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The breathtaking vision and incomparable storytelling of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, a prequel to Frank Herbert's classic Dune, propelled it to the ranks of speculative fiction's classics in its own right. Now, with all the color, scope, and fascination of the prior novel, comes Dune: The Machine Crusade.More than two decades have passed since the events chronicled in The Butlerian Jihad. The crusade against thinking robots has ground on for years, but the show more forces led by Serena Butler and Irbis Ginjo have made only slight gains; the human worlds grow weary of war, of the bloody, inconclusive swing from victory to defeat.
The fearsome cymeks, led by Agamemnon, hatch new plots to regain their lost power from Omnius—as their numbers dwindle and time begins to run out. The fighters of Ginaz, led by Jool Noret, forge themselves into an elite warrior class, a weapon against the machine-dominated worlds. Aurelius Venport and Norma Cenva are on the verge of the most important discovery in human history-a way to "fold" space and travel instantaneously to any place in the galaxy.
And on the faraway, nearly worthless planet of Arrakis, Selim Wormrider and his band of outlaws take the first steps to making themselves the feared fighters who will change the course of history: the Fremen.
Here is the unrivaled imaginative power that has put Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson on bestseller lists everywhere and earned them the high regard of readers around the globe. The fantastic saga of Dune continues in Dune: The Machine Crusade.
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I couldn't get past the third book of Frank Herbert's original series as it got bogged down in hippy mysticism and dated '60s drug culture references. Thankfully with these new books his son, along with Kevin Anderson, have reinvigorated it into a grand space opera with strong believable characters and a narrative style that never lags. Yes the spiritual mumbo-jumbo and LSD-like trips still loom large (they are an integral part of the whole mythos after all) but the authors keep the sermons to a tolerable minimum while at the same time weaving serpentine plots and subplots which span the whole galaxy. A great read!
Out of all the McDune books that Brian and Kevin wrote, I found the Butlerian Jihad trilogy to be the most enjoyable out of them all. However, the same writing problems abound in all of the books, regardless of what it's about - useless detail, flat characters, and clunky writing in some places. This story would have been better if it was an entirely original creation by Brian and Kevin instead of a non-canon, fanfiction-esque extension of the Dune universe.
This book is heavy on filler. There are so many viewpoints and chapters that after a while it just all kind of... melts together. There was one thing that bothered me immensely - the transformation of Norma Cenva. I actually liked her better before, but then when she became show more transformed into a Super-Sorceress she lost her appeal. Aurelius had already accepted her for who she was, yet she felt compelled to change herself for him. I'm happy that Norma was finally able to achieve her mental potential, but to change herself to look like her mother and other Sorceresses was like validating Zufa's idea that beauty was vital to a woman.
This trilogy may be the best out of the McDune books that Brian and Kevin wrote, but it was still very plodding to read and I found myself skimming pages just to get on with it. show less
This book is heavy on filler. There are so many viewpoints and chapters that after a while it just all kind of... melts together. There was one thing that bothered me immensely - the transformation of Norma Cenva. I actually liked her better before, but then when she became show more transformed into a Super-Sorceress she lost her appeal. Aurelius had already accepted her for who she was, yet she felt compelled to change herself for him. I'm happy that Norma was finally able to achieve her mental potential, but to change herself to look like her mother and other Sorceresses was like validating Zufa's idea that beauty was vital to a woman.
This trilogy may be the best out of the McDune books that Brian and Kevin wrote, but it was still very plodding to read and I found myself skimming pages just to get on with it. show less
This overall narrative arc is interesting and it is better than the previous book, The Butlerian Jihad, but there were logical inconsistencies that bothered me. One of them was the sense that Herbert and Anderson give that traditional space travel takes time between stars yet every now and then when it is convenient to the narrative they make it seem that it is of no consequence for a space ship to change course and go someplace else in an inconsequential amount of time. In addition, the cogitors and cymeks are disembodied brains and thinking machines are artificial intelligences, yet they are written as if the brains or central processing units themselves have eyes. Why would a brain need to elevate itself to look a human in the eye? show more Why could they not simply use a photosensitive circuit on an elevating arm do the looking for them? There are other weird examples like that in the book but those are the two that come to mind. As a result this book is really science fantasy rather than science fiction. show less
The Machine Crusade is the second in a trilogy of the Legends of Dune, chronicling the Butlerian Jihad of man battling intelligent machines. This book didn't contribute anything sufficiently important to warrant its own volume, it should have been incorporated into the other two works in the series.
I was sorely disappointed in this book. The writing is bad, the dialog horrible. The Dune series is famous for its political intrigue, but in this book, the resolutions came too quickly and felt contrived. It was difficult to work through the book, toward the end, I just wanted to finish it.
This book had extreme violence, which goes against the grain of all other Dune books i've read.
On the positive side, it was good to read about some of show more the early events in the universe and have things explained. At a high level, there were interesting events taking place, it just wasn't well told. show less
I was sorely disappointed in this book. The writing is bad, the dialog horrible. The Dune series is famous for its political intrigue, but in this book, the resolutions came too quickly and felt contrived. It was difficult to work through the book, toward the end, I just wanted to finish it.
This book had extreme violence, which goes against the grain of all other Dune books i've read.
