder of which, set off the rebellion, which eventually brought down the heartless thinking machines. We also meet distant relatives of Baron Harkonnen - Xavier (who is a good and honorable person) and Paul Atriedes - Vorian (the son of the wicked Titan, Agamemnon {a thousand year old human brain in a robot body})and Tio Holtzman (the revered inventor of the Holtzman Effect and other inventions). We experience the last stronghold of free humanity, with The League of Nobles, the fledgling exportation of the spice Melange from Arrakis and the precursor of the Bene Gesserit, in the Sorceress's of Rossak.

As with the original Dune, the authors create numerous civilizations in a Universe dwelling on millions of planets and then embellish it with devious evil characters and their requisite counterpoints. It may be ten thousand years in the past from Dune but they are everybit as advanced to us, as we are to Neanderthals.

I found this book, consisting of 695 pages, to be an enthralling read. True, the chapters are numerous and short but the story is huge so it couldn't be overly detailed, or the book would have been unwieldy. We are, after all, talking about a Universal Epic in which the authors followed about fifteen main characters on six different planets and in space. As with Dune we are treated to an excellent page turning science fiction novel with religious undertones.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Dune, but Still a Decent Story
Review: OK, as several reviewers have noted, this book is not Dune, but then nothing is as good as the first -- not even the sequels Frank Herbert wrote (although, Children of Dune is pretty good). Taken on its own, this book does have its problems. The characters try to be three dimensional, but fail for the most part (Vor is really the only one that comes close). The plot is far too jumbled and choppy, but then that's a charactertistic of the Kevin J. Anderson writing style. All that being said, this is a pretty good book with exciting space battles, interesting ideas, and a look at how much of Frank Herbert's Universe came into being. Is this how Frank Herbert would have written the story? No. But on its own merits, Dune: The Buterlian Jihad is alright. If you need a Dune fix, this should suffice.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Losing steam. . .
Review: I'm afraid this series is really petering out quickly. I liked the subplot with Norma Cenva, but other than that had real trouble continuing to care about this crop of characters.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Falls far short of what it promised to be.
Review: The Butlerian Jihad was a disappointment. While the cover promises answers about the origins of the Suk doctors, Mentats, and the Navigators of the Spacing Guild, the book fails to deliver on them. Only the foundations of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood are dealt with. The discovery of melange is included, but many of its special properties central to the original Dune universe are not mentioned. I was especially disappointed that the Guild Navigators' use of the spice to fold space was never brought up at all.

The book is a prequel to a prequel. Rather than focusing on the Butlerian Jihad itself, the novel takes place largely before the jihad begins. The domination of the human race by Omnius and the thinking machines is the central theme, and leads to the eventual revolt by the enslaved humans. The novel ends when the jihad has just begun, and the humans have won their first pivotal battle against the thinking machines.

Sadly, the main human characters are flat and lifeless, despite the length of the book, which should have allowed for good character development. In fact, the thinking machines are strangely portrayed as having more depth of emotion than the humans, and more time was spent dealing with their interactions than with those of the humans. Where Frank Herbert successfully portrayed rich, vivid human relationships; Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson fail to create believable protagonists.

The unabridged audio production is read by Scott Brick, who does a relatively good job considering what he had to work with. His performance is dynamic, making it easy to follow the story.

Overall, hard-core Dune fans may want to read this book for the (scant) history it provides of the Dune Universe, but be prepared to have more questions than answers at the end.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't let the negative comments deter you...
Review: The BH/KA Dune sequences are fun to read and they are "scholarly" in the sense that they are devotedly concordant with the FH series (the Frank Herbert original heptalogy).
The apparent discordancies are...well, a part of the plot I'm sure.
They are not written to be like the FH series because that would be stylistically incorrect. The FH Dune novels are thickly constructed. They are a source for much of what goes on in the BH/KA series. If they were to be as wordy as the 'originals' it would be counter-productive.
These are fun to read but they are also intricately constructed novels in their own right. A lot of people don't notice, but there are plot resolutions in them of plot details contained in the later Dune novels. There are also --- I suppose --- plot details in the House series that are still up in the air. Will they be resolved 'before they happen'?? Or will we have to wait 10,000 years or more?


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