The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, Book 2) (Hardcover)

~ Brian Herbert (Author), Kevin J. Anderson (Author) "Leading a group of five ballistas in orbit over the canyon-scarred planet, Primero Vorian Atreides studied the robotic enemy forces aligned against him: sleek and..." (more)
Key Phrases: sensei mek, computer evermind, jihadi soldiers, Grand Patriarch, Serena Butler, Iblis Ginjo (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

SF space opera titans Herbert and Anderson continue to investigate the tantalizing origins of Frank Herbert's Dune universe, this time achieving mixed results in their fifth action-packed collaboration, the bloated but occasionally brilliant second installment of the trilogy that started with Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (2002).Twenty-four years have passed since the independent Thinking Machine, Erasmus, killed Serena Butler's son and began a bloody Holy War against Omnius, a computer "evermind." Leading the League's Army of the Jihad are Primeros Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides, the son of cymek (human brain/robotic body) General Agamemnon, who, along with his fellow "semi-immortals," shares the computer evermind's wish to eradicate all unnecessary humans but secretly also wants to destroy Omnius. Harkonnen and Atreides loyally report to their Priestess leader, unknowingly the political puppet of Grand Patriarch Iblis Ginjo, a former Earth slave-master. Unfortunately, the short spacehopping chapters neglect some characterizations and more intriguing story lines, such as the Arrakis conflicts swirling around Selim Wormrider's growing outlaw band and the relationship of Erasmus with his human "son," in favor of too long battle segments and extraneous details about the emotionally remote Ginaz mercenary, Jool Noret. Despite the flaws, Dune fans will still enjoy the sweeping philosophical power that surfaces, invoking the senior Herbert's remarkable vision.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Years have passed since the Jihad against the overmind Omnius and the thinking machines blazed up in the instant that the robot Erasmus hurled an innocent toddler to his death. The child's mother, Serena Butler, is still the spiritual leader of the Jihadi, and the former slave foreman Iblis Ginjo is their political and military organizer. Vor Atreides and Xavier Harkonnen lead the fleet, Vor with a common touch and the good looks preserved by life-extending treatment, and Xavier with sheer determination and courage. But the decades-long war has cost countless lives and sapped the people's resolve. When Omnius makes a startling offer of peace, Serena knows it is a terrible mistake to compromise with machine intelligence but can't naysay her exhausted followers. In a desperate move to save the Jihad and the millions of enslaved humans on machine-dominated worlds, Serena goes as the sole ambassador of peace to Omnius' stronghold on the planet Corrin. Meanwhile, an isolated physicist is discovering how to fold space, Selim of Arrakis is building a tribe and a legend, and Iblis is making a demonic deal with the flesh merchants of Tleilax to provide organ replacements for the Jihadi army. Organizing a dozen plotlines takes time, so sit back and enjoy the nearly 700-page ride. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 695 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (September 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076530158X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765301581
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #122,546 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sad little ghost of Dune, October 2, 2003

By	Carmine Priolo "Surtsfire" (Staten Island, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Most people who read these prequels are most likely acquainted with the original works of Dune by Brian's father Frank. And if you aren't yet familiar with the originals then I suggest you start your reading there where it was originally meant to be. As it is, the prequels--started with the three "House" books and later moving back 10,000 years to the Butlerian Jihad--are sad little shades of Frank Herbert's visions.

As Dune fans know, the Machine Crusade is the second book of a trilogy about a war between people and machines. Cliche? Very! That is why Frank Herbert began his Dune novels 10,000 years afterwards, to show the ramifications of such a war. He moved past the cliche and developed a universe that existed without machines.

Here in the Machine Crusade we see the same typical writing of Kevin J. Anderson, whose writing style has very little eloquence compared to Frank Herbert. Frank Herbert's originals are a grand mishmash of intricate plotting that combines many aspects of human society: politics, religion, philosophy, ecology and family interaction. His books were all internal; he created characters that you cared about, that took on a life of their own even when they had such minor parts in the storyline. All these points are lost in the Machine Crusade where Anderson is mostly concerned with the external conflict of the Butlerian Jihad. Think Star Wars or Terminator. Lots of fighting. Lots of dying. No plot except for yet more fighting.

For anyone who has read the originals, you know that telling stories of battle was not Frank Herbert's purpose in these books. It was to tell chilling tales of of tragic characters whose every move impacted all of human society. The wars that took place in the original series rarely happened within the very pages of those books, but mostly happened between books or before the books. They were irrelevant except for the fact to know that they happened and people died. His purpose was to show the ramifications of those very wars.

The book fails in many aspects. Primarily, the Machine Crusade reads like a history book. In many cases its chapters just sum up what one character is thinking when it might be best to provide some much needed dialogue to give it a sense of immediacy. It's such a shame, because many of the characters have such potential, yet there is so very little interaction between the numerous main characters that you just want to yell at the book and make it DO something besides blow up robots.

