Customer Reviews (16)

Enjoyable read
This would be one of my more favorite of Frank Herbert's oneshot novels, though I do wish that he could have expanded a bit more on Hive-life. This book was a fun and thought-provoking read, and a bold foray into various issues. Overall I felt the story was believable, though the story would definitely have benefited from more background on the Hive and just how these Hive-people came to be.

I also found myself a bit cheesed-off by the ending. It had a 'The Lady or the Tiger' feeling to it, and ended rather abruptly, though I suppose Mr. Herbert wanted to leave the ending to us.

Do Not Muddle With the Human-hive!
Frank Herbert (1920-1986) wrote his masterpiece "Dune" (1965), generating a recognizable turning point in sci-fi literature.
The variety of themes he touched influenced many genre authors thereafter: ecology, political-religious interaction, genetic manipulation, longevity drugs and secret sisterhoods and brotherhoods.
"Hellstrom's Hive" (aka "Project 40" 1973) is a quite underrated novel from the author nevertheless jam-packed with interesting ideas.

The story is as follows: a couple of agents pertaining to a top secret government organization are investigating an isolated farm. Unknown to them this "farm" is on top of a human-hive.
From this point on a complex intrigue ballet starts involving power struggle in different fronts: Agency's internal, Hive's internal, Agency vs. FBI and Hive vs. Agency.Each of them following diverse patterns and conducting to a final confrontment with unpredictable outcome.

I recommend this rather short book to sci-fi lovers (especially Frank Herbert enthusiasts) and general public too.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

A Novel Before Its Time
This novel is written like an onion, the layers peel away as you read on, keeper the readers in suspense at every turn. What are the vats? Are the agents really dead? What is this hive? How deep does it go underground? How big is the hive really? All these questions and more are slowly revealed in a style only Frank Herbert can write.

A very refreshing concept of an underground community of humans mimicking insects in a hive. If you look at when the book was written, it was something new, strange and at the same time, frightening and could only come out from Frank Herbert's mind.

The novel is written with a very clever use of language and wordplay to keep the readers enticed. Frank doesn't insult you by telling you everything, he let's you think, imagine, read between the lines and draw your own conclusions - something every author should do!

A truly amazing and compelling story for a novel written before its time!

Best Herbert Next to His Dune
I read this book years ago; loved it then, and now think it's time to read it again.

Agents and Insects
This probably worked better as a short story.Hellstrom's Hive is a 1950's, cold war sci-fi tale, nothing more, nothing less. A few grotesque situations in the hive are memorable, the "stumps" for example, but the endless pages of the Agency going through the motions is just plain mind numbing. Pass. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Must Read For Dune Fans
Eye is a collection of short stories that showcase the genius of Frank Herbert. Many of the main themes of his popular Dune series are seen in each of the stories. One of these is a small section entitled "The Road to Dune" containing illustrations of some scenes from the Dune universe, namely the palace of Arakeen. Even though I'm an intense Dune fan I found the story of the Bacit and the Tegas to be my favorite. Eye is a smattering of worlds and ideas all from the same mind that created Dune. It does not disappoint.

One of the best
Years ago my younger brother brought this book home. I was so intrigued by the cover art that I decided to borrow it.I never returned the book to him.

I have reread this book several times over the years and I have given many copies as gifts to close friends.As a language arts teacher, I find "Try To Remember" to be profoundly thought provoking. But "The Tactful Saboteur" and "A Matter of Traces" are favorites as well because they are so insightful.

I highly recommend this collection because the stories are intelligent and entertaining.An excellent read! A great selection for a book club.

iBooks, keep them coming!
Cheers to iBooks for apparently being the only major publisher who cares about resurrecting classic sci-fi for the current market.They've put several books by R. Zelazny back in print, and they seem to be on the road to reprinting Berkley's Masterworks of Sci-Fi & Fantasy series, of which this book was one, originally released in the mid-80s.This short-lived series, consisting of story collections by the pros of the genre, was amazing.The care that was put into the product is something readers don't get today.Not only did you get a good selection of stories, but also many extras such as fantastic artwork (both covers and interior), informative story intros (as with A.C. Clarke), or biographical sketches (as with Fritz Leiber)."Eye" has a good intro by Herbert discussing the Dune movie, and you get the brief titular story, which is an excerpt from an Arrakian tour guide, complete with illustrations of characters and landmarks.Jim Burns provides the art, which includes a piece for each story, as well as a beautiful cover.The stories are not the literal "best" of Frank Herbert, but they are enjoyable, certainly much better than other stuff coming out today.

Snippets of Frank Herbert's mind...OUCH!
Anybody who's read the in depth novels of Frank Herbert will understand my enthusiasm directed toward this book.Frank Herbert could get a little....well...overly philosophical at times.This caused quite a few within his fandom to sigh and/or scratch our heads and say, "I wonder what he means by that?"But here, in 'Eye,' we get to see the short version of his ample mind....

'Eye' is a collection of short stories by Frank Herbert.Since Mr. Herbert's genre has almost always been Science Fiction, these stories are also.And to top off this wonderful collection, it's been illustrated (on the cover and with sketches inside) by Jim Burns, a world renowned British artist.The cover alone makes it worth your while to buy, as does Mr. Burns explanation in the back of the book as to why he chose this subject material in this color scheme.The 'Walking Tour of Arrakis' with its multiple sketches and descriptions were outstandingly and tastefully done.

But let's get to the meat-and-potatos of this book: Frank's mind.It starts out with Mr. Herbert's feelings about the making of the movie, Dune.Most insightful.Then we quickly move on to 'Rat Race,' a 25 page short story about first contact with aliens on earth and how that might come about.And how these aliens might perceive us.Freaky!Then we move on to a short version of 'Dragon in the Sea,' which actually became a novel and a series.The interesting part of this story is it shows Mr. Herbert's past experiences within the Navy.Then on to 'Cease Fire' which was undoubtedly my favorite story and only 19 pages long.Here Mr. Herbert shows us what he's famous for: diving into the human pysche and human power struggle from governments but doesn't do it overly-so.Thank Shai-halud!

All the stories are worth mention but I feel I'm already lengthy in my review.But pick up a copy of this book for your Science Fiction loved one this Xmas season.They'll love you for it.And you can ogle at the beautiful artwork.

