The Dosadi Experiment

by Frank Herbert

Paperback, 1978

Status

Available

Call number

813

Publication

Futura (1978), Softcover

Description

Generations of a tormented human-alien people, caged on a toxic planet, conditioned by constant hunger and war-this is the Dosadi Experiment, and it has succeeded too well. For the Dosadi have bred for vengeance as well as cunning, and they have learned how to pass through the shimmering God Wall to exact their dreadful revenge on the Universe that created them...

User reviews

LibraryThing member paradoxosalpha

Here's a book I looked at with interest when I was a teenager who had read and enjoyed Herbert's Dune. I believe I passed it over then because it was the sequel to a book I hadn't read (Whipping Star), and which wasn't in the public library collection where I found The Dosadi Experiment. Since

then, Dosadi has gone from being the second of a series to being the fourth, in the narrative chronology of Herbert's ConSentiency novels. Still not having read the others all these decades later, I went ahead and tackled this one, inspired by praise I had read for it on LibraryThing.

It may be that I would have enjoyed it more if I had been already acquainted with the ConSentiency milieu and the protagonist (Jorj X. McKie, Saboteur Extraordinary) established in Whipping Star, but I did like it all the same. It certainly has a number of themes in common with the original Dune books, most especially the idea of a eugenic program transforming humanity. But even more it reminded me of the later Charles Stross novel Glasshouse. Both are far future espionage stories where the protagonist must infiltrate an experimental world in an effort to discover its true purpose, knowing only that there is some great culpability involved. In both cases, the world being investigated is more like the reader's world than the somewhat utopian future of the novel's larger scenario. In Dosadi, "The whole thing reminded McKie of stories told about behavior in Human bureaucracies of the classical period before deep space travel" (222). There are other interesting similarities between the books that would be spoilers to detail.

Unique to Herbert's tale is the focus on the exotic legal system of the frog-like Gowachin aliens, an important peer-race of humanity within the ConSentiency. McKie is the only human credentialed as a "legum" in the jurisprudence of their "courtarena," where both lawyers and litigants are routinely exposed to mortal hazard. Far from a crude gladiator's brawl, however, the operations of this system depend on great subtlety and creativity, demanding both a reverence for tradition and the power to upend precedents and conventions.

This book read quickly, even though there were passages that were written with such verbal economy that they became ambiguous to the reader. That style is thematically consistent with the book, which attributes it to the inhabitants of Dosadi themselves. I don't know how far in our future The Dosadi Experiment is supposed to be set, and it glances lightly over many technological details, but it has aged pretty well for forty-year-old science fiction. I'm glad to have finally read it, and I appreciate the recommendations that got me to do so.

Show Less

10 more

LibraryThing member santhony

This is a very difficult novel for me to review. It is brilliantly written and extremely deep in a philosophical sense. Too deep, in fact, for me to simply read and enjoy. I read for pleasure and this book requires either extreme intelligence or more effort than I'm willing to expend strictly for

pleasure reading.

I read and enjoyed Dune very much. One of my favorite novels of all time. This novel is very similar to some of the sequels to Dune (God Emperor of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune) which I felt got too bogged down in deep philosphical discussions that quite simply lost me.

I am a very well educated person and no idiot, however I'm definitely not smart enough to fully appreciate this novel. I read the book and followed the story line, but feel like I missed so much of the underlying meaning that it was a waste of my time. I could probably read, reread and ponder many sections and ultimately gain a greater appreciation, but I'm challenged sufficiently at work. I read to relax and decompress. This is not relaxing reading.

Bottom line: If you are very intelligent and/or a deep thinker who reads in order to broaden your mind or challenge yourself, this novel will certainly do the trick. If you read strictly for pleasure and want science fiction, read Asimov instead. This book is Dune on steroids.

Show Less

LibraryThing member aethercowboy

Jorj X. McKie, while lesser known than Paul Maud'Dib, could have been just as popular had Herbert dedicated more writing to tell McKie's stories.

His title is "saboteur extraordinary", working for the Bureau of Sabotage. Though, "working" isn't exactly the right word to describe what he does for

BuSab, as McKie loves doing his job.

As part of a plot to uncover nefarious uses of the jump gate technology (that is, technology that allows instantaneous travel from one point in the universe to another), McKie discovers Dosadi, a world cut off from the rest of ConSentiency via a practically impenetrable barrier called the God Wall.

McKie befriends Dosadi's Senior Liator, Keila Jedrik, and the two do what McKie does best: sabotage, sabotage, sabotage, in hopes of liberating the people trapped on Dosadi, and to prevent the other bureaus from gaining too much power.

Not as great as Dune, but still definitely Herbert's excellent prose. Recommended for true fans of Frank Herbert.

Show Less

LibraryThing member kencf0618

Densely plotted, character-driven science fiction, and a legal thriller to boot!

LibraryThing member Amtep

Many themes from Dune show up here, and some are explored more thoroughly. In particular, the notion of a harsh planet creating a superior people is the main focus of this book, while it is simply presented as fact in Dune.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves Dune, except for the drawback

that it really relies on the reader being familiar with Whipping Star, which is set in the same universe but is a quite different book.

Show Less

LibraryThing member tegan.merrilyn

Dosadi is difficult. Frank Herbet is notoriously complex, and I had trouble negotiating my way through parts of this book, which were thick with subjects scientifically exclusive to me. I am no scientist, no practised philospher, and it seems to me that such foreknowlege is essential to this sort

of reading.
Nevertheless, Frank Herbet is one of the greats. While his work is difficult at times, it's just this sort of elaboratness that lends a vivid reality to such exciting hypotheticals.

Show Less

LibraryThing member nEtVolution

An awesome journey into the psychology of the manipulators and the manipulated. It may be about an alien species, but the reality of the implications and conjecture on the dangers of overpopulation are frighteningly real.

LibraryThing member barpurple

So brilliant I could feel clostrophobia creeping in at the descriptions of the city. I was surprised when I reached the end, I wanted more.

LibraryThing member DinadansFriend

Dosadi is a planet set up for people reduced to the lowest common denominator in order to survive. They are not Happy campers. One is asked to care if they escape or improve local conditions.

LibraryThing member ConalO

This was a book that I had thought I read in the past but turned out to be new to me (unless extreme CRS has set in). This was a solid space opera tale told by one of the past masters of this genre and was a really enjoyable story. I will need to pick up the first story with Jorj X. Mckie so I can

see the past that is discussed in this one.

4.5 stars for a really fun read. Recommended for any fans of space opera especially if you enjoyed Dune!!

Show Less

LibraryThing member GlennBell

This is a complex story that is focused on a blocked off planet, which was theoretically an experiment. In reality the planet provided bodies for beings to transfer into that allowed essentially eternal existence. The story is focused around a lawyer who tries the case of legality of the

experiment. This human lawyer has significant insight into the culture and rules of the various sentient species in the story. He uses this knowledge and help from a human Dosadi to save the planet. This was an unusual story focused on law that is quite different than our court system. Since much of the complexity of the story is generated by customs created by the author, I find it too contrived.

Show Less

Fewer