The Dosadi Experiment

[OutofThisWorld]

I'm getting the Frank Herbert book "The Dosadi Experiment". Have any of you guys read this before? Do any of you guys like this better than Dune?

 

[OutofThisWorld]

What are your opinions on The Dosadi Experiment?

 

[DeepThought]

Yes, I've read that one quite a few years back, have to say very intriguing well written novel. Unfortunately, it's the only Herbert work I've read outside Dune Saga. So I can't say how it compares to his other non-dune books but wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be his best work excepting Dune, of course.

Cheers, DeepThought

 

[chrispenycate]

Jory X McKie(?; it's been a long time) and the bureau of sabotage? I would read "Whipping Star" first, if you cn get hold of it.
But there are quite a lot of good Herbert stories outside the "Dune" saga; personally I'm very fond of "Hellstrom's Hive", while I would avoid "The Godmakers", but that's personal, as usual.

 

[iansales]

I quite enjoyed The Godmakers. Admittedly, it reads like what it is: which is three stories welded together. The Heaven Makers I'd avoid. The Santaroga Barrier I'd certainly try.

I used to like The Dosadi Experiment better than Dune, but I reread Whipping Star (the first of the two BuSab novels) and wasn't so impressed. The universe of the Dune books tends to over-shadow everything Herbert wrote, even if some individual books are better than any in the Dune series. Whether The Dosadi Experiment is still one of those... well, I'll have to reread it to find out...

 

[Perpetual Man]

Many years ago I went through a phase of trying to get and read all the Frank Herbert books, and after trundling off to London came back with them all. Actually I got onto the bus with them all, but Whipping Star was missing when I got home - I have my suspicions about what happened to it...

However as I made my youthful way through the pile, The Dosadi Experiment was the one book I just could not read. I hated it. And I tried on two other occasions to read it and failed. But That's just me.

I always liked The White Plague and loved the three books he wrote with Bill Ransom - The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect and the Ascension Factor - all of which were sequels to the earlier novel Destination Void.

 

[Dave]

Threads merged.

 

[Clansman]

The only non-Dune of Frank Herbert that I read was The White Plague. Talk about a scary novel, which was no doubt partially inspired by the AIDS epidemic (as it then was. Now it is a pandemic). Really good stuff though, with a socially disturbing ending. I believe he got labelled a women-hater for that book, quite improperly (the disease kills only women).

Definitely worth a read in this era of genetic manipulation. Excellent speculative fiction.

 

[Razorback]

I read it quite awhile back, and I didn’t care for it much. That’s probably because I was looking for something more like Dune, which it isn’t. My opinion may have been different if I hadn’t been looking for another Dune like book.

 

[dommer2029]

I just finished re-reading The Dosadi Experiment, and there are several places where Herbert gives us dialogue, tells us that there is a lot being communicated but not said ... and then shows us the result without explaining what was communicated. As a result, I have a couple of questions.

::Spoiler Alert::

When Aritch allows the Dosadi to leave the planet, it's after a tense conversation with McKie. But I don't understand why he makes that choice. If he thought that choice posed a real threat to the ConSentiency, what was the leverage McKie applied to force him to make the choice McKie wanted?

When Keila Jedrick gets killed, it seems to be a deliberate choice on her part, but I don't understand it. Even if she survives on in McKie, they were more powerful with two bodies, and her Dosadi training was to seek power. If she had other options, why did she choose that one?

::End Spoiler::

 

[The Judge]

My take on the Keila bit is that with her body dead, Broey will think himself safe -- it expressly says "He believed Jedrik dead and, while McKie was clever, McKie and BuSab were not a primary concern" -- so he will consolidate his power without worrying about any threat from her, the only person he thinks could possibly defeat him, and thereby he would "create a single target for BuSab". If she were still known to be alive, he would presumably act more cautiously and perhaps kill McKie at once (which, personally, I'd do anyway if I were him).

Can't help you with the other part, though. I found lots of the plot and the rationale behind actions incomprehensible -- not sure whether they are genuine plot holes or me missing things.