Great short-fiction from Herbert
Herbert was as good at producing tight short stories as epic, far-reaching novels. The story "Murder Will In" is the best "body-stealer" tale I've come across. His terrific "Devil inthe Sea" (aka Under Pressure) is, for some reason, only half publishedin this book! What a dumb mistake! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dune, by Frank Herbert
I read "Dune" when I was in college, almost forty five years ago, but I
still occasionally 'flash back' to its depiction of life in a world where
water is extremely scarce. The book is interesting and thought provoking on
several levels, and I recommend it now as much as ever. ... Read more

Product Description
Four complete Frank Herbert novels includes whipping star - the dosadi experiment - the saratoga barrier - and soul catcher in one omnibus book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Frank Herbert: 4 Complete Novels
I've read them individual a long time ago. I've found them in one I could read them anytime.

Herbert didn't just write the Dune books. Four fine novels
While Frank Herbert is justly famous for the Dune series of novels, which are some of the greatest science fiction ever written, he also wrote a number of other shorter novels.

The four included here have odd titles: Whipping Star, The Dosadi Experiment, The Santaroga Barriet and Soul Catcher.

Whipping Star has a strange concept: Calibans, strange, communicative but confusing creatures have given star gates (called S'Eyes) to the galaxy. But they are disappearing amid waves of madness and death. One Caliban is left, and has been hired by the world's richest and kinkiest woman to be flogged. How do you flog an energy being? Jorg X McKie must communicate with the cryptic Caliban and find the connection between the whippings and the disappearance of the other Calibans and a threat to the entire world.

The Dosadi Experiment brings McKie back again, this time to find out the secret of a Gowachin (froglike sentient being) experiment on the brutal and toxic planet Dosadi. The Gowachin seek to control McKie and manipulate the Dosadi situation, but McKie makes some unexpected moves.

In The Santaroga Barrier, psychologist Gilbert Dasein is sent to Santaroga in Northern California. Why has every company that set down a chain store in Santaroga failed to succeed? Why did previous investigators die in seemingly innocent and coincidental accidents? Dasein finds out much more than anyone ever else did, but can he ultimately escape Santaroga?

The Soul Catcher is set in contemporary times, and is the story of a native American who undergoes a frightening transformation as Katsuk, the avenging spirit who purifies the world. Is it madness or is it the spirit world intruding into modern reality?

All four are different novels, and quite different from Dune. All four are some of the best non-Dune writing Herbert ever did.

Great bargin... 4 complete novels for the price of one...
This book contains four complete novels by Frank Herbert:
1.Whipping Star
2.The Dosadi Experiment
3.The Santaroga Barrier
4.Soul Catcher

I found it at a local used book store for $6.98... Not bad for a hardback book... Four novels for less than seven bucks... Great bargin, great novels.. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A miss titled book
My main concern with the book is that it is not a collection of notes from Frank Herberts Dune, rather it is a collection of quotes from the series. If you are looking for a book that gives you insight into the creative process of Frank Herbert, look elsewhere, because you wont find it in this book.

Dune Wisdom
This book puts the nuggets of wisdom in Frank Herbert's Dune series all in one place. Compiled in a thin, paperback book, you won't have to search for the "litany against fear" or other wise sayings. Chock full oflife truths and insights into human behavior, it's best taken a quote at atime, digested with a bit of thought afterward. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (123)

A mixture of boredom and excitement.
I've been reading the sixteen Dune books--ten by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, six by Frank Herbert--in chronological succession according to time in the Dune universe. So far Frank's "The Children of Dune" is the worst, as I shall explain, though it does have merits.

At the end of the preceding volume, "The Winds of Dune," Emperor Paul Muad'Dib is apparently dead. His sister Alia rules as regent until Paul's baby son, Leto, comes of age.

Nine years pass.

Leto and his twin sister, Ghanima, are the Children of Dune, and they are the novel's most interesting things as well as its most interesting characters. A combination of centuries of planned breeding and the psychotropic, biochemical effects of excretions from Dune's giant sandworms has gifted the twins with extraordinary paranormal abilities. One is that when they use the planet's psychotropic spice, melange, they have the power of prescience. Another is that they have been born with the genetic memories of all their ancestors. As you might expect, the knowledge that thismemory gives them makes them very precocious nine-year olds.

The main theme of the novel is the struggle of Leto and Ghanima against their evil aunt, Alia, who is possessed by an evil spirit and has no intentions of giving up her power. But I dare say this theme and the other story objectives could have been better executed by Brian and Kevin. Frank didn't do as much with the story as he could have. He gives us some interesting dialog with the precocious nine-year olds talking as adults, he gives us some exciting action sequences, and he gives us a fast-paced "ending" with an arousing finale. By "ending," I mean the sixty pages or so that precede the last ten pages. Much of the novel's remaining material, including the last ten pages, is blasé. He could have replaced that blasé material with another plotline, another character, or some other interesting material.


Frank's trouble in "Children of Dune" occurs when his writing style is effusive without being concrete. At those moments his words become vague and boring, and that's why I give the book only three stars.

I've given a fair introduction to this novel, but if you want more information on its lapses in good writing, resulting in my three-star rating, read on.

Here is an excerpt from Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style." It illustrates poor, vague writing:

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account.

That bit of vague, difficult-to-understand, and blasé writing was George Orwell's satirical paraphrasing of my excerpt below, again from "The Elements of Style." It illustrates good, concrete writing:

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. ("Holy Bible," Ecclesiastes)

Here is a quote from "The Children of Dune" (pages 262-263 of my 1976 Book Club edition):

And the bas-relief imagery persisted. Intrusions hammered at him. Past-present-now. There was no true separation. He knew he had to flow with this thing, but the flowing terrified him. How could he return to any recognizable place? Yet he felt himself being forced to cease every effort of resistance. He could not grasp his new universe in motionless, labeled bits. No bit would stand still. Things could not be forever ordered and formulated. He had to find the rhythm of change and see between the changes to changing itself. Without knowing where it began he found himself moving within a gigantic moment bienheureux, able to see the past in the future, present in the past, the now in both past and future, It was the accumulation of centuries experienced between one heartbeat and the next.

Frank is effusive here. He uses many words to say little. I found it vague, difficult to understand, and boring. It resembles Strunk & White's quote of George Orwell. Compare it to when Frank introduces Leto and Ghanima on page 15:

As was the Fremen custom, the Atreides twins arose an hour before dawn. They yawned and stretched in secret unison in their adjoining chambers, feeling the activity of the cave-warren around them. They could hear attendants in the antechamber preparing breakfast, a simple gruel with dates and nuts blended in liquid skimmed from partially fermented spice. There were glowglobes in the antechamber and a soft yellow light entered through open archways of the bedchambers. The twins dressed swiftly in the soft light, each hearing the other nearby. As they had agreed, they donned stillsuits against the desert's parching winds.

