Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 1:21 am
This is a short review I wrote on Amazon about 5 years ago, just after I read (or didn't read) TBJ.
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Awful. Just plain awful., August 20, 2004
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I found the House prequel trilogy to be entertaining enough, even though it lacked the depth and complexity of the original Dune novels. So I expected this novel to be of about the same caliber.
I was mistaken. The Butlerian Jihad was bad enough that after reading over half of it, I chose not to finish it. And I *always* finish books.
Part of the problem was the complete lack of recognizable elements from the Dune universe. Granted, the story is set thousands of years before the original novels, but even so, more common elements would have made the story more interesting to Dune readers.
Instead, we have a fairly typical futuristic SF milieu, with the remnants of free humanity fighting for survival against an evil AI who wants to destroy them all. The planetary battle of the first few chapters is unremarkable, and could have been lifted from any Star Wars novel. The main characters are just fleshed out enough to play their roles in this space opera, and are motivated by the most basic values and ideas. There are no inquiries into ethics or morality, no challenging of the characters' ideas.
This in itself would not be intolerable, if it weren't so tedious to read. The Butlerian Jihad is made up of many, many very short chapters, alternating between different points of view. Each chapter progresses its plot line just to the point where the reader's interest is recaptured, and then, frustratingly, ends. I found this book a chore to read, and the lack of original plot or complex characters did not make the effort worthwhile.
I will not be reading the other books in this series, and I hope the forthcoming "Dune 7" books do not suffer from these problems.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Awful. Just plain awful., August 20, 2004
[*----]
I found the House prequel trilogy to be entertaining enough, even though it lacked the depth and complexity of the original Dune novels. So I expected this novel to be of about the same caliber.
I was mistaken. The Butlerian Jihad was bad enough that after reading over half of it, I chose not to finish it. And I *always* finish books.
Part of the problem was the complete lack of recognizable elements from the Dune universe. Granted, the story is set thousands of years before the original novels, but even so, more common elements would have made the story more interesting to Dune readers.
Instead, we have a fairly typical futuristic SF milieu, with the remnants of free humanity fighting for survival against an evil AI who wants to destroy them all. The planetary battle of the first few chapters is unremarkable, and could have been lifted from any Star Wars novel. The main characters are just fleshed out enough to play their roles in this space opera, and are motivated by the most basic values and ideas. There are no inquiries into ethics or morality, no challenging of the characters' ideas.
This in itself would not be intolerable, if it weren't so tedious to read. The Butlerian Jihad is made up of many, many very short chapters, alternating between different points of view. Each chapter progresses its plot line just to the point where the reader's interest is recaptured, and then, frustratingly, ends. I found this book a chore to read, and the lack of original plot or complex characters did not make the effort worthwhile.
I will not be reading the other books in this series, and I hope the forthcoming "Dune 7" books do not suffer from these problems.