Rating: 
Summary: Where's a good editor when you need one?
Review: Much like the Dune "House" trilogy books that preceded "Jihad", this book is overlong and filled with chapters that could easily been condensed to background paragraphs. All of this incidental detail is suppose to give a reader insights into characters' motivations, but all it did was bore me. I plodded through to the end because I like knowing the background for the real Dune stories.What I love about the first four Dune books are the themes of transformation: people, places and technology all interact to create new levels of existence that are stunning, mystifying, heartbreaking and unforgettable. A reader will not get that experience from this book. What a reader will get are blindly ambitious people, inane, excessive and pointless details about peripheral characters, obligatory cruel and obtuse oppressors (esoteric sci-fi quibble: didn't these guys see the "Matrix" movies? Far better representation of AI dominance) and, thankfully, seeds of the universe to come: the Holtzmann fields and shields, the development of the spice, the Bene Gesserit, Fremen, Tlexalu and Spacing Guild antecedents, and, of course, the twisted family trees of the Corrinos, Harkonnens and Atreides. For the next two books ("Crusade" & "Battle"), I will be looking for "Cliff Note" versions, which will give me the background information I desire without meaningless filler! Where's a good editor when you need one? :)
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but too much in places
Review: I always preface a review of the Dune prequels not written by Frank Herbert with a reminder that the reader cannot expect these books to be on the same par with Frank Herbert's Dune series. Frank Herbert created the Duniverse, it was his vision, his baby so while his son can accentuate that, he cannot do the same kind of job. If you go into reading these books keeping in mind exactly what these books are and aren't, they will be much more enjoyable. I do love the idea of fleshing out all of the things the original Dune series refers to. I have always wondered just what happened in the Butlerian Jihad and the war with the machines. I think that the Dune universe is so large, spanning so much time, that to go back that far in time makes it necessary to create a great many threads that will tie into the Dune tapestry and that makes for a very large bundle. The story is interesting and it creates a platform for those things that are so integral to the later Dune books. The one real complaint I have is that there are too many threads to keep track of in one book and it, at times, becomes so fragmented that it's distracting. The chapters were divided well keeping that in mind but I think that a great deal of the storyline wasn't necessary to the story.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Continuation
Review: I have to disagree with the negative reviews. Is the book as good as Dune? Obviously not. But is it pretty well-written, interesting and a fun continuation of the Dune series? Definitely. I was initially skeptical when I bought it, but after starting to read it, I was hooked. If you are a Dune fan, I would definitely pick this up.
Rating:
Summary: Good reading... but some truth in advertising please...
Review: This is a review of "DUNE: the Butlerian Jihad" with a little DUNE: Machine Crusade and DUNE: Battle of Corrin" (not released) thrown in for good measure. Unlike the nearby micro-review which states the book "explains alot (sic)... such as shields, no machine or computers, the roots of the bene-genesirit (sic), the spacing guild and very early fremen (sic) roots ...", I would have to question whether this reviewer actually read any of the book, as most of these interesting beginnings of the DUNE saga are not covered in this book, but later in the trilogy. Trilogy?!! Well, I didn't know either. Even the terms themselves (Bene-Gesserit, Spacing Guild, Fremen and others) are not even found in the book, so we can't be sure how to know who or what *might* even evolve into these groups. So caveat emptor: prepare to have to read three books to learn all the the secrets as promised on the cover flaps. Of course, that might be a good thing too if you like to read. But we can't really be sure of this either because the third book won't even be out til' Aug 2004. Butlerian Jihad and its sequels taken as one is a flashback trilogy... much like the Silmarillion is to Tolkien fans. I think about 10,000 years pre-maud'dib In "Jihad" we have three mutual antaganosts: humans, cymecs (former humans who opted to become put their brains in a mechanical cannister contraptions and live centuries. (For some reason they hate humans); and Ominus the evermind AI software who runs everything on the robot planets where the cymecs live. All three hate the other two. Humans at the bottom of the power struggle to start. We also have three types of worlds: free (human-run, natch), robot-run called "Synchronized") and Unaligned. Two of our heros are named Harkonnen and Atreides. And the story is mostly about how each of the three shoot each other up trying to rule the Galaxy. We really only learn a few of the things later seen in Mau'dib's world... but you'll have to read all the way through a 2" hardcover to find out. Can't give the whole story away? That said, the book itself is a pretty good read. Kinda drags on in places and some people and other "entities" die for no apparent benefit to the plot. But it was hard to put down after the second time I started it. But "War and Peace" it's not so don't expect really great writing and plot development. Lotsa characters too. And it jumps around just a little too much with tiny, mostly non-contiguous chapters. [to continue read my review on the Machine Crusade - number two of this series]
Rating: 
Summary: The Butlerian Jihad
Review: Good book, explains alot of the things in the original dune. novels, such as shields, no machine or computers, the roots of the bene-genesirit, the spacing guild and very early fremen roots as well as some roots of the bene-tleilax.
