The Butlerian Jihad (Dune Series)

Rating:
Summary: The Butlerian Jihad: Different But Good
Review: Of course The Butlerian Jihad is a must read for Dune fans.

The style of the book is similar to the previous trilogy written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson - there are numerous story lines within the novel and each chapter switches between these story lines... one chapter focuses on Xavier Harkonnen, the next focuses on Vorian Atreides, the next on the "soon to be" Bene Gesserit, the next on the origins of the Fremen, etc. This style of writing (along with the short chapter lengths) helps to move the story along quickly. 600+ pages go fast, sometimes to fast - at times lacking the detail that made the original Dune so amazing (character development and especially scenery).

The story does take a while to get used to... it's weird to hear all this talk of robots in a Dune novel (even if you're aware of what the "Butlerian Jihad" is prior to picking up the book), but once you learn the enormous amount of new character names, the novel flows pretty well. The last 100 pages move really fast (each page is a "page turner"), and overall it's fascinating to see the origins of things like worm riding and spice addiction, even if some of the philosophical and political undertones present in the original Dune series (first 6 books) are missing.

For a none-Dune fan the novel might get 2 stars. For a Dune fan, the novel would probably warrant 3-4 stars. I'm looking forward to the next one...

Rating:
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:
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:
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:
Summary: Not 'Dune,' but not bad either
Review: If you're looking for another 'Dune,' don't bother - that's book in a different class. But if you're looking for something in the same universe that is fun to read, fast paced and keeps entertained, then this is not a bad book. I enjoyed reading it (despite some of the very annoying characters in the story - but they appear to be deliberately created that way.

Rating:
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:
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:
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:
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?

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.