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The Jesus Incident  By  cover art

The Jesus Incident

By: Frank Herbert,Bill Ransom
Narrated by: Scott Brick
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Publisher's summary

The last survivors of humanity have just been deposited on Pandora, a horrific, poisonous planet rife with deadly nerve-runners, hooded dashers, airborne jellyfish, and intelligent kelp. The determined colonists attempt to establish a bridgehead on the deadly, inhospitable planet, but more trouble arises. Their sentient ship - backed up by an impressive array of armaments - has decided it is God and is insisting the colonists find appropriate ways to worship it.

In an attempt to help the people pass its test, Ship awakens chaplain-psychiatrist Raja Flattery from hibernation. Either the humans pass the test - or the human race could be destroyed.

©1979, 2011 Herbert Properties, LLC, and Bill Ransom (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about The Jesus Incident

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    219
  • 4 Stars
    113
  • 3 Stars
    54
  • 2 Stars
    21
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Performance
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Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
    54
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

BLUE ITSELF, TEACHES US BLUE

THINK HOW LONG YOU'LL LIVE IF YOUR ALWAYS WAITING
All of Herbert's writings are deep, full of overly thought out worlds. They include political and religious systems, often very foreign to the known. They are so different, it is difficult for the average person to wrap their head around them. Herbert's books are often long, as the explaining of these worlds is a long torturous path. When I was in my early twenties I picked up Dune, two or three times, but could not figure it out. Than the movie came out and now it is one of my favorites. Dune is a complex rich story, complete in all aspects. This book might be the same, but until I see the movie, I will probably not get my tiny brain around it.

Scott Brick
Brick has changed and is now one of the better narrators. It is not BS, SB is good.

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

So what's happening here?

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I'm 17 chapters in and have no idea what's happening. I just spent some time on Wikipedia and that helped a lot. If you haven't read Destination:Void (which is the REAL book one here) you might want to start there or at least read the Wiki. Herbert makes lots of assumptions that you're going to know what an eclone is, what Pandora is and who Flattery is right off the bat. Lots of poetry and riddles don't help. I think if you read the book twice you'll get a lot more out of it the second time.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Rama

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably not. Not interesting enough so far. Ship, a jealous scientist, a psychiatrist trying to do something that we dont know anything about (yet), a lady that was never introduced. Nah.

Any additional comments?

Going to give this a few more chapters then give up on it.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

A worthy successor to the Dune series. All the piety and complexity of Dune, with a fresh storyline and new characters.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This book is so sci-fi.

I really love this book. It's elegant literature. It has great sweeping scene changes and different slices of perspectives. It has tons of really really sci-fi concepts mixed with economics, human natures, empathy and Maciavalian agendas crashing together. Great stuff.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Disappointed - Expected better from Frank Herbert

What would have made The Jesus Incident better?

The work is irredeemable in my opinion.

What was most disappointing about Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom ’s story?

I could only make it about 3/4 of the way through the book before I couldn't take it anymore. There is way too much psychobabble, character introspection and political machinations and very little in the way of story or action.

What aspect of Scott Brick’s performance would you have changed?

Scott Brick, as always is a good narrator.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Disappointment

Any additional comments?

Want my credit back.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Why is this story not more popular?

I almost didn't get this story because of so many negative reviews. But I was craving some fresh Herbert style narrative and analysis so went with it anyway.

First of all, Scott Brick is on par with his performance. read some poor reviews of his performance, I have heard a lot worse on Audible. There is not always a huge difference in the voices he gives his characters, but he annunciates clearly and his tone and tempo are always appropriate.

I don't understand the reviews that did not like the female characters. I suppose they didn't provide a lot of information as to why they we're not liked. Halley (it was an audio book so not sure of the spelling) is probably the most refreshing female character I have read in a Herbert book. Sometimes I think Herbert tries to portray strength in his females by giving them male characteristics (very apparent in this book), and Halley seemed to portray real feminine strength.

I unfortunately have not read Ransom before. I would like to so I could better understand his influence on the book.

I could see the religious themes of the story grinding on all sides of religious views. I believe both sides of a religious debate could find their views represented in this book. Unfortunately, I also thing both sides can find opposing views in this book. Which is what makes it so great, but I think it is easy for people to find offense if they want to.

I would highly recommend this book to anybody who is not easily offended and is willing to approach sensitive subjects with an open mind.

If you're looking for sci-fi action adventure, this is probably not for you.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Same problem as Destination: Void

It's an interesting story and the ideas are worth it but it's hard to follow. Even after listening the real first book Destination: Void, it was hard to understand what is going on. At the middle of the book I stopped listening and went to the Wikipedia page to read about the story. It help a lot because after that it was easier to recognize the characters and link the acts that they were doing with the story. Again, I think that to enjoy this series, it's better to read a physical copy of the book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Difficult

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Oboy, does it need different narration. The ladies seem like idiots. I listened to the whole thing, but if I had known I could return an audible book, I'd have grabbed a different one as soon as the first woman was voiced.

Has The Jesus Incident turned you off from other books in this genre?

I like Frank Herbert even when the concepts are retreads of better books. I might buy a Bill Ransom just to see how they dovetail. Not the most inspired ending. Seeing how the ideas work through was marginally interesting, if you've any of Herbert's other stuff. Would rather have been able to skim a physical copy. There would have been a LOT of skimming.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Cerebral journey on a hostile world

Colonists on Pandora face a planet designed to kill them. The enigmatic Ship watches from above, and has thawed out a hibernating chaplain-psychiatrist to complete the players in a power struggle of politics, religion, and biology - if they survive the hostile environment, they must still learn to WorShip or be destroyed. Recommended for fans of Dune and Herbert’s other work. While a sequel to “Destination: Void”, you can start here. Excellent performance by Scott Brick.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

eh!

not my favorite. it was not bad, but I have to say I had little care for these characters and the story. disappointed

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3 people found this helpful