Kevin Anderson Books

The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune, Book 2) is the middle installment of a trilogy, a prequel of sorts ostensibly based on the notes and writings of Frank Herbert. For those of you that don't know, the trilogy takes place ten thousand years before the time of originator Frank Herbert's immensely popular book, Dune. It is a collaboration between Brian Herbert (Frank's son) and Kevin Anderson. It is the sixth book co-written by these authors that I know of, having just finished another trilogy/prequel, The House series (House Atriedes, Harkonnen and Corrin).

Unlike some other reviewers, I found this trilogy to be exceptional. I believe they may be Herbert/Anderson's most accomplished manuscripts. I finally got to experience the distant past, which was vaguely alluded to in Herbert's original Dune series. We get to meet the beautiful, compassionate Serena Butler, who's young son, the murder of which, set off the rebellion, which eventually after sixty-five years brought down the heartless thinking machines. We also meet distant relatives of Baron Harkonnen - Xavier (who is an honorable person) then Abulurd and Paul Atriedes - Vorian (the son of the wicked Titan, Agamemnon {a thousand year old human brain in a robot body})and Tio Holtzman (the revered inventor of the Holtzman Effect and other inventions). We experience the last stronghold of free humanity, with The League of Nobles, the fledgling exportation of the spice melange from Arrakis and the precursor of the Bene Gesserit, in the Sorceress's of Rossak. In the final story the pieces start to come together that were the basis for Dune some ten thousand years later as the groundwork is laid for the Harkonnen/Atriedes feud as well as the space guild and mentats.

The Machine Crusade continues twenty-four years after the events of the first book, The Butlerian Jihad, which started the slave revolt on Earth and Earth's eventual destruction. The duplicitous, conniving and verbally persuasive Iblis Ginjo, a former slave master, who escaped Earth with Serena Butler and Vorian Atredies in the aftermath of the slave rebellion, has been elevated to Grand Patriarch of The League of Nobles. Though Serena Butler is the titular head of the government, He, along with some of his henchmen weld the real power and sew mischief, and make unholy alliances to perpetuate the war, his basis of power. The rudimentary elements for folding space have been discovered by Norma Cenva, a brilliant protégé of Tio Holtzman. However it is to dangerous for widespread use, as ten percent of such voyages disappear, apparently victims of space collisions. Norma Cenva's husband and entrepreneur, Aurelius Venport has started to import melange from Arrakis, now popular as a recreational drug but it's true worth has yet to be discovered. On Arrakis, Selim Wormrider begins his own crusade, leading his followers against those who would mine the `spice.' This is but a tiny portion of the spectacle - The Machine Crusade and it is but a third of the grand spectacle known as The Legends of Dune Trilogy.

Conclusion

As with the original Dune, the authors create numerous civilizations in a Universe dwelling on millions of planets and then embellish it with devious evil characters and their requisite counterpoints. It may be ten thousand years in the past from Dune but they are every bit as advanced to us, as we are to Cro Magnon Man.

I found this book, consisting of 704 pages, to be an riveting read. True, the chapters are numerous and short but the story is ambitious so it couldn't be overly detailed, or the book would have been unwieldy. We are, after all, talking about a Universal Epic in which the authors followed about fifteen main characters on six different planets and in space. As with Dune we are treated to an excellent page turning science fiction novel with religious undertones.

This being the fifth collaboration of these two authors, the writing itself is fluid and easy to follow and well structured. The main characters, those that have been with us since book 1, are well developed but some of the newer ones could use some more. If the book has a fault, it's that the authors try to tell too much in too short a time. I remember when the movie Dune came out. Most of those who had previously read Dune and were able to follow the immensity of the story in a short time, liked it. To others, the movie was confusing. They couldn't follow it and hence didn't. That is the trouble with trying to tell a story that is huge, within the constraints of time or pages. We're talking about the whole universe here!

As a reader it seems to be in vogue to criticize this trilogy but as a writer I can tell you that these authors did a wonderful job of juggling this very complex story, with dozens of nuances and telling the story without being confusing. (Well, it can be a little confusing) Personally I am in awe of their overall accomplishment.

I suggest that you read this epic story slowly, with an open mind and don't pre judge the books. No, it's not as good as Dune but neither were the elder Herbert's following works. The bottom line is, this is a good piece of science fiction in this day when Fantasy has taken over the genre.