Buddy read with Athena!"There are countless ways to die. The worst is to fade away without purpose."After decades of standstill, the Butlerian Jihad is rising. The almost fanatical priestess Serena Butler and the power-hungry patriarch Iblis Ginjo have led it from an idea to a universe-spanning holy war. And in the spearhead of the movement stand the now legendary generals Vorian and Xavier, two brothers in arms whose surnames happen to be Atreides and Harkonnen.A curious statement that pulled this book from mediocrity to greatness: This is Dune.The Butlerian Jihad was something else. A depressing dystopia with little to no action and little to no connection with the most popular sci-fi universe in literature. In the second half of this book, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson take the series back to where it belongs, and starts building the setting for what is to come ten thousand years after these stories."Long ago, we conquered the Old Empire, and then lost it to Omnius. Now, the Synchronized Worlds are weakened from decades of war against the free humans. The Army of the Jihad has worn down the thinking machines for us - an opportunity we must seize!"The wild cards of this story are fully unleashed. The treacherous Titans are conspiring against the machines and the free humans both. The legend of Selim Wormrider travels across the sands of Arrakis and leads a band of Zensunni slaves to the heart of Dune. From the schools of Ginaz, the greatest swordmaster in history arises. An Atreides sets foot on Caladan for the first time. Tensions are rising between the leaders of the Jihad. And Serena Butler uses all means to ignite the flames of war one last time. "I am no more than a woman with a mission. That is all I have ever been." Then she murmured, "That is all I ever need to be.”This book did not only continue the story of the machine crusade with great success; it also started building the foundation of the rest of the series, and did so amazingly well. In contrast to the first book, this one definitely fit into the name of the trilogy: Legends of Dune. This is what I hoped for when I started reading these books.Unfortunately, a huge chunk of this book was incredibly boring. Not more so than almost the entirety of the first book, but still pretty disappointing. There was little plot development, little character development, little action. It still wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly good either. Fortunately, about halfway through the book, it suddenly rose to become almost mind-blowingly amazing.From that point on, there are great twists and developments in every chapter. I felt that the authors never fully utilised the material they were working with in the first book, but here they’ve done a truly impressive job. The Prelude trilogy was like a breath of fresh air into the series when Frank Herbert’s writing grew tiresome, but this was like the best of both worlds. And the result is astounding for a Dune fan.So it turns out I can forgive hundreds of pages or practically nothing, when the remainder of the book is most likely the best part of the series since the Great Dune Trilogy, and certainly the best contribution by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson so far.I’ll finish off this review with the quote that truly made me love this book:"She saw mankind's future, with space-folding ships connecting a vast empire... a civilization that remained linked to the past through a long line of Sorceresses dressed in black, hooded robes.And she heard a harmonious, hypnotic chant from the desert: "Muad'Dib... Muad'Dib... Muad'Dib..."
I enjoyed the first prequel book, The Butlerian Jihad, but I think I enjoyed this book just a little bit more. There are so many things that happen in this book that make it an EPIC extension of the Dune Universe. As the war between the sentient machines and humans rages on, there are severe implications and sacrifices that take place on both sides of the fence in this book. I really enjoyed the depth that we see in some of the characters in this story, that were introduced in the first prequel book: Vorian Atreides, Zufa Cenva, Iblis Ginjo, Serena Butler, Xavier Harkonnen and especially Norma Cenva and the intriguing robot, Erasmus . All of these characters were vastly expanded upon from the first book and I felt a connection with many of them as they went through their journey(s) throughout this sprawling space opera.We see many past events that are talked about in Franks Herbert's original book(s), come to fruition here: The beginning of the Melange spice exportation (which will eventually have the entire galaxy consumed by it's hypnotic and addictive influence) Space folding, the beginning stages of the Zennsunni and Zennshite refugees on the planet of Arrakis and subsequent start of the Fremen, the rise of the first man to ever ride a sandworm, the legendary Selim Wormrider and the continuing stories and expansion of the Harkonnen and Atreides families. As with The Butlerian Jihad, this book is not without it's pitfalls, many of which will be a turn off for some readers. The writing is lackluster at times, a lot of the dialog ranges from bad to downright laughable, and certain scenarios aren't properly fleshed out and seemed rushed. Also, as with the last book, there are certain situations that happen and then are re-told over and over again, making it redundant at times. There are certain moments in this book that made me roll my eyes and audibly exclaim "Oh my God, that's bad!" Like when Serena Butler returns to Salusa Secundus at the beginning of the book and after a speech, spreads her arms, begins to cry and says something to the effect of: "my precious Jihidists" To some, these things will be a turn off and to an extent it makes me understand some of the poor reviews that this book has been given. But with that said though, I don't think it's fair to totally write the book off because it was still very entertaining in a "summer blockbuster at the movies" type of way, and it expands on the Dune Universe in epic fashion and I found myself not wanting to put the book down!This book certainly isn't going to be for everybody, and if you are expecting the masterpiece that was Frank Herbert's original DUNE, then you will be sorely disappointed, but if you can be forgiving of certain shortcomings and are looking for more adventures and back-story out of the Dune universe, then definitely check this book out! I'm looking forward to checking out part three of the prequel trilogy next, The Battle of Corrin.
