Dosadi Experiment

Sequel to Whipping Star, foreshadowing Dune

Whipping Star introduces a universe with truly alien aliens and a government bureau whose remit is to sabotage the goverment, lest it become too efficient.

The Dosadi Experiment builds on that universe to portray a world and a culture that reshapes humans and aliens in ways that are reminiscent of the various sub-cultures of Dune, with perhaps a backwards glance at some of the efforts of A.E. van Vogt.

Few people could make aliens as alien as Herbert. This is a classic example.

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Not Dune

For Frank Herbert fans this is not Dune but it is a good read

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One of Herbert's Best

<b>This is one of Herbert's greatest achievements. </b> Completely overshadowed by his <i>Dune</i> series, this book has never received the attention it deserves. Herbert creates a universe as richly textured and deeply thought out as that of Paul Atreides. Though it is probably heresy to say so, this book is even better than the first installment of <i>Dune</i> because it is more compact and tightly plotted. (Personally, I've always considered <i>God Emperor of Dune</i> to be the best of the series!). It lacks the religious subtext and pseudo-Mohammedan biography and is, therefore, more direct and to the point. Herbert tells the story mainly thru the eyes of the Bureau of Sabotage's supreme secret agent Jorj X. McKie, a short, fat toad-like man of brilliant intellect and machiavellian cunning. The book is filled with Herbert's signature concerns of ecology and the reaction of indivduals and societies under stress. Unlike the <i>Dune</i> universe, this one is filled with alien races that are fascinating and filled with thought provoking consequences. Herbert was one of the greatest thinkers (if not most talented <i>writers</i>) this country has ever produced. If he is clumsy when it comes to the interpersonal mush that critics insist 'serious' novels must contain, he conveys the sweep of vast events and unforseen consequences on a truly galactic stage. Parents might want to exercise caution before allowing children under fifteen to read this book. There is sex and some graphic violence as well Herbert's only thinly veiled leftist politics that some parents may not want to influence young minds. This book has a 'prequel' of sorts in the <i>Whipping Star</i> that is also well-worth reading as an introduction to the <i>Dosadi</i> universe. While it is by no means mandatory in order to enjoy this book, it provides a deeper experience. McKie also appears in a short story in <i>The Worlds of Frank Herbert</i>. This universe deserved a deeper exploration than Herbert gave it, instead turning his attention to that of the <i>Destination: Void</i> series. One of these days I hope to write a novel or two; hopefully his son will allow me, or perhaps himself, to do so.

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