Dune: The Machine Crusade

Dune: The Machine Crusade, like the other books in the various prequels to the original Dune series, is a large and complicated story. In many ways, it reminds me of one of Tom Clancy’s military/ spy novels. There is a war going on, a war involving many planets and solar systems spread across at least a galaxy. At least three groups are vying for supremacy in the universe, and naturally, such a large operation involves many many people. Even if some of those people are cymeks (mechanical bodies powered by the preserved brains of humans), robots, or artificial intelligences.Much of the book recounts various battles between the would-be controlling groups for control of some particular planet. By this time the Titan cymeks have seceded from the efforts of the artificial intelligence Omnius to become the supreme ruler of the universe. But they are still just as bent on destroying the planets controlled by the League of Nobles.However, another large part of the story is focused on the adventures of various humans who are playing various roles in the conflict, or who are important in creating what will eventually be the universe as it exists in the time of the original Dune series. These episodes are some of the best. Some of these people are heroes. Others are villains (yes, even some of those fighting for the League of Nobles have their villainous aspects).There is no covering all the moving parts of the story in a book review of any reasonable size. You’ll just have to read the book if you want to know. But I was interested in the relationship between the Harkonnen and Atreides families. If you are a Dune fan, you will recall that the long-running conflict between these two families forms much of the basis of their story centuries later. I was surprised to find that, not only did Primero Xavier Harkonnen and Primero Vorian Atreides become friends (in the previous book, The Butlerian Jihad, it looked for a while as if they would come into conflict over Serena Butler, whose son by Xavier Harkonnen became the impetus for the jihad when he was killed by the sentient robot, Erasmus), but this didn’t amount to anything in the end. Serena Butler was devoted to the idea of avenging her son and was no longer interested in marriage or men. So, Xavier and Vorian became friends and worked for the good of all humanity. They had different styles – Xavier was a straight-laced serious military type, while Vorian was more laid-back and a little mischievous – but they respected each other and never had any serious disagreements. Xavier was an honest and honorable man to the end of his life – unlike some of his supposed descendants centuries later.I was most surprised when it turned out that Xavier Harkonnen left no sons, and had none except for the deceased Manion Butler. He married Serena’s sister, Octa, before Serena returned from Earth (before that she was believed to be dead), and they had several daughters, but no sons. So, I wonder how they are going to work out how there came to be a Harkonnen line to get into a feud with the Atreides.There are other hints of future major cultural factors just beginning to come into existence at this time too. One is the space-folding ships that will eventually become the Heighliners of the Spacing Guild. These are being developed by Norma Cenva (my favorite of all the characters), a mathematical genius, daughter of Zufa Cenva of the planet Rossak, and a former apprentice of the famous inventor Tio Holtzman. At this time there is no Spacing Guild, and only toward the end of the book does it appear that Norma is beginning to understand how to navigate the ships using the mélange spice from Arrakis. Spice, Arrakis, and everything related to them comes to about twenty-two (or maybe more) stories only tangentially connected to the jihad. We won’t go into them here, but be assured, they are important, and they are there.Zufa Cenva, by the way, appears to possibly be the originator of the Bene Gesserit which was so important to the universe in the time of Paul Atreides in the Dune series. She had enormous powers of mind herself but of a different kind from Norma’s and specialized in training acolytes to destroy cymeks using that mind power. She also studied potential mates for their likely ability to produce children likely to have more powerful minds than her own. However, the emergence of the Bene Gesserit as an organized quasi-religious order seems to still be some time in the future.It will be interesting to see in the next book how some of these trends play out, and how the League of Nobles and their allies manage to eventually overcome both Omnius and the cymeks.

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.

Vast and intricate. A long read (which I started years ago and finally went back to) but well worth it. Moving on to “The Battle of Corrin”!

Started strong, but lost my ineterest through half the book and took me a good two months to gain interest again. A little slow for my taste, but a somewhat satisfying end for this book.

Not the greatest of writing but I just like the fact the effort is made. No one can come close the Frank Herbert. Authors do well sharing the detail historic information. I love how I can trace the genealogy and how this great war came about.

This trilogy is more like an Asimov "foundation" with imperial reach - I actually enjoyed it much better than the original dune.

This book, and the previous, drag on. I found myself just wanting the writer to get to the point. Also, a lot of story lines to follow.My guess is that the writer is trying to create an extension of the universe the original Dune series had, but gets caught up in the weeds.It’s trying to be a little bit history, mixed with a lot of story about characters I don’t really care about.

Quem gosta de ler sagas longas (richard sharpe de Bernard Cornwell é um exemplo) vai ficar extasiado com esta. A saga duna é uma óbra literária maravilhosa de Frank Herbert. Seu filho continuou o legado de seu pai partindo de fragmentos de anotações deixadas de livros incompletos. Diferentemente do ocorrido com Tolkien, o filho de Herbert foi capaz de manter o estilo literário e estas histórias (prólogos) trazem muitos elementos para entendermos melhor certos aspectos dos Harkonnen, Atreides, etc. Simplesmente fantástico, pena que não tem em portugues.

Highly recommended.Very accurate with the whole story.It has lot of background and explanations about the flow of events.

I enjoyed this thoroughly. I found the multiple threads were woven together so well. I enjoyed the sudden twists and turns. I look forward to #3

It is possibly the weekest volume in the series.Concerning the series:If you're already a fan of the original Dune series (by F. Herbert), you can buy this series and enjoy it... but don't expect it to have all the insight and deep reflections of the original one. This series is an entertaining SF novels and you shouldn't expect more, otherwise be disappointed! If you're a biginner to the Dune series and if you expect something more than just "simple entertainment", then you should definitely look for the original Dune series by Frank Herbert.

Great story and provided excellent background to understanding how the Space Guild came into play and the attitude to "thinking machines"!!! Thoroughly recommend!!!