On the positive side, it was good to read about some of show more the early events in the universe and have things explained. At a high level, there were interesting events taking place, it just wasn't well told. show less
Not as great as the first (which I gave 5 stars), but still a great read that any dune fan will enjoy. There did seem to be a lot of time wasted in trying to tie things into the original series, but at the same time, it was kind of cool to know how those things came to be. It just seemed like they could have told the same story in 60% of the length :). All in all, I really liked this book and am excited to see how the series ends with Battle For Corrin. (mostly I want to get through this series so I can start reading Paul of Dune).
I started to read this book immediately after finishing the first in the series, The Butlerian Jihad.The book starts off about 30 years after the first one, and moves forward pretty rapidly from there. Many of the characters are carried over from the first novel, but adapted and changed by the events that have occurred. Some characters become more sympathetic, one character in particular goes from being a likable hero into an absolute monster. The events in this book are interesting, and it reads well. There are some surprising events that shake things up quite a bit, and some very unexpected deaths at this stage of the series.This book brings many elements more inline with the familair Dune canon, explaining away some things that show more seemed like inconsistencies. I would still highly recommend the series. show less
I find it tremendously entertaining to read about events in the pre-history of the Dune universe. The authors have done a masterful job of telling the story of how the Dune universe came to be. Readers of the Dune novels know what happened in the past (at least as much as history can be relied upon after thousands of years), but like studying our own history, the "hows and whys" often get lost. This book (and the others in this three-book saga) put faces to this ancient historical events.
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Brian Herbert is an author and the son of Frank Herbert, the creator of the Dune series. Brian Herbert has had several stand-alone novels published but he is perhaps most well-known for his books that expand on his father's Dune novels. Written with author Kevin J. Anderson, these novels have been commercially successful and generally well show more received by the public. Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune novels House Atreides, House Harkonnen, House Corrino, The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, The Battle of Corrin, The Road To Dune, Hunters of Dune, Sandworms Of Dune, Paul Of Dune, The Winds Of Dune, and Sisterhood of Dune. Brian Herbert has also edited several works relating to the Dune universe and to his father. In 2003, he authored Dreamer of Dune, the biography of Frank Herbert, a Hugo Award finalist nomination. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Kevin J. Anderson was born on March 27, 1962. Before becoming a full-time author, he worked in California for twelve years as a technical writer and editor at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. His science fiction books include Resurrection, Inc., the Star Wars Jedi Academy Trilogy, the Young Jedi Knights series, Ground Zero, Ruins, show more Climbing Olympus, Blindfold, and The Dark Between the Stars. He has also written several books with Doug Beason including Ignition, Virtual Destruction, Fallout, and Ill Wind. (Bowker Author Biography) Kevin J. Anderson has written twenty seven bestsellers and has been nominated for the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Reader's Choice Award. He also holds the Guinness world record for "The Largest Single-Author Signing". (Publisher Provided) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Machine Crusade
- Original title
- The Machine Crusade
- Alternate titles
- Dune: The Machine Crusade
- Original publication date
- 2003
- People/Characters
- Serena Butler; Xavier Harkonnen; Vorian Atreides; Iblis Ginjo; Norma Cenva; Aurelius Venport (show all 78); Erasmus; Omnius; Agamemnon; Juno; Hecate; Tio Holtzman; Ishmael; Zufa Cenva; Tuk Keedair; Xerxes; Cogitor Kwyna; Beowulf; Vergyl Tantor; Jool Noret; Zon Noret; Niko Bludd; Marha; Selim Wormrider; Leronica Tergiet; Yorek Thurr; Livia Butler; Jafar; Naib Dhartha; Chamal; Aliid; Hondu Cregh; Octa Butler; Manion Butler; Seurat; Rajid Suk; Gilbertus Albans; Cogitor Vidad; Emil Tantor; Rekur Van; Chirox; Rafel; Roella Harkonnen; Omilia Harkonnen; Camie Boro; Kalem Vazz; Brom Tergiet; Naam the Elder; Rendik Tolu-Far; Elder Rhengalid; Hosten Fru; Keats; Muñoza Chen; Niriem; Dante; Biondi; Ozza; Falina; Hierta; Aziz; Master Shar; Sheel Tantor; Floriscia Xico; Handon; Gueye d'Pardu; Wandra Harkonnen; Raul; Nathra Kiane; Burly Ingu; Estes Atreides; Kagin Atreides; Ticia Oss; Ticia Cenva; El'hiim; Yuell Onder; Quinto Paolo; Adrien Venport; Ajax
- Important places
- Salusa Secundus; Corrin; Arrakis; Poritrin; Ginaz; Caladan (show all 16); Ix; Kolhar; Tlulax; IV Anbus; Rossak; Bela Tegeuse; Ularda; Chusuk; Hessra; Arrakis City, Arrakis
- Important events
- Butlerian Jihad
- Dedication
- To PENNY and RON MERRITT,
Fellow travelers in the DUNE universe, with love
and appreciation for helping us maintain
the legacy of Frank Herbert - First words
- Historians do not agree on the messages carried in detritus of the long-ago past.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"From this day forward we shall call ourselves the Free Men of Arrakis."
- Publisher's editor
- LoBrutto, Pat; Caughey, Carolyn
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 813.087625
- Disambiguation notice*
- Édition Pocket (fr) les titres ont été inversé par rapport à l'édition originale anglaise
The Butlerian Jihad (en) = La guerre des machines (fr)
The Machine Crusade (en) = Le Jihad Butlérien (fr)
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Science Fiction, Fiction and Literature
- DDC/MDS
- 813.087625 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English By type Genre fiction Adventure fiction Speculative fiction Science fiction Space opera
- LCC
- PS3558 .E617 .D895 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
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