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Title: Let down
Review: The original Dune series and the first three prequels sewed the tantilizingly obscure seeds of the ancient man vs. machine conflict called the Butlerian Jihad. Everything that happens later has its origins there. Clearly the Jihad was THE event that shaped the Dune universe.I grabbed this new prequel the week it was released. I was expecting an epic, tourtured narrative of mankinds near extermination a la Benford's "Great Sky River." What I got was brains floating in jars, seriously. How 1950s sci-fi cliche is that? These poor plot choices combined with no real ending made this an agonizing read. I just never believed that THIS scenario created the Dune universe. This is a pulp novel of the disposable kind. Not a bad read in and of itself, but not really worthy of the Dune legacy. I'm going to pretend it didn't happen.
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