Maybe some stylists would say this sequence is a bit heavy on background detail. (Was there really a need to insert the recipe for the gruel?) For me, it is a good start for the chapter. It is easy to understand and concrete, resembling Strunk & White's quote from Ecclesiastes. In other places in the novel, Frank bogs down his narrative by elaborating on the thoughts of characters or on their surrealistic experiences. Here with the twins, though, we have concrete physical activity, and Frank is moving the story along.

If you are attracted to the Dune universe and are determined to read all the Dune books, then go ahead and read "The Children of Dune." But the novel has too many passages that are meant to be savory when they are actually as tasteless as nonfat milk. Therefore I cannot in good faith recommend it as something to read by itself. If, however, you are turned on by material like that of my first quote from the novel, and if that conforms to your concept of good writing, then for you I give "The Children of Dune" five stars. Definitely!

Absolutely Horrific Narrator, but Excellent Source Material!
Short version:

the narration is absolutely terrible, but you have no other alternative.This is just a "heads up" so that you know what to expect....


Long version:
This is a review of the audio book, not the novel.the novel and the author are excellent and Children of Dune is sometimes considered to be the best of the "original" sequels (before the plotlines become incredibly convoluted and diverged from the characters introduced in the original novel).


I have listened to most of the audio books made from the Dune novels.I have listened to all of the Frank Herbert audio books and all but the "interlude" novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson (the "Legend" series, the "Prelude" series, and the final 2 sequels to the original series:a total of 6 original + 8 new audio books = 14 total)

anyone who has heard them knows that you listen to a lot of Scott Brick (he does most of the newer novels and acts as a "Co-Narrator" on some of the original novels like Dune and Dune Messiah).


I fully admit that House Atreides and House Corrino (prelude books 1 and 3) have a relatively A-Tonal, boring narrator....

but that guy (Michael Pritchard) at least makes a reasonable effort.





This is, by far, and without question, the absolute worst audio book I have ever heard in my entire life.


It is legitimately comical, because the narrator almost makes an effort to sound completely A-tonal and give absolutely no narrative emphasis whatsoever.He reads relatively fast (most audio book narrators read slightly slower)....



Children of Dune is filled with even more "philosophy" and literal heaps of metaphors.


in fact, CoD has more philosophy and metaphorical writing than Dune or Dune Messiah (the 2 novels that came before).



there are many many scenes in which the protagonist (Leto II) is siting around, tripping on spice, and just spouting endless amounts of nonsensical Eastern philosophy...



that is all well and good, but when the narrator is reading those sections in a very very bland, A-tonal voice, with absolutely no emphasis whatsoever....

no metering

no pacing


just a continuous "word per minute" rate....


it becomes torturous.


It really is a joke.I am serious.You could easily find a section of the audio book and put it on Saturday Night Live and everyone would understand your joke without any explanation.




But as I have already hinted at the beginning, you really have no alternative.


I may have missed it, but as far as I know, this is the only Children of Dune audio book (my experience shows that there is a degree of industry protection to prevent a "better" studio from releasing multiple different versions of the same audio book to steal business from another, older, studio)...



thus you have no choice!!!! you have to deal with this guy.


just be glad that the plot is relatively easy to follow.It would have been much much much much worse if this guy narrated God Emperor of Dune!

Great plot, sometimes thick writing
I like the direction Frank Herbert took the Dune series in his first two sequels. This book has a bit more development than the original Dune. We get to learn more about the inner turmoil of Paul, Alia, and then meet the kids. Frank has a way of creating politically exciting twists and power struggles, without making any one character the villain. Paul and Alia in their own ways are both despots and victims. In terms of storyline, I think this brings the story to a satisfying conclusion (I'm not so big a fan of what happens after Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3)).

Frank's writing style can be a bit dense. Sometimes the dialogue is filled with philosophical or nonsensical musings. Some of it is quite deep - but certainly not how people actually talk. It takes some getting used to. I'd recommend only continuing on to this book if you got through the original Dune and liked it.

If you liked the books, I highly recommend Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set) - it's a pretty good film adaptation of Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles) and Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3).

Children of Dune, book 3
Very pleased buying from Amazon. Book 3 carries on the saga of Paul, the political and religious leader of the sand planet Dune. With his powers of seeing the future, he leads his people down various potential paths. The book came in great condition, in a timely manner. I will continue to buy Amazon products for their quality and affordability.

Great reading...lots of detail
I've just started reading this book.Although I've read other books by this author, I could not remember reading this one.I've enjoyed reading all of the "Dune" books.The book arrived very early and in near new condition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (123)

A mixture of boredom and excitement.
I've been reading the sixteen Dune books--ten by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, six by Frank Herbert--in chronological succession according to time in the Dune universe. So far Frank's "The Children of Dune" is the worst, as I shall explain, though it does have merits.

At the end of the preceding volume, "The Winds of Dune," Emperor Paul Muad'Dib is apparently dead. His sister Alia rules as regent until Paul's baby son, Leto, comes of age.

Nine years pass.

Leto and his twin sister, Ghanima, are the Children of Dune, and they are the novel's most interesting things as well as its most interesting characters. A combination of centuries of planned breeding and the psychotropic, biochemical effects of excretions from Dune's giant sandworms has gifted the twins with extraordinary paranormal abilities. One is that when they use the planet's psychotropic spice, melange, they have the power of prescience. Another is that they have been born with the genetic memories of all their ancestors. As you might expect, the knowledge that thismemory gives them makes them very precocious nine-year olds.

The main theme of the novel is the struggle of Leto and Ghanima against their evil aunt, Alia, who is possessed by an evil spirit and has no intentions of giving up her power. But I dare say this theme and the other story objectives could have been better executed by Brian and Kevin. Frank didn't do as much with the story as he could have. He gives us some interesting dialog with the precocious nine-year olds talking as adults, he gives us some exciting action sequences, and he gives us a fast-paced "ending" with an arousing finale. By "ending," I mean the sixty pages or so that precede the last ten pages. Much of the novel's remaining material, including the last ten pages, is blasé. He could have replaced that blasé material with another plotline, another character, or some other interesting material.


