The Jesus Incident

Unlike Dune, this series has been out of print for some time. Shame! No one does it better than Herbert but Dune-Mania has left too much of his best work unread and unknown. Dune was a masterpiece, no question. But the series devolved into action novels - the work of creating his universe did not have to be re-done so the rest was just what happens next (and as Brian continues the series, what happened before). The Voidship series is different. Beginning with Destination: Void, which establishes the premise, each novel must reestablish the world in which it is set. Each set of characters has very new hurdles and new forms of intelligent life(? at least self-awareness) to deal with, each with their own world view. A good marketing bet would be to reintroduce these novels in paperback, capitalizing on the popularity of the Dune series. Let the new generation of sf readers discover the other worlds of Frank Herbert. This review refers to the series - Destination: Void, The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect, and The Ascension Factor

This book has all of Dune's intricacy of plot and character development but is a far more concise and elegant presentation. It's actually a sequel to Destination:Void, which I found to be interesting but definitely one of his lesser works. Subsequent books along this story line are pretty good too. I highly recommend that you read this book when you have time to finish it fairly quickly. Otherwise, you'll lose track of the characters and their individual plot lines. I once read through the entire SF section of a library (4 books a week for 2 years, ~400+ books) and this book is my favorite SF book.

I can't think of a more terrifying world than Pandora, Herbert's world of weird and deadly animals and mutant clones, all created at the whim of Ship, the accidental god-machine from his novel Destination:Void. Again, Herbert places his poor charaters in a constant and dire struggle for survival, only this time it's not just humans who want to stay alive. The whole drama plays out under the watch of the sometimes benevolant, sometimes indifferent, but always inscrutable Ship, who has become man's (and clone's) computer-God of his own creation.What foresight Herbert had to present such a world of biological science and ecological destruction gone mad that foreshadows our own time.A real treat for wild sci-fi fans. Look for it in used book stores. It's worth it!

Raja Flaherty (of Destination Void) returns to find a people obssessed with worShip. This is a tale of a very disturbing future on a planet which makes Arrakis seem cushy. As complex as Dune and with some characters far more repugnant than the Harkonnens, here is a bizarre and shocking account of a malevolent/benevolent force shaping man's evolution. Very enjoyable