The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, Book 1)

The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, Book 1)
by Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson

The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, Book 1)
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Book Summary Information

Author: Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
Edition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-09-15
ISBN: 0765340771
Number of pages: 704
Publisher: Tor Books

Book Reviews of The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, Book 1)

Book Review: Why I Read Science Fiction
Summary: 5 Stars

The reason so many people seem to hate this book is that they are too used of reading top-caliber science fiction like the works of Asimov, Heinlein and (imagine this) Herbert, they take it for granted all science fiction is that good. All those people bashing Legends of Dune really need to pick up some of the Star Trek or Predator crp coming out. By comparison, this novel is on literary par with the Iliad.

The plot is complicated but, like in the old Dune books, held together in a skillful matter. Enter the Synchronized Universe, aeons before the events of Dune take place, where millions of planets have been synchronized into the mind of Omnius, a collective robotic intelligence beyond all human weaknesses. A few humans still hold an organized resistance against the machines, under the command of a few surviving members of the ruling class of the Old Empire, but they are strained to protect themselves and daren't attempt to penetrate the Synchronized Worlds.

And now the League of Nobles is fighting amongst itself. For the League holds Buddislamic primitives as slaves, who are rapidly moving towards revolution as their religious leaders are martyred by Tlulaxa "flesh merchants". The rulers of the League are either angnostics or Panchristians and claim the Buddislamics, who seem to forsake sophistication, owe a debt to humanity for fleeing the machines instead of fighting the machines in our darkest hours. Serena Butler, though, has advocated without effect the plight of the Zensunnis and Zenshiites. Speaking of which, Serena Butler is the girlfriend of a certain officer named Xavier Harkonnen.

When the planet Giedi Prime is stolen from humanity by the tyrannical cyborg Agammemnon, Serena rallies a force to liberate the planet. She and Xavier Harkonnen enlist the aid of mysterious Sorcerreses from planet Rossak, who of course will ultimaely become the Bene Gesserit. She is captured by the cyborgs--oh, cyMEKs--and taken to Earth.

Meanwhile, Norma Cenva, the daughter of an influential drug merchant and one of the aforementioned Sorcerreses, travels to planet Poritrin, where millions of captive Zensunnis toil under the Lord Bludd, to study under Tio Holtzman, who is trying to develop a way to shield starships from projectile damage.

But that's only half of the story, the story from the League perspective. Meanwhile, on planet Earth, the story begins to focus on two humans who willingly serve the machines and have been rewarded with power. There is Iblis Ginjo, Serena Butler's slave master for a brief time. Iblis receives an enigmatic message supposedly from a rebel group fighting the machines on Earth, and, uncertain on what to do, takes an oddysey to the realm of Cogitor Eklo, a disembodied intelligence who supposedly is nothing more than a philosopher, but in truth has a level of mysticism to him so great that he could orchestrate an entire Jihad.

The other human in machine trust is Vorian Atreides, Agammemnon's son, who has never questioned the righteousness behind the synchronization of all the galaxy to Omnius.

Also giving us a glimpse of the machine perspective is Erasmus, an independent robot who studies human psychology. It is his folly who will ultimately be the bane of Omnius. It sounds like I'm giving a way a lot, but I've only scraped the tip of the iceberg. The epic scope of Legends of Dune is unparalleled.

The characters are a bit lacking, but the superb blend of philospohy and action make this a worthy Dune novel, perhaps superior even to a few of the old Dune Chronicles from way back. I can't wait to read the sequels!

Summary of The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, Book 1)

Frank Herbert's Dune series is one of the great creations of imaginative literature, science fiction's answer to The Lord of the Rings.

Decades after Herbert's original novels, the Dune saga was continued by Frank Herbert's son, Brian Herbert, in collaboration with Kevin J. Anderson. Working from Frank Herbert's own notes, the acclaimed authors reveal the chapter of the Dune saga most eagerly anticipated by readers: the Butlerian Jihad.

Throughout the Dune novels, Frank Herbert frequently referred to the war in which humans wrested their freedom from "thinking machines." In Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson bring to life the story of that war, a tale previously seen only in tantalizing hints and clues. Finally, we see how Serena Butler's passionate grief ignites the struggle that will liberate humans from their machine masters; here is the amazing tale of the Zensunni Wanderers, who escape bondage to flee to the desert world where they will declare themselves the Free Men of Dune. And here is the backward, nearly forgotten planet of Arrakis, where traders have discovered the remarkable properties of the spice melange....

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