Frank's trouble in "Children of Dune" occurs when his writing style is effusive without being concrete. At those moments his words become vague and boring, and that's why I give the book only three stars.

I've given a fair introduction to this novel, but if you want more information on its lapses in good writing, resulting in my three-star rating, read on.

Here is an excerpt from Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style." It illustrates poor, vague writing:

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account.

That bit of vague, difficult-to-understand, and blasé writing was George Orwell's satirical paraphrasing of my excerpt below, again from "The Elements of Style." It illustrates good, concrete writing:

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. ("Holy Bible," Ecclesiastes)

Here is a quote from "The Children of Dune" (pages 262-263 of my 1976 Book Club edition):

And the bas-relief imagery persisted. Intrusions hammered at him. Past-present-now. There was no true separation. He knew he had to flow with this thing, but the flowing terrified him. How could he return to any recognizable place? Yet he felt himself being forced to cease every effort of resistance. He could not grasp his new universe in motionless, labeled bits. No bit would stand still. Things could not be forever ordered and formulated. He had to find the rhythm of change and see between the changes to changing itself. Without knowing where it began he found himself moving within a gigantic moment bienheureux, able to see the past in the future, present in the past, the now in both past and future, It was the accumulation of centuries experienced between one heartbeat and the next.

Frank is effusive here. He uses many words to say little. I found it vague, difficult to understand, and boring. It resembles Strunk & White's quote of George Orwell. Compare it to when Frank introduces Leto and Ghanima on page 15:

As was the Fremen custom, the Atreides twins arose an hour before dawn. They yawned and stretched in secret unison in their adjoining chambers, feeling the activity of the cave-warren around them. They could hear attendants in the antechamber preparing breakfast, a simple gruel with dates and nuts blended in liquid skimmed from partially fermented spice. There were glowglobes in the antechamber and a soft yellow light entered through open archways of the bedchambers. The twins dressed swiftly in the soft light, each hearing the other nearby. As they had agreed, they donned stillsuits against the desert's parching winds.

Maybe some stylists would say this sequence is a bit heavy on background detail. (Was there really a need to insert the recipe for the gruel?) For me, it is a good start for the chapter. It is easy to understand and concrete, resembling Strunk & White's quote from Ecclesiastes. In other places in the novel, Frank bogs down his narrative by elaborating on the thoughts of characters or on their surrealistic experiences. Here with the twins, though, we have concrete physical activity, and Frank is moving the story along.

If you are attracted to the Dune universe and are determined to read all the Dune books, then go ahead and read "The Children of Dune." But the novel has too many passages that are meant to be savory when they are actually as tasteless as nonfat milk. Therefore I cannot in good faith recommend it as something to read by itself. If, however, you are turned on by material like that of my first quote from the novel, and if that conforms to your concept of good writing, then for you I give "The Children of Dune" five stars. Definitely!

Absolutely Horrific Narrator, but Excellent Source Material!
Short version:

the narration is absolutely terrible, but you have no other alternative.This is just a "heads up" so that you know what to expect....


Long version:
This is a review of the audio book, not the novel.the novel and the author are excellent and Children of Dune is sometimes considered to be the best of the "original" sequels (before the plotlines become incredibly convoluted and diverged from the characters introduced in the original novel).


I have listened to most of the audio books made from the Dune novels.I have listened to all of the Frank Herbert audio books and all but the "interlude" novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson (the "Legend" series, the "Prelude" series, and the final 2 sequels to the original series:a total of 6 original + 8 new audio books = 14 total)

anyone who has heard them knows that you listen to a lot of Scott Brick (he does most of the newer novels and acts as a "Co-Narrator" on some of the original novels like Dune and Dune Messiah).


I fully admit that House Atreides and House Corrino (prelude books 1 and 3) have a relatively A-Tonal, boring narrator....

but that guy (Michael Pritchard) at least makes a reasonable effort.





This is, by far, and without question, the absolute worst audio book I have ever heard in my entire life.


It is legitimately comical, because the narrator almost makes an effort to sound completely A-tonal and give absolutely no narrative emphasis whatsoever.He reads relatively fast (most audio book narrators read slightly slower)....



Children of Dune is filled with even more "philosophy" and literal heaps of metaphors.


in fact, CoD has more philosophy and metaphorical writing than Dune or Dune Messiah (the 2 novels that came before).



there are many many scenes in which the protagonist (Leto II) is siting around, tripping on spice, and just spouting endless amounts of nonsensical Eastern philosophy...



that is all well and good, but when the narrator is reading those sections in a very very bland, A-tonal voice, with absolutely no emphasis whatsoever....

no metering

no pacing


just a continuous "word per minute" rate....


it becomes torturous.


It really is a joke.I am serious.You could easily find a section of the audio book and put it on Saturday Night Live and everyone would understand your joke without any explanation.




But as I have already hinted at the beginning, you really have no alternative.


I may have missed it, but as far as I know, this is the only Children of Dune audio book (my experience shows that there is a degree of industry protection to prevent a "better" studio from releasing multiple different versions of the same audio book to steal business from another, older, studio)...



thus you have no choice!!!! you have to deal with this guy.


just be glad that the plot is relatively easy to follow.It would have been much much much much worse if this guy narrated God Emperor of Dune!

Great plot, sometimes thick writing
I like the direction Frank Herbert took the Dune series in his first two sequels. This book has a bit more development than the original Dune. We get to learn more about the inner turmoil of Paul, Alia, and then meet the kids. Frank has a way of creating politically exciting twists and power struggles, without making any one character the villain. Paul and Alia in their own ways are both despots and victims. In terms of storyline, I think this brings the story to a satisfying conclusion (I'm not so big a fan of what happens after Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3)).

Frank's writing style can be a bit dense. Sometimes the dialogue is filled with philosophical or nonsensical musings. Some of it is quite deep - but certainly not how people actually talk. It takes some getting used to. I'd recommend only continuing on to this book if you got through the original Dune and liked it.

If you liked the books, I highly recommend Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set) - it's a pretty good film adaptation of Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles) and Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3).

Children of Dune, book 3
Very pleased buying from Amazon. Book 3 carries on the saga of Paul, the political and religious leader of the sand planet Dune. With his powers of seeing the future, he leads his people down various potential paths. The book came in great condition, in a timely manner. I will continue to buy Amazon products for their quality and affordability.

