Rating: 
Summary: Feh!
Review: Absolutely horrible. Both fans of the series and the elder Herbert's memory would have been better served by an edited version of the latter's notebooks, not this cheap tripe. This is the only prequel I have read (I forced myself to finish it), and the only one I will.Don't waste your money. Or your time: if offered it for free, politely decline. Ghastly.
Rating: 
Summary: A good beginning, but incomplete
Review: Given the length of this book, I still found it rather lacking in completeness. A good deal of Dune history is fleshed out for the first time, giving the reader a broader understanding of its historical underpinnings. Still, I have several criticisms of the story.
First, I thought the various storylines could have been integrated together better. The story of Selim, for example, seems almost completely disconnected from the rest of the book, as if it was thrown in just to cover all the bases.
Second, I found myself missing the in-depth thought processes of characters common in Frank Herbert's Dune trilogy. Lots of saying and doing, but we never really get into the characters' heads in this book.
Third, the end of the book left a LOT of loose threads hanging. How did the League conquer the rest of the Synchronized Worlds? What happened to the remaining Titans? What happened to the many deep-space probes sent out by Omnius to colonize worlds beyond the League? Does Norma set out on her own, apart from Tio Holtzman? Just where do Mentats and the Navigators arise from? How do the houses of Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides develop into full-blown mortal enemies, when at the end of the book they seemed to be getting closer?
There is certainly something to be said for leaving a few details to the imagination, but this book does so far too excessively, as its purpose is to _provide_ details about the history of the Dune universe.
Which is not to say it doesn't have its good qualities. The battle scenes are well narrated, and the authors pose an interesting moral juxtaposition with the slaves who are forced to work for human masters in order to free humans from machine masters. And the character of Erasmus was both interesting and chilling, kind of a cross between Mr. Spock and Joseph Mengele.
Overall an OK read, though fans of the Dune trilogy may not get as much as they hoped for, especially if they go by the Book Description above. But who knows? All those loose threads may be the basis for the next book....
Rating:
Summary: Avoid all of the books by these guys
Review: Horrible. Terrible. A waste of my time. Completely at odds with the wonderful universe his father created. Don't bother.
Rating:
Summary: Caveat Emptor
Review: After waiting an inordinately long time to purchase this book, all of my initial fears were confirmed. This installation in the "Canon" of the Duniverse is a shining example of so much literary detritus and is not worth the paper upon which it is printed. Employing childish prose and an inadequate vocabulary BHerbert and KJAnderson have succeeded only in creating an accurate facsimile of an overzealous sixth-grader's fanfic. Characters lack depth and emotion, their personality traits are indecipherable due to the inconsistency of their actions within the novel. The vivid and viable philosophy and religiosity belying the many-faceted genius of Herbert the Elder is completely absent in the nearly 700 pages of "filler text". The plot remains, to the end, convoluted; as if the authors were unable to maintain their coherency long enough to follow through and weave together the myriad storylines. The authors attempt to keep the reader's attention by employing dramatic action scenes that span nearly the entirety of the novel, but lack any sort of continuity. The author's have failed to weave complex actions scenes into a single, flowing narrative and in their inadequacy have provided the reader with a jilting and harried tale that serves only to annoy and bore the seasoned reader. Ah, but not only is the novel poorly written, it is innacurate and incomplete in it's aim to reconstruct the history of the Duniverse. The inconsistencies and blatant mistakes will be too much for any "Child of DUNE" to overlook. This novel fails to evoke the sense of grandiosity and wonderment that Fr. Herbert poured forth with grace and ease. It appears that BHerbert is much like Rabban, in so much as Rabban inherited the villany and treacherous nature of his Uncle, yet failed to exhibit any of the intelligence or charisma possessed of Baron Vladimir. In like manner BHerbert has retained the ability to write science fiction, however, he exhibits no symptoms of Elder Herbert's genius. As it begins, so shall it end: Caveat Emptor
Rating:
Summary: Dune: The Butlerian Jihan
Review: This book is writtin in the spirit of the original Dune series, but it is lacking the profundity and complexity of the original. It is an entertaining read, but I am left wondering if I'd be nearly as engrossed if I wasn't already a fan of the Dune universe. Definitely worth reading, but don't expect to be nearly as challenged as you would be by any of the Dune books written by Frank Herbert himself.
Rating: 
Summary: I have to speak up for this great book.