Rating:
Summary: Poor writing, changes history, but good plot
Review: If you have read DUNE and the sequels but not the Dune Encyclopedia (ISBN: 0425068137) you will almost certainly find this prequel interesting enough to finish. If you are a fanatic about Dune and own the Encyclopedia this book will drive you nuts. Everything has changed. Norma Cenva is not an Ixian Refugee, but daughter to a Sorceress (?!). In fact she and Holtzman (who has had his name changed in this book and is no longer a cyborg robot ship) live in the same age and work together. The Thinking Machines are no longer subtle inventions that Butler only accidentally discovers killing humans (unnecessary abortions ordered by Hospital computers), but have totally run amok and are slaughtering people left and right in the street and enslaving all that rest. While from a conceptional viewpoint many things have merely been reinterpreted and repainted (by an overtly and extremely BROAD brush). Still, Frank Herbert specifically endorsed how the Encyclopedia told the Butler story. In fact, the similarity of the character names and roles makes it quite apparent that the author of the Encyclopedia had some kind of access to at least some (if not all) of the original notes Brian Herbert is using to base these new prequel books on. While Brian Herbert has more right to say what is Dune canon than some unrelated guy who wrote some speculative history he had no involvement in creating and called it an Encyclopedia, I feel the Prequel books ruin the world more than enhance it, especially when compared to the old Encyclopedia. Despite this, the story is interesting. Brain Herbert may not be a great writer, but he has come up with some interesting ideas and reinterpretations of the Dune Universe. I don't think they are entirely consistent with the Dune universe, but if you can't afford the 80-100 bucks to get a used beat up copy of the old Dune Encyclopedia, you will find The Butlerian Jihad at least somewhat entertaining. If you don't know what Dune is, you are likely to find this book poorly written, and will miss much of what is being insinuated here. And finally, on the official Dune website (www.dunenovels.com) Brian Herbert has said he intends to publish the "Dune Concordance," a collection of all the references in the books to the history, and I would assume the original background notes Frank Herbert himself must have kept. So there is still something to look forward to, even if you find yourself despising the prequels.
Rating: 
Summary: a poor mimic of the father
Review: DTBJ was a decent way to spent a few hours decompressing before bed. That is the nicest thing I can say about it. It does not at all compare favorably with the rest of the series. To place the work in perspective, I would rank the original three Dune novels with 5 stars, the second three (still FH) with four stars, the "House" trilogy by BH with three stars (if feeling particularly charitable). I considered ranking this one with just one star, but I think these guys could actually do worse, so I'm leaving room at the bottom. I wholeheartedly agree with other characterizations of the writing style as sophomoric and insipid. The characters never find their own voices. In original FH works, one can remove all explicit identification of speakers and still follow dialog with reasonable surety. In DTBJ, it is hard to remember who is talking half-way through a line. Plot is advanced is some bafflingly ham-handed ways and characterization often drifts into caricature. There are vague echoes of some very young FH, e.g. "The God Makers" and "The Whipping Star." They also danced right up to some of the ideas of "Destination Void" and "The Jesus Incident" and then retreated without saying much of anything of significance. I do not know if these subtle hints were intentional or simply the inevitable result of years of influence of the father on the son. I really doubt it was intentional because nothing else in the book suggests subtle or sophisticated nuance. A more direct and unabashed homage to these early FH works would have worked well and been a fitting tribute to a great author. I am not too troubled by any inconsistency with the original series. This is not Tolkien. As far as I know, Herbert did not spend years modeling a complete alternate reality with unique and fully developed languages, histories, etc. I would gladly forgive much more serious inconsistencies if they at least drove more interesting character development. I found I cared very little for the protagonists and found myself cheering for the machines at times. The Holtzman character was amusing just because I am a professor of engineering and his foibles hit close to home. Even with him though, I just couldn't see any depth. Serena Butler is a poor stand-in for Jessica Atreidies, my chest never tightened when she was in a pinch. Vorian comes of age and changes sides so fast, I found myself agreeing with the councilors who doubted the loyalty of anyone who would turn on his father like that. The authors telegraph the Xavier-Octa-Serena mix-up with so little finesse I kept waiting for a midle-school english teacher to step out of the shadows and annouce : this here is what we call f-o-r-e-s-h-a-d-o-w-i-n-g. You can all say that, can't you?" Yech. There is worse pulp sci-fi on the market, but this is the worst thing I have read with the Herbert name on it.
Rating:
Summary: I don't believe....