Great reading...lots of detail
I've just started reading this book.Although I've read other books by this author, I could not remember reading this one.I've enjoyed reading all of the "Dune" books.The book arrived very early and in near new condition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (123)

A mixture of boredom and excitement.
I've been reading the sixteen Dune books--ten by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, six by Frank Herbert--in chronological succession according to time in the Dune universe. So far Frank's "The Children of Dune" is the worst, as I shall explain, though it does have merits.

At the end of the preceding volume, "The Winds of Dune," Emperor Paul Muad'Dib is apparently dead. His sister Alia rules as regent until Paul's baby son, Leto, comes of age.

Nine years pass.

Leto and his twin sister, Ghanima, are the Children of Dune, and they are the novel's most interesting things as well as its most interesting characters. A combination of centuries of planned breeding and the psychotropic, biochemical effects of excretions from Dune's giant sandworms has gifted the twins with extraordinary paranormal abilities. One is that when they use the planet's psychotropic spice, melange, they have the power of prescience. Another is that they have been born with the genetic memories of all their ancestors. As you might expect, the knowledge that thismemory gives them makes them very precocious nine-year olds.

The main theme of the novel is the struggle of Leto and Ghanima against their evil aunt, Alia, who is possessed by an evil spirit and has no intentions of giving up her power. But I dare say this theme and the other story objectives could have been better executed by Brian and Kevin. Frank didn't do as much with the story as he could have. He gives us some interesting dialog with the precocious nine-year olds talking as adults, he gives us some exciting action sequences, and he gives us a fast-paced "ending" with an arousing finale. By "ending," I mean the sixty pages or so that precede the last ten pages. Much of the novel's remaining material, including the last ten pages, is blasé. He could have replaced that blasé material with another plotline, another character, or some other interesting material.


Frank's trouble in "Children of Dune" occurs when his writing style is effusive without being concrete. At those moments his words become vague and boring, and that's why I give the book only three stars.

I've given a fair introduction to this novel, but if you want more information on its lapses in good writing, resulting in my three-star rating, read on.

Here is an excerpt from Strunk & White's "The Elements of Style." It illustrates poor, vague writing:

Objective consideration of contemporary phenomena compels the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must inevitably be taken into account.

That bit of vague, difficult-to-understand, and blasé writing was George Orwell's satirical paraphrasing of my excerpt below, again from "The Elements of Style." It illustrates good, concrete writing:

I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. ("Holy Bible," Ecclesiastes)

Here is a quote from "The Children of Dune" (pages 262-263 of my 1976 Book Club edition):

And the bas-relief imagery persisted. Intrusions hammered at him. Past-present-now. There was no true separation. He knew he had to flow with this thing, but the flowing terrified him. How could he return to any recognizable place? Yet he felt himself being forced to cease every effort of resistance. He could not grasp his new universe in motionless, labeled bits. No bit would stand still. Things could not be forever ordered and formulated. He had to find the rhythm of change and see between the changes to changing itself. Without knowing where it began he found himself moving within a gigantic moment bienheureux, able to see the past in the future, present in the past, the now in both past and future, It was the accumulation of centuries experienced between one heartbeat and the next.

Frank is effusive here. He uses many words to say little. I found it vague, difficult to understand, and boring. It resembles Strunk & White's quote of George Orwell. Compare it to when Frank introduces Leto and Ghanima on page 15:

As was the Fremen custom, the Atreides twins arose an hour before dawn. They yawned and stretched in secret unison in their adjoining chambers, feeling the activity of the cave-warren around them. They could hear attendants in the antechamber preparing breakfast, a simple gruel with dates and nuts blended in liquid skimmed from partially fermented spice. There were glowglobes in the antechamber and a soft yellow light entered through open archways of the bedchambers. The twins dressed swiftly in the soft light, each hearing the other nearby. As they had agreed, they donned stillsuits against the desert's parching winds.

Maybe some stylists would say this sequence is a bit heavy on background detail. (Was there really a need to insert the recipe for the gruel?) For me, it is a good start for the chapter. It is easy to understand and concrete, resembling Strunk & White's quote from Ecclesiastes. In other places in the novel, Frank bogs down his narrative by elaborating on the thoughts of characters or on their surrealistic experiences. Here with the twins, though, we have concrete physical activity, and Frank is moving the story along.

If you are attracted to the Dune universe and are determined to read all the Dune books, then go ahead and read "The Children of Dune." But the novel has too many passages that are meant to be savory when they are actually as tasteless as nonfat milk. Therefore I cannot in good faith recommend it as something to read by itself. If, however, you are turned on by material like that of my first quote from the novel, and if that conforms to your concept of good writing, then for you I give "The Children of Dune" five stars. Definitely!

Absolutely Horrific Narrator, but Excellent Source Material!
Short version:

the narration is absolutely terrible, but you have no other alternative.This is just a "heads up" so that you know what to expect....


Long version:
This is a review of the audio book, not the novel.the novel and the author are excellent and Children of Dune is sometimes considered to be the best of the "original" sequels (before the plotlines become incredibly convoluted and diverged from the characters introduced in the original novel).


I have listened to most of the audio books made from the Dune novels.I have listened to all of the Frank Herbert audio books and all but the "interlude" novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson (the "Legend" series, the "Prelude" series, and the final 2 sequels to the original series:a total of 6 original + 8 new audio books = 14 total)

anyone who has heard them knows that you listen to a lot of Scott Brick (he does most of the newer novels and acts as a "Co-Narrator" on some of the original novels like Dune and Dune Messiah).


I fully admit that House Atreides and House Corrino (prelude books 1 and 3) have a relatively A-Tonal, boring narrator....

but that guy (Michael Pritchard) at least makes a reasonable effort.





This is, by far, and without question, the absolute worst audio book I have ever heard in my entire life.


It is legitimately comical, because the narrator almost makes an effort to sound completely A-tonal and give absolutely no narrative emphasis whatsoever.He reads relatively fast (most audio book narrators read slightly slower)....



Children of Dune is filled with even more "philosophy" and literal heaps of metaphors.


in fact, CoD has more philosophy and metaphorical writing than Dune or Dune Messiah (the 2 novels that came before).



there are many many scenes in which the protagonist (Leto II) is siting around, tripping on spice, and just spouting endless amounts of nonsensical Eastern philosophy...



that is all well and good, but when the narrator is reading those sections in a very very bland, A-tonal voice, with absolutely no emphasis whatsoever....

no metering

no pacing


just a continuous "word per minute" rate....


it becomes torturous.