Review: I have read the majority of the frank herbert dune series and all of the prequels his son wrote and I have to be honest. With the exception of the ORIGINAL BOOK this is the best work in the entire series. Why? Well it starts off with a bang and has a ton of great action sequences, explores some great concepts, faces some cruel truths about human nature and provides an amazing foundation for the Dune Universe. The writer lacks confidence, and uses flakey words in his narrative throughout the piece, but looking past this it's a much better book than the other reviews make it out to be. Lets face facts, starting with Dune Messiah and getting worse with every subsequent installment the Dune series became so unapologetically and uncontrolably esoteric that story, character development, and the fate of the most original universe in science fiction had to be devined through pages and pages of philosophy. I love the series but seriously folks, the later dune books are little more than platonic dialogs with science fiction settings. They were as profound as aristotle but not quite as much fun to read and just not accessible at all. The Butlerian Jihad takes place ten thousand years prior to the first novel and presents familliar science fiction territory. Like the rest of the books it tells the story of post utopian humanity. Utopia made us lazy, serviced by robots we lived long luxurious lives free of challenge and slipped into a malaise that was transformed into enslavement at the hands of men with machines. A common Scifi theme I know, but this book handles the subject deftly, using an extended meditation on slavery as a central them that links the machine and man made realities. It's a bit contrived how every element of the dune universe is introduced at the same time; but this book handles the difficult task of telling a compelling human story and establishing the incredibly original universe the series takes place in. I saw this book bashed in the customer reviews and had to speak up for it. It's not great literature by any means, but it's immensely entertaining and accessible. It would make a blazing film and I couldn't get the images it conjured out of my mind. Massive space battles, terrifying cyborg's, homocidal robots, and iconographic pseudo-religious images that burn into your subconcious. Just go and read the first few pages of the book and you'll see if you want to read it or not. All I wanted was some good mindless scifi to chew on for a while and this book did the deed far in excess of my expectations. The second one is good as well but doesn't stand alone, I am excited for the conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: "Return of the Jedi" uuupps We meant "The Butlerian Jihad"
Review: Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's newest spinoff of Frank Herberts masterpiece of imagination can only be labelled "Very disappointing".
As a great fan of the original six Dune novels I harboured great reservations when I read about Brian Herbert and Kevin Andersons prequels to Dune project, and my worst fears were justified. The Dune prequels were not up to anything resembling old Herberts novells. The fact that they were written in a prose and style entirely different from Herberts original novels were not neccessarily a bad thing. After all, Frank Herberts prose is difficult to emulate and it also had its weaknesses, often being obscure and confusing. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson wrote the prequels in their own style...ok fine, but unfortunately it was quite clear from the beginning that the audiens they targetted their novels for were different from Frank Herberts. Theirs was clearly an audiens of teenage readers and this certainly affected the whole prequel stories, characters and dialogues, and not for the better. The prequels were clearly inferior to the original Dune books, but at least there were some occasional highpoints. The Butlerian Jihad, however has none of these. It is written in a childish prose, which is ripe with total misconceptions
of the Duniverse. It is unfortunately very, very apparent that Kevin Anderson has done his trade earlier, by writing spinoffs of George Lucas Star Wars universe. The Butlerian Jihad's is brimming with Star Wars concepts. The Sorceress of Rossak and The Bene Gesserit in the prequels are clearly influenced by Jedi and the force, and bear no resemblance to the originals described by Frank Herbert. The characters and their motives are totally cliche and the dialogue even more so. Herberts and Andersons understanding of Artifical Intelligence and their description of "Thinking Machines" are so ridiculous and "droidlike" as to be absurd. After reading "The Butlerian Jihad" one can only come to the conclusion that the authors has used a computer program which is capable of automatically generating a Science Fiction story from a few preset parameters, a program earlier being used for Star Wars stories. Replace all jedi with Sorceress of Rossak, replace all Bantas with Sandworms, replace Tattoine with Arrakis, etc.
It is true what they say, Hollywood can rewritte even the best book/manus into crap and the big entertainment medias and publishers can ruin the best ideas. Brian Herbert and Andersons works seems more to be based on the desire for cold cash by ridding on a wave of Dune popularity, than by genuine respect for Frank Herberts original works. Even if you liked the prequels (and if you are a true Dune fan you most likely did'nt) you will probably be disappointed by The Butlerian Jihad. Read some decent Science Fiction instead...Read Old Herberts books, Haldeman, Asimov, Ian M. Banks, Kim Stanley Robinsson, Arthur C. Clarke, Peter F. Hamilton or a lot of other "great" authors, but avoid this juvenile nonsense.
Rating:
Summary: under-done dune
Review: This was a disappointment. I loved the prequels "House Corrino, House Atreides and House Harkonnen", but they fail in the "Butlerian Jihad" to bring you in emotionally to the characters. The settings are grand, (you find out how the technology was invented!), but it lurches to the final tacked-on confrontation.
Rating:
Summary: Were they offered too much money?
Review: For lovers of the Dune Universe any additions to the story are eagerly anticipated and it is for this reason that 'The Butlerian Jihad' is so dissapointing. The subject matter is engrossing and the DUNE universe begs to be understood, but it seems that in fullfilling these requirements, the Authors have forgotten how to write.
For a novel so full of action, the reader feels like s/he is somehow missing it. Great events transpire with little or no emotional impact and descriptions are flowery and hurried. The greatest tragedy is that you are compelled to finish the book, because you want to know what happens.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Some books are hard to put down, this one was hard to pick up. It took me an exceptionally long time to read it because I found it to be such a disappointment. The original Dune introduced characters with depth. The dialogue was well written, you couldn't wait to see what happened next. The authors of this book have none of the imagination of Frank Herbert and should leave this fantasy genre to write sitcoms. I saw the second installment on the shelf at Barnes & Noble for 50% off, but I could not bring myself to buy it even at that price.
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