This is the third and final volume of the “Legends of Dune” trilogy, covering the span of the Butlerian Jihad, the crusade against “thinking machines”. As with the first two novels, the main issue is one of execution. The ideas are sound, once the basic premise is accepted, but some ideas are glossed over while others get an unusual amount of exploration.
In terms of the writing, this is perhaps the best of the three books. Much time is spent establishing the basic foundations for most (if not all) of the major influencing organizations existent in the original “Dune”. While it seems hard to believe that each and every concept and organization had its genesis during the time of the Jihad, in retrospect, it aligns well with the idea of the Corrino Empire and its static, entrenched society.
In some cases, however, the connections aren’t made well enough. The origin of the Bene Gessirit had already been established in earlier works (as “witches” with “super psychic powers”, no less), but this book covers the first true Reverend Mother. This entire sequence does not work, especially considering that the process is not spice-driven as presented (no Water of Life, which makes no sense) and it ignores the original depiction of the Bene Gessirit as women seen as witches for their incredible sense of biochemical and psychological control. In other words, witches in perception, not witches in ability.
One key criticism is perhaps the hardest to rationalize. If there is one event that was established as beginning at the Battle of Corrin, beyond the end of the Jihad and the beginning of the Corrino dynasty, it was the initiation of the Atreides/Harkonnen feud. Having the two families as friends, even relatives of a sort, meshed well with the intertwined nature of the Houses far in the future. However, as written, the feud begins over a contrived crisis of conscience, and it doesn’t work.
The rest of the criticism is reserved for the usual weaknesses: characterization and writing style. Most of the good ideas are hampered by the decision to chop the story into very small chapters instead of longer examinations of a situation. This also leads to shallow characterization, where the characters are overly simplistic. The result sounds like a horrible attempt to capture history starting with little more than a list of names, places, and dates, ascribing personalities more by what a person has done than any consideration of deep personal motivation.
Rating: 6/10
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