It really is a joke.I am serious.You could easily find a section of the audio book and put it on Saturday Night Live and everyone would understand your joke without any explanation.




But as I have already hinted at the beginning, you really have no alternative.


I may have missed it, but as far as I know, this is the only Children of Dune audio book (my experience shows that there is a degree of industry protection to prevent a "better" studio from releasing multiple different versions of the same audio book to steal business from another, older, studio)...



thus you have no choice!!!! you have to deal with this guy.


just be glad that the plot is relatively easy to follow.It would have been much much much much worse if this guy narrated God Emperor of Dune!

Great plot, sometimes thick writing
I like the direction Frank Herbert took the Dune series in his first two sequels. This book has a bit more development than the original Dune. We get to learn more about the inner turmoil of Paul, Alia, and then meet the kids. Frank has a way of creating politically exciting twists and power struggles, without making any one character the villain. Paul and Alia in their own ways are both despots and victims. In terms of storyline, I think this brings the story to a satisfying conclusion (I'm not so big a fan of what happens after Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3)).

Frank's writing style can be a bit dense. Sometimes the dialogue is filled with philosophical or nonsensical musings. Some of it is quite deep - but certainly not how people actually talk. It takes some getting used to. I'd recommend only continuing on to this book if you got through the original Dune and liked it.

If you liked the books, I highly recommend Frank Herbert's Children of Dune (Sci-Fi TV Miniseries) (Two-Disc DVD Set) - it's a pretty good film adaptation of Dune Messiah (Dune Chronicles) and Children of Dune (Dune Chronicles, Book 3).

Children of Dune, book 3
Very pleased buying from Amazon. Book 3 carries on the saga of Paul, the political and religious leader of the sand planet Dune. With his powers of seeing the future, he leads his people down various potential paths. The book came in great condition, in a timely manner. I will continue to buy Amazon products for their quality and affordability.

Great reading...lots of detail
I've just started reading this book.Although I've read other books by this author, I could not remember reading this one.I've enjoyed reading all of the "Dune" books.The book arrived very early and in near new condition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Underwhelming
I give this a 3.5 rounded down to a 3.

This book is really an early techno-thriller treading water that Tom Clancy would later plow more effectively in The Hunt for Red October. It is science fiction only due to its age and the idea of a device monitoring psychiatric/psychological functions.

Our protagonist, a psych agent in the military is put aboard a sub to see what is wrong with the captain, and there is possibly a traitor on board. The pressure the title refers to is both the pressure of the deep deep water, and the pressure of being cooped up in a sub with other people doing an incredibly stressful job. We see the coping mechanisms of the submariners as they are under stress.

Unfortunately I couldn't really care about the main character, and I found the sub hunts were not paced well to create any real tension. The ending though is a lot better and finally some excitement and real tension is created, enough to redeem the book but not enough to make it the classic it is revered as.

Points for the idea of a techno-thriller but due to a generally uninteresting story this is only an average work.

Classic Science Fiction
"Under Pressure" succeeds where so many of today's doorstopper novels fail: Herbert is able to sketch believable, smart characters quickly and desicively then send them out into a taut plot that keeps one turning pages. A smart, smart novel by a master. Don't miss it!

under pressure by frank herbert
great book-would make a great movie as i love submarine movies!!updating this for the big sceen would take very little effort. i think of this story as more of a suspense/mystery novel rather than sci-fi. i see James Cromwell as the sub commander. economics,deceit,paranoia,loyalty,and betrayal!Herbert wrote a very strong story with characters that are flawed,couragous,and real.A hidden gem! -tough to put down.

Fantastic Submarine Adventure
This is a very exciting book that takes place in a not so distant future. The world is divided in two and they are a war.

Our side is stealing oil with submarines. And we have a sabuteur.

A classic that still lives
This book, originally published in the 50s as "The Dragon in theSea", was one of the first adult hard-sf books I ever read and my copyof the paperback original has almost disintegrated from repeatedre-readings.This story of an undersea mission to a radioactivity-ravagedEurope and the subplot of a traitor in the crew is as readable andbelievable today as when it was first published.It should be read byevery published or aspiring sf author as a textbook in how to write a storythat doesn't date itself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Cerebral, phsycological thriller!
This is one of the best of Frank Herberts works. Destination void takes place aboard the Voidship Earthling. The entire purpose of this ship is to create an artificial intelligence, but only a few members of the crew know this. The other members rush and struggle through various planned and real emergencies that turn the ship into a pressure cooker. As you read you're taken through this struggle and face the question of what it truly means to be conscious.

Mind Blowing novel
Destination: Void is an excellent novel by Frank Herbert.It explores some very deep and interesting concepts, such as consciousness.Although It may be tough to get through, It is definately worth the effort.What makes it tough to get through at times is the technobabble, but if you don't pay too much attention to it, you'll be just fine.The copy I read was an older one, that had no separation of the text (i.e. chapters) and that along with the deepness of the book gave me many headaches, but I wouldn't change that for anything.As for the end of the novel, it completely blew my mind. I can say with confidence that the ending was probably the best I've ever read.I highly recommend this novel, as well as its sequel The Jesus Incident.

Run OMC
Premise:
Voidship Earthling, 7th serial spaceship on a mission from Unified Moon Base, is on its way to colonize in the Tau Ceti star system.The members on the ship are clones who a programmed to certain orientations and duties.Bickel is the frontier pusher who is programmed to refuse turning back from the mission, Timberlake the life systems engineer, Flattery the chaplain-psychiatrist with orders to destroy the ship if he feels it is necessary, and Prudence, who is directed to prod Bickel.

Central to the operation of the ship is the OMC, or organic mental core, a specialized brain that coordinates ship functions.After the original OMC and two backups fail, the crew has to manually direct many gross ship functions.This is extremely difficult for them and it becomes apparent that they will have to devise another approach to ship operation.

The arrived at alternative is to take the ship's computer as a basis and attempt the creation of an AI using inorganic components available in ship stores.This attempt is the crux of the novel.

It becomes apparent that the difficulties that confront the ship (failure of 3 OMCs and other incidents) were orchestrated by the project team back at UMB.Why?To put the crew into survival mode, forcing them into hyper-alertness in order to create the artificial consciousness.If they don't successfully create the consciousness, they die.Also, having the attempt take place on a ship far away from UMB is a safety measure, as there is some concern that the consciousness created by the crew could be dangerous.

