Rating: 
Summary: Very Interesting, but...
Review: This book you delve into the adventures of shallow characters, predicatable plots, and an incredibly dumb computer. But honestly, I am a sci-fi freak, and I find the book entertaining, but I wish for so much more...Some points that were knawing at me were:
- if the computer AI Omnius is obsessed with efficiency, why keep humans around? I always imagined the Omnius to be some sort of caretaker, so as this is not the case, the overall plot foundation doesn't make sense.
- characters seem to be too predicatable and scripted. It's as if they are acting out some bad play, and not acting naturally within their environment.
- the military seems utterly incompetent. It's like keystone cops. The main hero Xavier figures out the obvious, and gets promoted. Miltary discipline, military science, and military tactics seem to be lost human developments.
- if Omnius wants to take out the main League capital, why not use mass drivers on the planet or bombard the shield scramblers from space. High-school science seems non-existant for the machines. For the more sophisticated thinkers, this books flaws will leap out and haunt you, and to those that feel Frank Herbert's is the untouchable testimant, then this book is sacriledge. Those ignorant of grade school science, culture, and/or sociology, or with the power to set these things aside for a moment, then this book is entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: I really enjoyed this one
Review: After reading the first three prequels, (Atreides, Harkonnen, Corrino) I was excited to experience even more of the back history of my favorite book of all time, Dune. Although The Butlerian Jihad was not as good as the first three, it did not disappoint me. After only three sittings it was finished and i was left wanting more. Definitly a staple to lovers of Dune, but is also a good read for readers everwhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Why are people so hard on this book?
Review: I have to admit that I picked this book up on a recommendation from a friend. Originally I was not to excited of the "this is from my father's notes" notion but I read it and came away shocked. I could not put this book down! I loved the Dune chronicles but always felt that despite having a genius for plot and world building, Herbert lacked in flair which left his characters flat and lifeless (please don't hate me Dune fans). This was not evident here. There are key scenes which had me feeling for the people involved and had me discussing them with other people. People are hard on the Herbert-Anderson books because these authors are walking a difficult path that is inevitable when you take on the burden of a cult-status legend such as the Dune chronicles. But even going in with a reserved attitude about it as I did, the reader should come out feeling satisfied with the read. A great book and highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: solid and steady if not overwhelming
Review: As one would expect, this book doesn't match the original but it's unfair of course to compare this work (the single book or the entire trilogy) to the original Dune series, which well deserves its place in science fiction history. One of the ways to somewhat neutralize the natural temptation of readers to compare is to delve so far back in the history of Dune that you are working from an almost clean slate, which is what Andersen and Herbert do with their newest prequel trilogy, set several millenia previous to Dune's world. If it doesn't hold up to the original, how does it stand as its own novel? The answer is not bad, though the next answer has to be not great.
The strong points are the plot and structure. While the book probably could have used some cutting, its length is not unreasonable for its story. The structure, which involves cutting between several independent though eventually converging plotlines and characters, is well-suited both to the book's complexity (allowing for lots of information to be conveyed in manageable chunks) and length (adding suspense by cutting away at prime moments). And the plot is interesting in its own right, beyond being a simple nod to the "I want to see how they explain where this came from" readers of Dune. One of the grave dangers of prequels is that one ends up with a work wholly contrived to connect the future dots, a book where the author just has to fill in the blanks-mention this legend here, drop this name there, explain the origin of this ritual over there. For the most part, the authors avoid that here, and even in the rare instances where you have the feeling it's happening, it's over relatively quickly and painlessly (I actually thought it was more noticeable in the second book of the series).
The weak point of the book, as is often the justifiable complaint with science fiction, is the characterization. Too many characters feel plot-driven or two-dimensional. And one of the major characters, the Atreides heir, is simply unbelievable in his transition. One would think that in a 500 + page book there could be some more allowance for slower, more realistic character development, but sadly that's not the case here (check out Westerfeld's The Risen Empire/Succession for an example of how to do more characterization in half the space).