Review: I don't believe many things in this book. I don't believe the reasons why so many free worlds keep slaves, yet are fighting to not become slaves of machines; I don't believe that someone brainwashed by the machines could so easily be converted to the cause against them; I don't believe a slave of the machines would have access to rockets in order to hide them in the monuments he was constructing; I don't believe that on one planet Selim is learning to ride sandworms while simultaneously another group of industrious people are contemplating the commercial viability of melange, while simultaneously the known universe is building up a rebellion to conquer the machines, while yet simultaneously another group of scientists is developing the first prototype shields and the beginnings of the way to fold space! I don't believe in so much of this book, that even to consider it amongst the classic Dune novels would be folly. Ok, so I have read Dune at least upwards of 12 or 15 times (I would put it close to 20, but I lost count somewhere.) I have read the entire series at least a half dozen or more times and several of the books more than that. So I am well versed in the series. I will not quote the mistakes of this book where it deviates from clearly defined precepts of the classic novels, which are many. I would rather like to say what is missing from these stories, and precisely what it was that engrossed me enough to read the Elder Herbert's books so many times. Dune, The Butlerian Jihad describes a varied and splintered human race, spread throughout the galaxy. The different bands of humans are defined essentially by the different things they do. We have the doctors experimenting with chemicals from jungle plants on the Planet Rossak; also on the same planet are the Sorceresses who are dabbling in telepathic abilities and manifesting these into brain fryers. We have the scientific-haven/industrial-planet where Lord Bludd resides, and we have the fringes of society on Arrakis. Then there is the massive military people that essentially come from Salusa Secundus, headed by a distant relative of our familiar Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. We also have the mathematical groundwork for the burgeoning mentats and/or the future guild navigators as well the early origins of the Tleilaxu biological manufacturers (The people from Tlulax. Isn't it fascinating that in 10,000 years the only name that will change in the language drift is the name of Tlulax to Tlielax. Harkonnen and Atriedes will drift 10,000 years without change; the future Fremen on Arrakis are lead by leaders called Naibs and will still be in 10,000 years. Ok, the sorceresses will become witches, ok, two things will change.), Great. Simple. Clear. Precise. Might make a good history book. What makes the world of the classic Dune series so believable and utterly intense, though, is the culture that is so clearly presented. In order to provide such varied, distinct and believable cultures, one must dig down deep and identify the core beliefs of that culture, and then re-develop those beliefs into a series of believable events that would become the basis of a great tale. It is the culture and the fabric of human inter-relationships that brings life to a story, not the events of the story or the quantitative or qualitative data of a planet's resources or their industrial status. The people who revolt on earth have no culture, neither do the nobles, nor do the military, or the scientists, or even the sorceresses. Everything that is done to hint at any culture happens between chapters! Develop some backstory for the lives oif these peoples, and make them look less like brash 20th century tree huggers (see Serena's attempt to liberate a recent machine conquest) and give them some meat in their movements. Surely even with 1,000 years of twiddling their thumbs while machines rule half of the worlds, the greatest leaders of more than a dozen planets can come up with some strategic way of at least taking some occasional offensive action. I can see no difference between a people complacent because they stopped thinking and relegated that task to machines and a people too cautions and full of trepidation to even attempt anything in 1,000 years. I also get really turned off when a book purports to present us with a future history and the future humans have learned NOTHING in 1,000 years or more! If the authors are to present a world where machines have ruled humans for 1,000 years, how could those same humans on free planets even consider keeping slaves of their own? No matter how many times they tell me that the slaves are paying penance for their ancient ancestors not fighting against machines 1,000 years earlier, it just simply doesn't ring true. If we look back even to the building of the Egyptian pyramids, there is currently evidence to support that they were not built via slave labor but instead by a form of community service and religious tithing. Obviously these two authors are not as well read as we would like them to be. (I'm not going to even scratch the surface of any of the scientific issues here...) When writing about future history, especially future HUMAN history, an author needs to consider everything that happened in history from now until the time when the book begins and plot out the major developments that got the characters and cultures to the point in time where the books begin. This is what Frank Herbert did, by outlining his history of The Butlerian Jihad, The Holtzman Effect, and Selim Wormrider, The Zensunni Wanderers, all of which he alludes to throughout his novels. I expect nothing less of any Dune related books. Unfortunately, I would expect that if one dug deep enough, she would discover that this version of the "Historie of The Butlerian Jihad" and subsequent novels were actually written by none other than Agamemnon himself.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful
Review: Inconsistent with many ideas of the original Dune books. Authors didn't even bother to reconcile differences in a believable way. Bad science too!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Couldn't say I like this book at all. Please stop before the greatness of the original Dune books are damaged.
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