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Dune: The Machine Crusade: Book Two of the Legends of Dune Trilogy (Dune, 2) Mass Market Paperback – August 1, 2004
| Brian Herbert (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Kevin J. Anderson (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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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.
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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 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.
- Print length800 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTor Science Fiction
- Publication dateAugust 1, 2004
- Dimensions4.08 x 1.31 x 6.83 inches
- ISBN-10076534078X
- ISBN-13978-0765340788
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About the Author
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, including The Dark Between the Stars, as well as the Terra Incognita fantasy epic with its two accompanying rock CDs. He also set the Guinness-certified world record for the largest single-author book signing.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The weakness of thinking machines is that they actually believe all the information they receive, and react accordingly.
—VORIAN ATREIDES, fourth debriefing interview with League Armada
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 silver, like predatory fish. Their efficient, functional design gave them the unintentional grace of sharp knives.
Omnius’s combat monstrosities outnumbered the human ships ten to one, but because the Jihad battleships were equipped with overlapping layers of Holtzman shields, the enemy fleet could bombard the human vessels without inflicting any damage, and without advancing toward the surface of IV Anbus.
Although the human defenders did not have the necessary firepower to crush the machine forces or even repel them, the jihadis would continue to fight anyway. It was a standoff, humans and machines facing each other above the planet.
Omnius and his forces had secured many victories in the past seven years, conquering small backwater colonies and establishing outposts from which they launched relentless waves of attack. But now the Army of the Jihad had sworn to defend this Unallied Planet against the thinking machines at all costs—whether or not the native population wanted it.
Down on the planet’s surface, his fellow Primero, Xavier Harkonnen, was attempting yet another diplomatic foray with Zenshiite elders, the leaders of a primitive Buddislamic sect. Vor doubted his friend would make much progress. Xavier was too inflexible to be a good negotiator: his sense of duty and strict adherence to the objectives of the mission were always paramount in his mind.
Besides that, Xavier was biased against these people…and they undoubtedly realized it.
The thinking machines wanted IV Anbus. The Army of the Jihad had to stop them. If the Zenshiites wished to isolate themselves from the galactic conflict and not cooperate with the brave soldiers fighting to keep the human race free, then they were worthless. One time, Vor had jokingly compared Xavier to a machine, since he saw things in black-and-white terms, and the other man had scowled icily in response.
According to reports from the surface, the Zenshiite religious leaders had shown themselves to be just as stubborn as Primero Harkonnen. Both sides had dug in their heels.
Vor did not question his friend’s command style, though it was quite different from his own. Having grown up among the thinking machines and trained as a trustee for them, Vor now embraced humanness in all of its facets, and was giddy with newfound freedom. He felt liberated when he played sports and gambled, or socialized and joked with other officers. It was so different from the way Agamemnon had taught him.…
Out here in orbit, Vor knew the robot battleships would never retreat unless they were convinced, statistically, that they could not possibly win. In recent weeks he had been working on a complicated scheme to cause the Omnius fleet to break down, but wasn’t ready to implement it yet. Soon, though.
This orbital stalemate was completely unlike the war games Vor enjoyed playing with the jihadi crewmen on patrol, or the amusing challenges he and the robot Seurat had set for each other years ago, during long voyages between stars. This tedious impasse offered little opportunity for fun.
He had been noticing patterns.
Soon the robotic fleet would cruise toward them like a cluster of piranhas in a retrograde orbit. Standing proud in his crisp dark green military uniform flashed with crimson—the Jihad colors symbolizing life and spilled blood—Vor would give orders directing all the battleships in his sentry fleet to activate Holtzman shields and monitor them for overheating.
The robot warships—bristling with weapons—were woefully predictable, and his men often placed bets on exactly how many shots the enemy would fire.
He watched his forces shift, as he had commanded them to do. Xavier’s adopted brother, Vergyl Tantor, captained the vanguard ballista and moved it into position. Vergyl had served the Army of the Jihad for the past seventeen years, always watched closely by Xavier.
Nothing had changed here in over a week, and the fighters were growing impatient, passing the enemy repeatedly but unable to do anything more than puff up their chests and display combat plumage like exotic birds.
You’d think the machines would learn by now, Vergyl grumbled over the comline. Do they keep hoping that we’ll slip up?
They’re just testing us, Vergyl. Vor avoided the formality of ranks and the chain of command because it reminded him too much of machine rigidity.
Earlier in the day, when the paths of the two fleets briefly intersected, the robot warships had launched a volley of explosive projectiles that hammered at the impregnable Holtzman shields. Vor had not flinched as he watched the fruitless explosions. For a few moments, the opposing ships had mingled head-on in a crowded, chaotic flurry, then moved past each other.
All right, give me a total, he called.
Twenty-eight shots, Primero, reported one of the bridge officers.
Vor had nodded. Always between twenty and thirty incoming shells, but his own guess had been twenty-two. He and the officers of his other ships had transmitted congratulations and good-natured laments about missing by only one or two shots, and had made arrangements to collect on the bets they made. Duty hours would be shifted among the losers and winners, luxury rations transferred back and forth among the ships.