What's cool about the book:
-It's Frank Herbert
-to an extent the discussions about the ethicality of building the consciousness and about the details of consciousness
-the idea that the people in the hibernation tanks on the ship will constitute the unconscious of the artificial consciousness
-Bickel's white box-black box procedure that allowed the consciousness to obtain an ancestry via Bickel
-the subtext of the characters having unspoken motives, drives and missions
-the mystery of the UMB project team's ultimate motives in placing the ship and crew in peril

What's not:
-The laborious, labyrinthine technical topography associated with the consciousness project (you overplayed your hand Herbert)
-the entire book taking place on the ship
-the pace was fairly leaden
-lack of details on the OMCs

Summation:Readable, but noteworthy mostly as the first book in a series of four (D:V, The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor).I understand Herbert's place in SciFi as a "thinking" and philosophical writer, but this story would have been much better served with less technical-ese, less rumination about the nature of consciousness (though some of it was cool) and more action.

I have already purchased the rest of the books in the series and I am very much looking forward to reading them.Here are the review pages for those books:

The Jesus Incident: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441385397/qid=1134089668/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-5585497-8774440?n=507846&s=books&v=glance

The Lazarus Effect:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399128158/qid=1134089754/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-5585497-8774440?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

The Ascension Factor:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0441031277/qid=1134089830/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5585497-8774440?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Superb!
Destination: Void is perhaps my favorite Frank Herbert novel. Mind-blowing dialog discusses the nature of consciousness while the action unfolds at a lively pace. The description of computer circuits seems at once arcane (reflecting the 1966 publish date) but strangely fresh and compelling. Somehow, Herbert's extrapolation from 1960's computing machinery makes the computers more entertaining and more tangible (there are lots of wires and flashing lights instead of chips, for instance). Additionally, Herbert's characters have their own realistic-sounding mathematical jargon that makes it fun to try to understand what they are saying. In this respect, it reminds me of the descriptions of the math of "psychohistory" in Asimov's Foundation.

The real strength of the book, though, is the constant narrative and ruminations on thoughts of artificial intelligence and consciousness (and fortunately Mr. Herbert only indulged himself with an expected but brief discussion of "consciousness-expanding" drugs in a subplot!)

Interesting set-up to the Pandora series
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I picked up "Destination: Void" from a seedy little used book store.I'd been a huge Herbert fan for years (one read of "Dune" is all it took for that), but I'd heard very mixed reviews of this particular novel.This is different from a lot of his other works, in that the plot is completely secondary to the philosophical/technical issues he raises. Usually Herbert weaves an intricate plot around his ideas that keeps the pages turning, but that just wasn't the case here.In some areas it becomes a tad tedious to read, but if you pay attention, it's a very insightful novel, even if the technology that's discussed is a tad dated.

One of his favorite themes has always been consciousness, how we define it, what levels can be attained by humans, and is there something more that we're lacking.In "Destination: Void", the characters are forced to attempt the creation of artificial intelligence for their very survival, and all of these questions are called in to play, not to mention the ethical ramifications of their "playing God".Eventually they succeed in creating "Ship", and thereby set the basis for the entertaining, if bizarre Pandora series.

This is not the best book for someone hoping to read a story, but if you love Herbert and have an interest in philosophy, then he will take you on a great ride and share his perspective with you in "Destination: Void". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Still incredibly relevant to our world
It is difficult to give a short review of this collection of articles and essays simply because they cover so many topics.Obviously there are several sections dealing with Dune, and these are utterly fascinating.The Campbell Correspondence is of particular interest as it shows Herbert's thoughts about Dune while he was still writing it.But you can see the inspiration for many of his other works throughout the essays.The insight into his motivations (or at least inspirations) for writing his novels stirs up the desire to re-read (or I guess read if you've not been fortunate enough to do so yet) those books to see those ideas explored.

I found there to be a great deal of serious philosophical ideas in Herbert's works, but here these ideas are pulled from their pretty fictional dressing and discussed more plainly.Which makes it somewhat easier to then turn around and articulate to others.Most people tend to not give weight to arguments that begin with, "I read this in a science fiction story and..."

What I like most about this book is it shows a man who thought deeply about the world, us and our place in it.Who gave it considered thought and approached our world from an angle most people do not.I don't agree with all of his conclusions or ideas, of course, but even in those ideas I disagree with I find inspiration and clarity for my own ideas.

It is a tragedy that this book is no longer in print.

Fascinating insight into the mind of Herbert
This book of essays shows the mind behind the books. He elaborates on his political, ecological, and philosophical beliefs. I highly recommend this book for anyone who has read Frank Herbert's work and wants to know more about the author ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Free SF Reader
A pretty average collection of Herbert stories, here, with an average of only 3.25 compared to the 3.50 for the Priests of Psi, for example.

Book of Frank Herbert : Seed Stock - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : The Nothing - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Rat Race - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Gambling Device - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Looking for Something? - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : The Gone Dogs - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Passage for Piano - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Encounter in a Lonely Place - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Operation Syndrome - Frank Herbert
Book of Frank Herbert : Occupation Force - Frank Herbert


Colony talent deprivation.

3.5 out of 5


Mutant decline.

3 out of 5


Freak outbreak.

3.5 out of 5


No choice.

3 out of 5


Careless indoctrination.

3 out of 5


Canine virus wipeout research.

4 out of 5


Music bugs us.

3.5 out of 5


Predicting solitude.

2.5 out of 5


Music Scramble.

3.5 out of 5


Status reveal.

3 out of 5

A great book of short stories.
This is a fascinating colletion of stories of the future of human kind. If you like science fiction, you'll love "The Book of Frank Herbert". ... Read more

Product Description
The science language―an overly-neglected field for the extrapolations science-fiction―is put brilliant use in this powerful story. Against a background ultimate peril from a galactic invader, man (in this case, woman) back beyond Babel to recall for humanity the places the soul, where words are not enough.
Would the similarity between the gestures of an Arab dancer and those of the dread Galactic invaders help to break the communication barrier before it was too late?
... Read more

Product Description
In an overpopulated world seeking living room in the jungles, the International Ecological Organization was systematically exterminating the voracious insects which made these areas uninhabitable. Using deadly foamal bombs and newly developed vibration weapons, men like Joao Martinho and his co-workers fought to clear the green hell of the Mato Grosso.

