Dune: The Butlerian Jihad: Book One of the Legends of Dune Trilogy

I wanted the book with the cover as advertised and they sent just the hard cover book by itself. Twice ordered Twice not as advertised.

I really expected this book to suck and it did not disappoint...

I realize fans of the original Dune series are very protective of the books, almost religiously so. However, I never read them but have decided to try the series in chronological order based on the Dune timeline, so The Butlerian Jihad was my first book. I must say that I was worried that with such a big cast of characters in such an enormous world, I would be totally lost and confused. However, The writing was very clear and easy to follow. One of the great tricks I'm glad the authors used here were the short chapters. It allowed me to digest what was happening, and at the same time, keep the action moving at a lightning pace. I really enjoyed the characters and the descriptions of the environments of each planet. The book also never felt bogged down by unnecessary details. Everything felt written for a reason and the prose was incredibly smooth to read. There were many clever twists and turns and I found myself giddy with excitement while reading it. Needless to say, I'm completely hooked on this series and plan to read them all -- and yes, that includes the sacred Frank Herbert books too. Thank you Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson for doing such an amazing job!

I thought that this was a very well written book. It describes things that are to come in the future. I did not care for the gore, but it was a part of the story to show the cruelty of the machines. I think this story tells a moral story as well. The slavery of the machines coinciding with the slaves kept on the human controlled planets. I can't wait to read the Machine Crusades.

Brian Herbert's and Kevin Anderson's House Trilogy introduced me to the Dune Universe. I Picked up House Atreides on a whim and have read the trilogy, then most of the original Dune series. Dune is one of if not my all time favourite sci-fi series (only real competition it recieves is from the Foundation series.)I anxiously awaited the release of this title in pocketbook ( I prefer pocketbooks to hardcover ersonal quirk), and was not disappointed. The successors to the writing of the Dune mythology seamlessly weave a background 10,000 years before the events of Dune take place. The titans, i.e. cymeks ( humans who have sacrificed their human bodies for immortal machine shells for their biological brains) overthrew the empire and years later their creation ominus a sentient computer controls most of the known universe. Pockets of humans are determined to win back their freedom and overthrow their tyrannical overlords, such as Serena Butler, Cena Zufna, Inglis, Xavier Harkonnen and more.The author's not only develop further history further expanding the universe Frank Herbert created, they also draw obvious parallels to classic mythology. The titans Ajax, Barbarossa Agemommon and Juno for instance are familiar names to those that know their Greek and Roman Mythology. They interweave many concurrant subplots as they explore the origins of Arrakis, and sects and groups like the Beneserine(sp) sisterhood. This book is an excellent exciting, multi-layered science fiction tale, no matter how acquainted the reader is to Dune. One of the benefits the authors' have of going so far back into Dune's past is the novel not only answers some questions for the serious Duneophile, but also can draw new curious readers into the legend without them having to read the oringinal series or even the House trilogy to understand whats going on. Well done looking very forward to the second novel.

I really enjoyed this book. I've read two Dune books in the past, but not a true "Dooner". I liked the SF and I thought the characters and story line were very interesting.