The same thing had happened almost thirty times already. But now as the two battle groups predictably approached one another, Vor had a surprise up his sleeve.
The Jihad fleet remained in perfect formation, as disciplined as machines.
Here we go again. Vor turned to his bridge crew. Prepare for encounter. Increase shields to full power. You know what to do. We’ve had enough practice at this.
A skin-tingling humming noise vibrated through the deck, layers of shimmering protective force powered by huge generators tied to the engines. The individual commanders would watch carefully for overheating in the shields, the system’s fatal flaw, which—so far, at least—the machines did not suspect.
He watched the vanguard ballista cruise ahead along the orbital path. Vergyl, are you ready?
I have been for days, sir. Let’s get on with it!
Vor checked with his demolitions and tactical specialists, led by one of the Ginaz mercenaries, Zon Noret. Mr. Noret, I presume that you deployed all of our…mousetraps?
The signal came back. Every one in perfect position, Primero. I sent each of our ships the precise coordinates, so that we can avoid them ourselves. The question is, will the machines notice?
I’ll keep them busy, Vor! Vergyl said.
The machine warships loomed closer, approaching the intercept point. Although the thinking machines had no sense of aesthetics, their calculations and efficient engineering designs still resulted in ships with precise curves and flawlessly smooth hulls.
Vor smiled. Go!
As the Omnius battlegroup advanced like a school of imperturbable, menacing fish, Vergyl’s ballista suddenly lunged ahead at high acceleration, launching missiles in a new flicker-and-fire system that switched the bow shields on and off on a millisecond time scale, precisely coordinated to allow outgoing kinetic projectiles to pass through.
High-intensity rockets bombarded the nearest machine ship, and then Vergyl was off again, changing course and ramming down through the clustered robot vessels like a stampeding Salusan bull.
Vor gave the scatter order, and the rest of his ships broke formation and spread out. To get out of the way.
The machines, attempting to respond to the unexpected situation, could do little more than open fire on the Holtzman-shielded Jihad ships.
Vergyl slammed his vanguard ballista through again. He had orders to empty his ship’s weapons batteries in a frenzied attack. Missile after missile detonated against the robot vessels, causing significant damage but not destruction. The comlines reverberated with human cheers.
But Vergyl’s gambit was just a diversion. The bulk of the Omnius forces continued on their standard path…directly into the space minefield that the mercenary Zon Noret and his team had laid down in orbit.
The giant proximity mines were coated with stealth films that made them nearly invisible to sensors. Diligent scouts and careful scans could have detected them, but Vergyl’s furious and unexpected aggression had turned the machines’ focus elsewhere.
The front two machine battleships exploded as they struck a row of powerful mines. Massive detonations ripped holes through bows, hull, and lower engine sheaths. Reeling off course, the devastated enemy vessels sputtered in flames; one blundered into another mine.
Still not realizing precisely what had happened, three more robot ships collided with unseen space mines. Then the machine battlegroup rallied. Ignoring Vergyl’s attack, the remaining warships spread out and deployed sensors to detect the rest of the scattered mines, which they removed with a flurry of precisely targeted shots.
Vergyl—break off, Vor transmitted. All other ballistas, regroup. We’ve had our fun. He leaned back in his command chair with a satisfied sigh. Deploy four fast kindjal scouts to assess how much damage we inflicted.
He opened a private comline, and the image of the Ginaz mercenary appeared on the screen. Noret, you and your men will receive medals for this. When not in combat camo...
Product details
- Publisher : Tor Science Fiction; Reprint edition (August 1, 2004)
- Language : English
- Mass Market Paperback : 800 pages
- ISBN-10 : 076534078X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0765340788
- Item Weight : 13.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 4.08 x 1.31 x 6.83 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,061,767 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,720 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- #19,899 in Space Operas
- #31,398 in Science Fiction Adventures
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

Yes, I have a lot of books, and if this is your first visit to my amazon author page, it can be a little overwhelming. If you are new to my work, let me recommend a few titles as good places to start. My major new fantasy trilogy starts with SPINE OF THE DRAGON, followed by VENGEWAR and GODS AND DRAGONS (editing now). My newest Dune novel with Brian Herbert is THE DUKE OF CALADAN. I also love my Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. series, humorous horror/mysteries, which begin with DEATH WARMED OVER. My steampunk fantasy adventures, CLOCKWORK ANGELS and CLOCKWORK LIVES, written with Neil Peart, legendary drummer from Rush, are two of my very favorite novels ever. And my magnum opus, the science fiction epic The Saga of Seven Suns, begins with HIDDEN EMPIRE. After you've tried those, I hope you'll check out some of my other series.
I have written more than 165 books, including 56 national or international bestsellers. I have over 23 million books in print worldwide in thirty languages. I've been nominated for the Nebula Award, Hugo Award, Bram Stoker Award, Shamus Award, and Silver Falchion Award, and I've won the SFX Readers' Choice Award, Golden Duck Award, Scribe Award, and New York Times Notable Book; in 2012 at San Diego Comic Con I received the Faust Grand Master Award for Lifetime Achievement.
