Dune: The Machine Crusade

By: Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 27 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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 best seller lists everywhere and earned them the high regard of readers around the globe. The fantastic saga of Dune continues in Dune: The Machine Crusade.

©2003 Herbert Properties LLC (P)2003 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC and Books on Tape, Inc.

Beyond amazing

I listened to the first book on CD then got the audible version of this second book. I highly recommend the biggest format audible file for clearer listening.

Overall Id have to say that this was one of the best books ever as far as man vs machine goes. Amazingly well written and well read. Of course there is the "dune" story here but this takes place 10,000 years before the original Dune book. This is an amazing story of human success and failure and sticks to the reality of war and human frailty. It was amazing to hear some of the familiar family names of the Dune series even though this is 10k years prior to the story. This book makes Terminator 3 and Matrix look like childrens stories. Great battle stories, great sci-fi possibilities and virtually no fake fantasy stories like you see on tv.

Im extremely depressed that the 3rd book isnt out yet. The ending left me silent. An added bonus is Herbert and Anderson explaining how they came to write this story and how the Dune series came to be.

How long do I have to wait?

All I can say is I hope that the authors are busy writing the next sequel. Even though we know the ultimate outcome of the story it has been really great to learn all the details behind the history of the original Dune.

Almost reads like a history book

Would you consider the audio edition of Dune to be better than the print version?

Yes.
Only because of the length of the book, it becomes much easier to listen than take the time to read the words.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

I don't think there is anything to do to make the story more enjoyable. This is basically a history lesson on the past 10000 years.

What does Scott Brick bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Brick brings familiarity to the story.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

There was no way I could listen to this book in one sitting. I wouldn't even consider trying it.

freakin awesome

love these books. something about Frank and his son and Kevin's work that once you start it's hard to put it down or stop listening.

As good as the previous one.

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson do a phenominal job in continuing the Dune legacy

im sold

If you could sum up Dune in three words, what would they be?

if you can get into the first book of thus series the jihad and learn all the pieces you will be hookd

What did you like best about this story?

machines that think vs the jihad

What about Scott Brick’s performance did you like?

scott is the man

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

when someone special was burned alived for the cause

Any additional comments?

thanks

Death Death and more Death

one death in this whole story was satisfying and well written but after that it just got cheaper and cheaper. like "we have too many Main characters let's kill them off".

The Jihad’s battles

I liked how the narrator described Serena Butler’s execution with such graphic details. For example, he showcased Serena’s defiant expressions towards the machines.

I am in 2 out of 6 post Frank Herbert original Dune hexalogy, and I am pleasantly surprised.

There is an interview with Frank Herbert’s son, Brian, and his writing partner, Kevin J. Anderson, at the conclusion of Book 2, that sums this other hexalogy bookend rather well.

Firstly, there were thousands of pages and notes for what Frank had planned, so the “bones” of these were already in place, but they needed to be fleshed out. That is no small task, given the gravity and impact of the originals. It does feel that is the case, especially if you have read the original six.

Secondly, Kevin discusses how he read the original book at 12, and it was an “adventure book.” He read it again in college, and it was now a different book, given his life experiences and now being exposed to structural religion, politics, war, etc.

Following that thread, when you get even older, and you know what it means to love a partner, especially if you have a child together, how that changes you. In so becoming, the same can happen when a parent bears witness to the most heinous act of cruelty possible.

Such an act can forever alter who an individual was, how it can also ignite a movement, which can become religious fanaticism, and how that ultimately spreads like a contagion that consumes followers, then a species, entire worlds, and as in this case, vast interplanetary systems.

If anything, like the original six, these books warn humanity of such dangers, particularly when such toxic cultism invades the state, and so few hold power over the rest who willingly give up their individuality. History has demonstrated that this never ends well, and the books show how humanity’s weaknesses leads them to fall for the same trap, over and over again, even millennia from now.

Like a single domino that topples one after the other, each yanking at threads, the seeming chaos of such a development, ultimately weaves an extraordinary narrative tapestry.

These first two books have met or exceeded my expectations of their not being explicitly written by Frank. If you read the originals, these books were the “other” tales that Frank made brief mentions of, like sketches, but never fully explained. For some, that might be enough for their imagination. For others, you perhaps wanted to have those filled in for you, and these two were hyper aware of that, and have delivered thus far.

So far, these books rank damn close to the original’s intricately woven tapestries of the human condition: individuality vs. collectivism, consciousness, evolution (of humans AND machines - which is brilliantly rendered), technology, religion vs. fanaticism (on BOTH sides, and the extreme horrors they both bring), arrogance vs. humility, love, hope, faith (spiritual, not religious), the ruinous dangers of politics when intertwined with religion and the state, and the Machiavellian scheming that leads everyone into drunkenness (sometimes not even self-aware of it), whether seeking the drugs of glory, fame, money, power, and how that extreme pressure can crush you to dust, or change you forever, into a diamond in the sky that becomes everyone’s North Star.

Another great addition

Love the continuing back story to Dune! It's putting so much in context that I w always wondered about. Excited to keep going.