Vorian’s story is one of redemption, while Xavier’s is that of the tragic hero. In this story the antecedents of Paul Atreides and Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen come from polar opposite backgrounds and are two different hearts after the same woman in Serena Butler, whom the Jihad is named after. The leading men are Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides - two notorious surnames found throughout the Dune mythos. It’s a prequel story, so we ultimately know how the events play out, but here we’re given the details…which are mostly grisly and traumatic. machine - artificial intelligence is massacring humanity with every opportunity, and only in the novel’s final act does mankind deliver a blow that resonates. For people new to the franchise, Butlerian Jihad is a story of man vs. This also makes it more accessible for the casual Dune fan. It’s enjoyable and fast paced, but the philosophy is thinly veiled and the meta-messages aren’t nearly as layered as those in the original novels. Now, over ten years after reading any Dune books (save a joint reading of Dune with my fianceé three years ago), I have the urge to revisit the Dune universe from the beginning, and that means reading Dune: The Butlerian Jihad, published in 2002.įor Dune fans, this is a guilty pleasure read. If one were to read the Dune franchise in chronological order, this is where they’d begin. Then the writing duo released a second trilogy, this time taking place thousands of years before Paul Muad’Dib and the Atreides’ rise to power, focusing on the fabled Butlerian Jihad where mankind wrested their freedom from the tyrannical thinking machines. Atreides begins a trilogy immediately preceding the first Dune book, starring the familiar cast of characters. These notes were used as the outlines from which Anderson and Brian Herbert would write a dozen Dune spin offs ( with a 13th installment teased for 2014), the first called House Atreides was published in 1999. Some time after the death of Frank Herbert in 1986, his son and other members of the Herbert estate uncovered notes by the author regarding extra Dune stories set outside and within the timeline of the first six novels. Anderson and Herbert’s son, Brian Herbert. I went on to read through Dune Messiah, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune, but only made it about 100 pages into Heretics of Dune (thus missing Chapterhouse: Dune altogether) before I became engulfed in the first wave of prequel novels written by Kevin J. First published in 1965, I was about eight-years-old when I read it cover to cover, and while most of the philosophical stuff went over my head (although it did make me start asking questions), much like a spice trance, Frank Herbert’s Dune opened my eyes to a much bigger literary world. Anderson & Brian Herbert original article link on ()īack in 1992, the original Dune novel was my personal gateway into adult science fiction.

Off the Shelf: “Dune: The Butlerian Jihad” by Kevin J. the evil thinking machines! I finished it back in March - this is my review. Anderson and Brian Herbert - “Dune: The Butlerian Jihad.” Taking place thousands of years before the original “Dune” novel by Frank Herbert, this book focuses on the galactic struggle of mankind vs. This year I decided to try my hardest to read every “Dune” novel in chronological order, beginning with the first book of the second prequel trilogy by Kevin J. It’s no secret on this blog I’m a longtime “Dune” fan.

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