From Publishers Weekly

SF space opera titans Herbert and Anderson continue to investigate the tantalizing origins of Frank Herbert's Dune universe, this time achieving mixed results in their fifth action-packed collaboration, the bloated but occasionally brilliant second installment of the trilogy that started with Dune: The Butlerian Jihad (2002).Twenty-four years have passed since the independent Thinking Machine, Erasmus, killed Serena Butler's son and began a bloody Holy War against Omnius, a computer "evermind." Leading the League's Army of the Jihad are Primeros Xavier Harkonnen and Vorian Atreides, the son of cymek (human brain/robotic body) General Agamemnon, who, along with his fellow "semi-immortals," shares the computer evermind's wish to eradicate all unnecessary humans but secretly also wants to destroy Omnius. Harkonnen and Atreides loyally report to their Priestess leader, unknowingly the political puppet of Grand Patriarch Iblis Ginjo, a former Earth slave-master. Unfortunately, the short spacehopping chapters neglect some characterizations and more intriguing story lines, such as the Arrakis conflicts swirling around Selim Wormrider's growing outlaw band and the relationship of Erasmus with his human "son," in favor of too long battle segments and extraneous details about the emotionally remote Ginaz mercenary, Jool Noret. Despite the flaws, Dune fans will still enjoy the sweeping philosophical power that surfaces, invoking the senior Herbert's remarkable vision.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From

Years have passed since the Jihad against the overmind Omnius and the thinking machines blazed up in the instant that the robot Erasmus hurled an innocent toddler to his death. The child's mother, Serena Butler, is still the spiritual leader of the Jihadi, and the former slave foreman Iblis Ginjo is their political and military organizer. Vor Atreides and Xavier Harkonnen lead the fleet, Vor with a common touch and the good looks preserved by life-extending treatment, and Xavier with sheer determination and courage. But the decades-long war has cost countless lives and sapped the people's resolve. When Omnius makes a startling offer of peace, Serena knows it is a terrible mistake to compromise with machine intelligence but can't naysay her exhausted followers. In a desperate move to save the Jihad and the millions of enslaved humans on machine-dominated worlds, Serena goes as the sole ambassador of peace to Omnius' stronghold on the planet Corrin. Meanwhile, an isolated physicist is discovering how to fold space, Selim of Arrakis is building a tribe and a legend, and Iblis is making a demonic deal with the flesh merchants of Tleilax to provide organ replacements for the Jihadi army. Organizing a dozen plotlines takes time, so sit back and enjoy the nearly 700-page ride. Roberta Johnson
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