The lack of good characterization detracts from an otherwise well-told story (especially in that unfair comparison to the original series), but it doesn't get too much in the way of enjoying the story on its own right, or in getting some answers to the questions Dune fans have been asking for decades.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun Book
Review: I am conflicted about this book. Of course, like all of the new Dune books, they shouldn't be compared to the old Dune series. Frank Herbert was a genius, and it is unlikely that others would have been able to measure up. Therefore, it is not right to judge them by the standard of the old series. Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson are ambitious in this book because they are writing on an almost completely clean slate. In the previous books, they were writing about characters that had appeared in the original Dune book such as Leto Atreides, Vladimir Harkonnen, Duncan Idaho and others and their immediate ancestors. Here, the authors created new characters with only the hints Frank Herbert had dropped about the Butlerian Jihad to guide them. The authors of this book nevertheless came up with interesting characters, a lush vision of the universe, hints about plot lines that might or might not be developed, and some sizzling action scenes. A few things can be improved. The development of Vorian Atreides throughout the book will seem improbable to readers. Frank Herbert sketched a deeply religious Butlerian Jihad, which would make sense given how much faith and will is necessary to overturn an entire social order. Brian Herbert and Anderson talk about a Butlerian Jihad that has almost no religious content, except as an afterthought in a speech. Of course, leaders can, of course, cynically use religion, but they have to lay a groundwork and people have to feel the fervor for it to catch on. But these are minor criticisms. As one reviewer put it, we do want to learn about the Butlerian Jihad, and the authors do a very credible job of bringing it to life.
Rating:
Summary: The Wheels are off
Review: Overall not a Bad book but not at all dune-like. It's missing the "wheels within wheels" conspiracy mentality that drove the original Dune Series. It's very straight forward, a bit too lengthy with too many characters and not enough character development.
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down
Review: I thought that this was a very well written book. It describes things that are to come in the future. I did not care for the gore, but it was a part of the story to show the cruelty of the machines. I think this story tells a moral story as well. The slavery of the machines coinciding with the slaves kept on the human controlled planets. I can't wait to read the Machine Crusades.
Rating: 
Summary: This Ripoff of Readers is a Crime
Review: This is a fantasy story with spaceships. By itself, that label might not be a condemnation, but this entry into the Dune saga is one of the sorriest attempts to milk a series that I've ever seen. The designated evil in the book, Omnius the cybernetic evermind and its cronies are complete cretins that provide no credibility at all. A troop of developmentally challenged boy scouts could outwit these cardboard creations. The way each of the planets in the book is presented, it seems to have a total population of about 200. Science Fiction normally doesn't deal well with realistic populations, but this is worse then the way Star Trek does it. Of the three main characters, only Serena Butler seems to have any depth. The Harkonen and Atreides representatives have about as much substance as Shakespeare's Rosencrantz and Guidenstern. The authors display a complete lack of understanding of spatial relationships, science, technology, and all matters military. In the past some of this didn't matter, because the earlier books used the Guild to instantly transit from one planet to another. But since in this book they have to travel in the real Universe, they trip all over themselves with inconsistencies and improbabilities. Frank Herbert himself wisely avoided trying to explain the technologies he introduced, and never tried to handle conventional military maneuvers. But Anderson and the younger Herbert try and make a complete hash of both. This book unfortunately fills a critical place in the Dune chronology. That is does it so badly is a crime. Can I give it less than one star?
Rating:
Summary: A somewhat disjointed story
Review: For people who have read the Dune series written by the late Frank Herbert, this novel forms a prequel. It appears to have been written as several related novelettes, which were then split up into short chapters and shuffled together like a deck of cards. At times, I found myself skimming through the novel to reassemble chapters in order to follow a particular story line. The novel is part action, and part romance. I skimmed through some less interesting parts to get on with the action. The concept of mankind fighting an empire of thinking machines is not new. This novel introduces a conflict, but does not end it. It is obviously the first of an intended series.
Rating:
Summary: Someone, please teach these two to write!
Review: Unlike the masterpieces written by Frank, this novel and the three "House" novels stink. This is little more than a space opera -- dangerously close to the drivel produced by L Ron Hubbard. I waded through the first three books, hoping they would get better... Then in Jihad, in the very first battle, the stupid human Harkonnen finally realizes that, gasp!, the evil Cymeks are going after the Holtzman field generator! Doh! He commands the troops to protect the generator, and saves the day. C'mon Kevin and Brian -- people in the future should be smarter than today, not dumber. Any foot soldier with half a brain should know that the enemy is going to go after your most important defensive weapon -- the generator should have already been heavily defended, and what's more, should have been duplicated in many locations around the planet. The evil machines don't seem to be any smarter than the dumb humans, as witnessed by the shock that the humans somehow managed to deduce their true objective. The only interesting item in this book is the description of how the first human figured out how to ride a sandworm. This could have been a fascinating story -- but it smacks of too much control by non-visionary editors with an eye on fast-paced entertainment.
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