What do You think about The Machine Crusade (2004)?
As the war between humans and thinking machines grinds on, both sides threaten to splinter under the weight of conflicting agendas. Meanwhile, on Arrakis, the outlaws who will one day be known as the Fremen begin to gather strength as the spice mélange grows in popularity throughout the human worlds.This is a sprawling, messy novel that could easily have been shortened by more than a hundred pages by editing out the repetition, excessive narrative about minor characters, and many meandering paragraphs of extraneous exposition. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this novel because, despite their flaws, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson hooked me with their characters and the enormous sweep of their story. A television series could get a whole season's worth of episodes out of the plot threads and twists of fate here.Frank Herbert purists are not likely to find much to admire. Herbert, Jr. and Anderson are definitely more interested in outer space than inner space. The sections in which they try to emulate the elder Herbert's philosophizing, most notably those involving the developing Fremen, contrast most starkly and unfavorably with the original vision. I read and admired the original six books many years ago; when I decided to reread them, I thought I would do so within the context of this expanded series. I was jarred by "The Butlerian Jihad," but once I decided to just let Herbert and Anderson do what they want to do, I found much to enjoy in their work as well.
—David Bonesteel
tHow would you feel if you were being hunted down and slaughtered by machines? Killed or enslaved for your lack of efficiency. Only to know that we were the ones who created them. The Machine Crusade by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is a kind of science fiction book that shows what can happen when a race is faced with extinction, and the sacrifices that have to be made to keep it going.Ominus, the evermind of the synchronized worlds wants to exterminate or enslave the entire human race, but he and the league of nobles are at a standstill, So Ominus goes on the offensive. He becomes more aggressive and begins to concur some of the outer fringe worlds, stating that humans and thinking machines can never peacefully coexist.An Exert From the book that illustrates this theme on page 644 is, “The robot said, “The evermind has decreed that thinking machines can never peacefully coexist with human. You are to volatile, untrustworthy, and full of random destruction.”. Shows how the Thinking Machines are ready and willing to exterminate the human race.If you like this book, You may like the last book in the series The battle of Corrin By Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, because it is the next and last book in the prequel series. It continues the struggle between the thinking machines and humans up until the gruesome bloody end.I rate this book 5 out of 5 because of the way the author wrote it in such detail and depth, and I believe it rivals his father’s writing, if not it is better.
—Chris Hirsch
I've read this just for not losing the main plot of last dune books but remember:books of "legends of dune" are ordinary books! (not like frank Herbert's works)dark sides:1-the story is told for lazy people with no imagination.2-anyone can write books like these. (any serious sci-fi reader)3-the characters are one-dimension. (except Vorian)4-why these books are weaker than "Prelude to Dune"! they wrote them before this series. bright sides:1-you will have a background for main dune.(although not ironic)2-it has its moments.(although few)- like Vorian tricks
—Nioosha