I have very little doubt that if it wasn't for the name "Dune" attached to the prequels, these books would never sell. They are cliche, poorly written, have flimsy characters and numerous plotlines that rarely come together to form an ever greater story. The book's only redeeming quality is that it provides a curious glimpse at the history of the Dune universe, and that is all. Whereas the Dune originals can be reread over and over again for greater understanding and enjoyment, these books will probably gather dust or wind up on ebay.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The writing seems...lacking, October 16, 2003

By	Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

It's not the plot lines or the scenes or the dialogues that I have trouble with - it's the depth of character and abbreviated format. If the chapters get any smaller we'll be having one / page soon.

I think the real problem is that Herbert II tries to do too much in one book, spreads himself thin, and thereby hurts the overall work. This tale could potentially have had it all: Political intrigue (Serena & Ginjo), Machine life, Norma (my fave!), the beginnings of the Guild, the Bene Geserit, the start of the mysterious bloodline, the rebirth of the human race, the Worm Rider, the Fremen, the Body Snatchers....in the end, it becomes a jumble despite the very sparse prose and strict structure.

If the author was soliciting advice, I would tell him to reduced the number of characters, focus on fewer events and plunge deeper into the remaining narrative and characters. I truly wanted to enjoy this book but the "awe" and "mystery" one felt while engaged in the original series is missing. The "House" trio was - despite the paucity of plot and characters - actually better due to a concentrated focus. Here's hoping for the better results next time.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out and plotted sequel to series 3 1/2 stars, September 17, 2003

By	Wayne Klein "If at first the idea is not absu... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

First, let's get the obvious out of the way; Dune: The Machine Crusade is another prequel to Dune and a sequel to The Butlerian Jihad. It has all the drawbacks and bonuses of a sequel; if you haven't read the first in this series of prequels devised by Frank Herbert's son Brian and Kevin J. Anderson, you may feel a little lost at first. The good news is that Herbert and Anderson manage to fill in the blanks early on with a nicely written recap in the prologue (much as the Frank Herbert did with each sequel to his classic Dune novel).

I imagine that Herbert does much of the plotting based on Frank's original background notes and that Anderson does more of the hands on writing. At least it seems that way. In terms of style The Machine Crusades reminds me more of Anderson's novels than Brian Herbert's novels. But both had complimentary, similar styles so it's possible they rewrite each other.

Either way, the plot continues. With the destruction of the Omnius on one of the settled worlds, humanity managed to strike a blow against the computer that created hope. The Cymeks led by Agamemnon struggle to regain their lost power against Omnius all the while fighting humanity as well. Time doesn't matter to Omnius or the Cymeks but it does to Serena Butler. Nearly a quarter century has passed since the computer's henchrobot murdered her son as part of an "experiment" to discover humanity's emotional movitation to fight even when they are clearly defeated. She and the others struggle on in battle against Omnius.

Agamemnon's son Vorian Atriedes and Xavier Harkonnen continue their uneasy alliance in fighting Omnius. We also get our first glimpse of humanity's discover of "folding" space and the impact it will have. On Arrakis the Fremen come into their own as fierce fighters led by Selim Wormrider. We begin to understand how this distant, remote and poor dust speck in the cosmos comes to occupy center stage in Frank Herbert's original novel.

This sprawling epic sets the stage for what's to come later in Herbert's original trilogy. Although it's uneven and the plotting is a bit more awkward here than in the some of the previous novels in this series, The Machine Crusade accomplishes most of its goal. It also sets up another potential sequel. To give Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson credit, the series they've created does credit to the original novel and Frank Herbert's memory. There are a number of interesting philosphical questions examined here. To the author's credit, they don't let the philosphical questions bog down the action. Both attributes contributes to the strengths and the flaws of the novel; the questions linger on too long and the battles are drawn out a bit too much. At times it seems as if the authors are struggling with the epic tale they are trying to tell; it's as if they are trying to come to grips with the size of the story they need to tell and control it. Even when it veers out of control, The Machine Crusade is still better than most of what passes for science fiction today.

Nevertheless, like its immediate predecessor, The Machine Crusade has an epic, vast scale that the story and characters deserve. It's clear that Brian Herbert in continuing on his father's story chose to do so in a fashion that wouldn't just cash in on (and hence dilute)the original novels. Instead, he and co-author Anderson have tried to come up with a series of space operas as rich in character and scope as the original series. While the dialog can be frequently clunky and the characterizations a bit too sketchy for some, these are minor flaws on this large canvas. They boldly move forward using all the colors of language that they can to describe this epic tale. If words occasionally fail them, it's because the story, like much of Herbert's original epic, can be overwhelming in its vast embrace of science, religion and politics.

If Brian Herbert and Anderson can continue to create novels this complex, the Dune series has a future as more than a cookie cutter space opera series. If they occasionally borrow from some of the sf films that have come out since Frank wrote the original novel, it's only fair; George Lucas and many other film directors borrowed liberally for Frank's imagination, integrating into their own projects and calling it their own.