Legends of Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
I thought I’d use some space in this blog to mention the books I read, new as well as old. I don’t have any real ambitions in literary criticism, but I still think it could be fun to share some thoughts, as well as keep a tally of what I’ve read and maybe enhance my reading experience by reflecting about the books.
Anyway, The Butlerian Jihad, by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson is set about ten thousand years before the events of Frank Herbert’s Dune, in a time when thinking machines are ruling over the Old Empire, including Earth. This period is the source of the technophobic aspects of the society in the original Dune novels. But humanity still clings to life, many as slaves under the machines, but some on free worlds such as Salusa Secundus. Here we find Serena Butler, the idealistic daughter of the planet’s viceroy, and Xavier Harkonnen, officer in the Salusan Armada – two people dedicated to standing up against the machines.