But somehow those areas which had been completely cleared were becoming reinfested, despite the impenetrable vibration barriers. And tales came out of the jungles . . . of insects mutated to incredible sizes . . . of creatures who seemed to be men, but whose eyes gleamed with the chitinous sheen of insects. . . .

A fascinating examination of the fragile balance between consciousness, man and insect from one of the best-loved science fiction creators of all time.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Good yarn
While it is Dune that is Frank Herbert's greatest work, his other works should never be overlooked. I enjoyed this book rather much. Not quite as much ad Dune, but few things hold up to Dune. It was a unique and interesting tale about insects and evolution, and I would recommend it to anyone else.

The Green Brain

This is a science fiction novella first published in 1966, one year after the classic Dune. One of the big themes of Dune is, of course, ecology. In The Green Brain, Herbert explores ecology in another setting - the jungles of a future Brazil, on Earth. In this future Brazil, the humans are trying to eliminate all insects in an effort to decrease disease and increase food production (they will keep some bees around to pollinate the crops). Needless to say, this is an ecological disaster in the making. And the bugs find a rather unique way to fight back - they develop a group brain that is every bit as bright (or brighter) than the humans. But the Green Brain does not want to fight a war with humans - it wants to find a way to communicate with them, and get them to stop the destruction of the ecosystem that all life depends upon.

Herbert has some really interesting ideas here, but the short length of the work prevents him from fully developing them. He also does not fully develop the three main characters (a Brazilian who fights the bugs on the front line, a beautiful Irish entomologist who also acts as a seductive spy, and a Chinese scientist who helped eliminate insects in China with very bad results). I was particularly puzzled on what the Chinese man's motivations were, as he knew what happened in China was a disaster, yet still pushing for the destruction of insects in Brazil.

Great ideas, but simply not fully developed...

A Short View of a Long Idea
An interesting book in the light it sheds on Dune.You can read the entire Dune series a number of times and get so caught up in the political/religious/sexual etc. themes that you can miss the larger point he begins to make as the story progresses, which is that ecology, when taken to its logical conclusion and extended beyond its customary limits of flora/fauna systems, is the ultimate science, uniting hard and soft disciplines from physics to economics to religion by studying their interactions.

Not a fantastic book by any stretch, but still really interesting, and essential if you want to really understand Herbert and Dune.Completely worth 7 bucks and an afternoon of your time.It will make the Dune seriesmore meaningful.

Rob Darling

It wasn't that bad.
Dune was one of the most amazing books I have ever read. It was a feast for the mind. This book on the other hand was a light snack. Wich I think Mr. Herbert intended. I have nothing bad to say about this novel. It is an interesting story with a cool ending. The guy who did the first reveiw took it too seriously. Lighten up!

Do not waste your time.
When I choose to read a book, I do so for one of two major reasons: 1. Fun, 2. Insight. If the book is not fun, then I at least want to be presented with a story that makes me think. "The Green Brain" did not fulfill either purpose adequately in spite of the fact that the verbal creativity used to described various landscapes was inventive and the character development is quite good.

It was not a fun read because, though you do come to know the characters (and you do feel empathy for their desperate circumstances) you don't find yourself admiring them or respecting them. None of the three main characters (Joao, Rhin, and Chin-Lhu) are principled people and, in this respect, the book does not uplift.

Neither was the book insightful. Without giving it away, the main "message" (which is summarized in the last chapter) is quite underwhelming and is a bit of a stretch given the story that was presented to support it. Though the internal dialogue of Chen-Lhu provided one an opportunity to refect on Machiavellian doctrines, still, it was not necessarily uplifting or insightful. In fact, it was more frustrating than anything else (which may have been intended). But, if you intend to frustrate without providing insight, you are not giving the reader a very good reason to read your story.

I do not recommend that you read this book. The story will not go where you may anticipate it going. The beginning is very promising and the journey of Joao, Rhin, and Chen-Lhu is involving but the two segments of the book don't feel very well connected. A good amount of tension and anticipation is built for a resolution but the last chapter of the book feels so different from the rest of the story that it leave one feeling dissatisfied. Finally, there is a general lack of morality within the main characters and this cements my inability to recommend this book. Do not waste your time. ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Operation Haystack is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Frank Herbert is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Frank Herbert then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Free SF Reader
A Science Fiction Story

Breeding conspiracy politics.


3.5 out of 5 ... Read more

Product Description
This title has fewer than 24 printed text pages. Old Rambling House is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Frank Herbert is in the English language. If you enjoy the works of Frank Herbert then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A valuable source of information on Herbert's writings.
In researching a Literary analysis paper on Frank Herbert I found "Frank Herbert" by Timothy O'Reilly to be moderately helpful.The subject of my paper was the the ecological motif which Herbert almost, if not, always includes in his works.Mr. O'Reilly tends on focusing on other maters and portrays the Dune series as Herbert's view on the dangers of a messiah or superman, and while this is a very valid portion of the work, it does not cover the ecological issues adaquately.

On the other hand it is a much more diverse book than most other sources I searched and in this sense proves its worth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Conclusión de la Saga de Dune
Este libro escrito por Brian Herbert y Kevin J. Anderson, es el 8vo libro de la serie de Dune iniciada por Frank Herbert. Los libros escritos por Frank Herbert son una saga de ciencia ficción que nos traslada al planeta Dune y la lucha por la especia, se leen de la siguiente manera:
Forman una misma historia
- Dune
- El Mesias de Dune
- Los Hijos de Dune
3000 años despues:
- Dios Emperador de Dune
1000 años despues:
- Herejes de Dune
- Casa Capitular Dune
Cuando Frank Herbert fallecio, dejo la historia incompleta, dice Brian Herbert, que su padre habia dejado anotaciones de la conclusión de su saga y que con estas anotaciones se hicieron los 2 siguientes libros:
- Cazadores de Dune
- Gusanos de Arena de Dune
Como opinión, lei este libro en ingles y recien lo voy a leer en castellano, me gusto, aunque hay cosas que no creo haya escrito Frank Herbert, ya que si lo hubiera hecho, su introducción apareceria mucho antes en sus libros. Hay otras que si, se nota que fueron ideas del escritor original, ya que coinciden con premisas que se vieron en sus libros. En conclusión, recomiendo para todo aquel que haya leido la saga completa de Frank Herbert, leer estos 2 libros. ... Read more