Hellhole

by Brian Herbert

Overview

Only the most desperate colonists dare to make a new home on Hellhole. Reeling from a recent asteroid impact, tortured with horrific storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and churning volcanic eruptions, the planet is a dumping ground for undesirables, misfits, and charlatans…but also a haven for dreamers and independent pioneers.

Against all odds, an exiled general named Adolphus has turned Hellhole into a place of real opportunity for the desperate colonists who dare to make the planet their home. While the colonists are hard at work developing the planet, General Adolphus secretly builds alliances with the leaders of the other Deep Zone worlds, forming a clandestine alliance against the tyrannical, fossilized government responsible for their exile.

What no one knows is this: the planet Hellhole, though damaged and volatile, hides an amazing secret. Deep beneath its surface lies the remnants of an obliterated alien civilization and the buried memories of its unrecorded past that, when unearthed, could tear the galaxy apart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250442802
Publisher:	Tom Doherty Associates
Publication date:	11/29/2011
Pages:	690
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.71(d)

About the Author

Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert, wrote the definitive biography of his father, Dreamer of Dune, which was a Hugo Award finalist. Brian is president of the company managing the legacy of Frank Herbert and is an executive producer of the motion picture Dune, as well as of the TV series Dune: The Sisterhood. He is the author or coauthor of more than forty-five books, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, has been nominated for the Nebula Award, and is always working on several projects at once. He and his wife, Jan, have traveled to all seven continents, and in 2019, they took a trip to Budapest to observe the filming of Dune.

Kevin J. Anderson has written dozens of national bestsellers and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Readers’ Choice Award. His critically acclaimed original novels include the ambitious space opera series The Saga of Seven Suns, the epic fantasy trilogy Wake the Dragon, steampunk adventures Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives (with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart), as well as the thrillers Stake and Kill Zone (with Doug Beason). He is the publisher of WordFire Press and the director of the graduate program in publishing for Western Colorado University. He also set the Guinness-certified world record for the largest single-author book signing.

Editorial Reviews

The characters are easy for the reader to believe in, brought to life through not only their own emotions but also the responses and thoughts of the individuals around them.”

Booklist (starred review)

Succeeds admirably”

on the Dune novels New York Times Book Review

“Hellhole is a militaristic SF story of galactic proportions. . . .  A brilliant strategist, lover of Old Earth history, and cast-off of a now-defunct noble line, Adolphus is a Robin Hood for the galaxy to unite behind and support. The characters are easy for the reader to believe in, brought to life through not only their own emotions but also the responses and thoughts of the individuals around them.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Combines the best of space opera with galactic intrigue and a cast of memorable characters. Fans of David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series and the Star Wars® novels should enjoy a new entry into this popular category.” —Library Journal on Hellhole

“Unquestionably, Herbert & Anderson can spin a great yarn while producing a vivid, mystifying universe, filled with characters that are both endearing, and loathsome.” —BookSpotCentral on The Winds of Dune

“Herbert and Anderson create vivid characters--both human and machine--with passionate goals.” —RT Bookreviews on Dune: The Battle of Corin 

From the Publisher

A new far-future trilogy from the latter-day Dune wizards (The Winds of Dune, 2009, etc.), bristling with revolution and alien contact.

The inner worlds of the decadent human empire known as the Constellation are ruled by a self-centered and dim-witted aristocracy headed by Diadem Michella Duchenet. Ten years previously, the neglected, impoverished and exploited worlds of the remote Deep Zone staged a desperate rebellion that ultimately failed because its leader, the honorable Gen. Adolphus, refused to sink to the Constellation's level of depravity. With his supporters, Adolphus was exiled to planet Hellhole, devastated five centuries ago by a giant asteroid impact that wiped out most of its life—including a race of advanced aliens. Hellhole became a dumping ground for the rebels, common criminals and other undesirables. After 10 years of hard work, Hellhole is now quite pleasant despite electrical storms, inedible flora and some dangerous fauna that survived the impact. Elsewhere, interstellar travel proceeds via the superfast stringline network whose every route leads through the central empire. Meanwhile, Adolphus secretly builds an alternative decentralized network among the Deep Zone planets. Then one Hellhole colonist falls into a pool of "slickwater"...and acquires a lodger in his brain: the mind of Zairic, the Xayan head honcho. Others soon jump into the slickwater to garner their own alien partners. Unfortunately, the alien aristocrats are as dim and self-absorbed as their human counterparts. The prose is boiler-plate, and nothing here has any real heft.

Ho-hum—it's on to volume two.

Kirkus Reviews