I have written numerous bestselling and critically acclaimed novels in the Dune universe with Brian Herbert, as well as Star Wars and X-Files novels. In my original work, I am best known for my Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita trilogy, the Dan Shamble, Zombie PI series, and Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives with Neil Peart. Along with my wife Rebecca Moesta, I am also the publisher of WordFire Press. Find out more about me at wordfire.com, where you can sign up for my newsletter and get some free fiction.
FOR RIGHTS INQUIRIES (Film/TV/Gaming/Foreign/Literary) please contact me directly at info (at) wordfire (dot) com, and I will put you in touch with my appropriate representative.

Brian Herbert is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers. He has won several literary honors including the New York Times Notable Book Award, and has been nominated for the highest awards in science fiction. In 2003, he published DREAMER OF DUNE, a moving biography of his father Frank Herbert that was a Hugo Award finalist. His acclaimed novels include SIDNEY'S COMET; SUDANNA, SUDANNA; THE RACE FOR GOD; TIMEWEB; THE STOLEN GOSPELS; and MAN OF TWO WORLDS (written with Frank Herbert), in addition to the HELLHOLE Trilogy and DUNE-series novels co-authored with Kevin J. Anderson. Brian published OCEAN, an epic fantasy novel about environmental issues (co-authored with his wife, Jan). Brian's highly original SF novel, THE LITTLE GREEN BOOK OF CHAIRMAN RAHMA released in 2014. See his website: brianherbertnovels.com for book touring information.
SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY NOVELS
Ocean (with Jan Herbert)
The Little Green Book of Chairman Rahma
Sidney's Comet
The Garbage Chronicles
Sudanna, Sudanna
Man of Two Worlds (with Frank Herbert)
Prisoners of Arionn
The Race For God
Memorymakers (with Marie Landis)
Blood on the Sun (with Marie Landis)
Stormworld (novella, with Bruce Taylor)
The Unborn
The Assassination of Billy Jeeling
THE TIMEWEB SERIES
Timeweb
The Web and the Stars
Webdancers
THE STOLEN GOSPELS SERIES
The Stolen Gospels
The Lost Apostles
THE DUNE SERIES (with Kevin J. Anderson)
Dune: House Atreides
Dune: House Harkonnen
Dune: House Corrino
Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Dune: The Machine Crusade
Dune: The Battle of Corrin
The Road To Dune
Hunters of Dune
Sandworms of Dune
Paul of Dune
The Winds of Dune
Sisterhood of Dune
Mentats of Dune
Navigators of Dune
Dune: The Duke of Caladan
Dune: The Lady of Caladan
Dune: The Heir of Caladan (forthcoming)
Tales of Dune
Sands of Dune
THE HELLHOLE SERIES (with Kevin J. Anderson)
Hellhole
Hellhole Awakening
Hellhole Inferno
NON-FICTION BOOKS
Dreamer of Dune (biography of Frank Herbert)
The Forgotten Heroes (story of the U.S. Merchant Marine)
HUMOR BOOKS
Classic Comebacks
Incredible Insurance Claims
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on February 27, 2018
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We see many past events that are talked about in Franks Herbert's original book(s), come to fruition here: The beginning of the Melange spice exportation (which will eventually have the entire galaxy consumed by it's hypnotic and addictive influence) Space folding, the beginning stages of the Zennsunni and Zennshite refugees on the planet of Arrakis and subsequent start of the Fremen, the rise of the first man to ever ride a sandworm, the legendary Selim Wormrider and the continuing stories and expansion of the Harkonnen and Atreides families.
As with The Butlerian Jihad, this book is not without it's pitfalls, many of which will be a turn off for some readers. The writing is lackluster at times, a lot of the dialog ranges from bad to downright laughable, and certain scenarios aren't properly fleshed out and seemed rushed. Also, as with the last book, there are certain situations that happen and then are re-told over and over again, making it redundant at times. There are certain moments in this book that made me roll my eyes and audibly exclaim "Oh my God, that's bad!" Like when Serena Butler returns to Salusa Secundus at the beginning of the book and after a speech, spreads her arms, begins to cry and says something to the effect of: "my precious Jihidists" To some, these things will be a turn off and to an extent it makes me understand some of the poor reviews that this book has been given. But with that said though, I don't think it's fair to totally write the book off because it was still very entertaining in a "summer blockbuster at the movies" type of way, and it expands on the Dune Universe in epic fashion and I found myself not wanting to put the book down!
This book certainly isn't going to be for everybody, and if you are expecting the masterpiece that was Frank Herbert's original DUNE, then you will be sorely disappointed, but if you can be forgiving of certain shortcomings and are looking for more adventures and back-story out of the Dune universe, then definitely check this book out! I'm looking forward to checking out part three of the prequel trilogy next, The Battle of Corrin.
My guess is that the writer is trying to create an extension of the universe the original Dune series had, but gets caught up in the weeds.
It’s trying to be a little bit history, mixed with a lot of story about characters I don’t really care about.
Top reviews from other countries
Brian is doing a fine job but does not come close to his dad. Except for familiar names, places, and subjects the style is quite different and the quality is far below. Still it's worth starting the collection from the beginning and going trough it for the fun of it if not for anything else.









