Dune: The Battle of Corrin

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Dune: The Battle of Corrin
LC Class
PS3558.E617 D88 2004
Preceded byDune: The Machine Crusade 

Dune: The Battle of Corrin is a 2004

Omnius
.

The events of the novel take place a full century after the beginning of the Butlerian Jihad, and are divided into two parts, the first beginning in the year 108 B.G. (before Guild) and detailing a biological war waged by the thinking machines on the humans. The second part of the novel begins in 88 B.G. and covers the events after the Great Purge, leading up to the fateful

Battle of Corrin
. At the conclusion of the Legends of Dune series, several storylines started in the previous two novels lead to the political and social climate that is well established in Frank Herbert's original Dune series.

Dune: The Battle of Corrin rose to #9 on The New York Times Best Seller list in its second week of publication.[2]

Plot summary

The machine evermind Omnius is continuing with his plans to eradicate all humans in the universe. After first being suggested by the traitor Yorek Thurr, an RNA

League of Nobles
, leaving them vulnerable to attack.

It is discovered that consumption of the spice

Serena Butler
's Jihad is declared over. The Great Purge ended with an impasse between humans and thinking machines on the planet Corrin. While unable to destroy the machines, the human army is able to trap them on Corrin by surrounding the planet with a net of scrambler satellites, so that any thinking machine attempting to leave would have its gelcircuitry mind destroyed. This situation continues for almost 20 years with the machines unable to escape, and most humans unwilling to enter another battle.

Omnius, again at the suggestion of Thurr, sends machines with primitive minds that can evade the scrambler network to attack Salusa Secundus and

Ginaz mercenaries
that finally destroys Omnius, but not before he sends out an unknown radio message into space. Following the Battle of Corrin, Viceroy Faykan Butler renames himself Faykan Corrino in commemoration.

The Cult of Serena

Having seen her parents succumb to the Machine ("demon") Scourge, and barely surviving herself,

Iblis Ginjo
, are instantly taken up by Rayna's mission. Led by Rayna, the
Orange Catholic Bible, "thou shall not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind" is attributed directly to Rayna Butler. Furthermore, the group is responsible for the strict laws banning all thinking machines under pain of death (and sometimes torture).[3]

Destruction of the Titans

During the 20-year impasse the three remaining Titans,

Quentin Butler
(Faykan and Abulurd Harkonnen's father) is captured by cymeks, and taken to the Titan stronghold on Hessra. There he is tortured and converted into a cymek himself. After learning about this, Vorian Atreides feigns retirement and travels to Hessra. Once there he regains his father Agamemnon's trust. In a final coup, Vorian and Quentin successfully kill the Titans and their cymek underlings, but at the cost of Quentin's life.

Legacy

The Atreides-Harkonnen Feud

A story line followed throughout the novel is the relationship between Vorian Atreides and Abulurd Butler. Abulurd is fiercely loyal to his mentor Vorian. Vorian tells Abulurd the truth behind

Bashar
in the Army of Humanity. Together they vow to win the war against the thinking machines, and once this goal is met, to clear the name of Xavier Harkonnen.

Their relationship takes a bad turn during the Battle of Corrin when faced with the human-shield situation. Erasmus has placed two million captive humans in an array of cargo containers rigged to explode once the human fleet advances, called the Bridge of Hrethgir. Vorian believes that sacrificing the captive humans is a necessary loss, but Abulurd disagrees. The two argue until Vorian relieves Abulurd of his command and has him confined to quarters. In a final attempt to save the captives, Abulurd deactivates the weapons for the entire fleet, making the Corrin attack more difficult and dangerous and eventually causing much higher casualties. Unknown to either, the robot Erasmus disabled the human shield programming, saving the humans in orbit. Following the victory, Abulurd is discharged and branded a coward by Vorian, though not branded a traitor like his grandfather Xavier, and banished from the League. After Abulurd is sentenced to exile on Lankeveil, his children hear stories about how their nobility had been stolen from them. When Abulurd dies of a fever, his sons claim it was Vorian Atreides who had brought the fever to destroy the Harkonnens. When

House Harkonnen
.

The Bene Gesserit

The

Reverend Mother.[4]
After the Butlerian Jihad, Raquella assumes authority over the Sorceresses of Rossak and their breeding programs and founds the Bene Gesserit school of thought.

The Suk School

After the situation on Rossak is resolved, Mohandas Suk sets out on his mission to "form a medical school like none the League has ever seen".

Suk School
.

The Guild

Determined to find a solution to the space-folding problem,

Norma Cenva
experiments on herself by sealing herself inside a tank filled with gaseous melange. After mutating horribly, she finds out that she is capable of guiding a ship through foldspace. At the end of the book, Norma and her son administer the training for the next generation of Navigators. VenKee Enterprises continues to hold their monopoly over Space Folding and continues to strengthen their company, later transforming into the Guild of Navigators.

The Mentats

Erasmus continues his experiment with his ward

Mentat. After seventy years it becomes clear that the independent robot loves his "son" even though he has no problem brutalizing other humans. When Gilbertus sneaks onto one of the cargo haulers of the Bridge of Hrethgir containing a Serena Butler clone with whom he is infatuated, Erasmus disables the explosive trip mechanism in order to save him. In doing so, Erasmus dooms the entire machine empire. Realizing that hrethgir will rule the universe, he suggests to Gilbertus that he teach the other humans to "think efficiently". Erasmus apparently survives the battle when Gilbertus smuggles away his memory core.[6]

The Fremen

During the rush for spice to aid with the retrovirus epidemic, many prospectors come to

Zensunni tradition, and his stepson El'hiim, who wants to profit from the off-worlders. Unable to sway El'hiim, Ishmael challenges him to a sandworm
duel and loses. Though defeated, many of the Zensunnis choose to leave the community and follow Ishmael as Free Men of Arrakis.

Reception

Dune: The Battle of Corrin rose to #9 on The New York Times Best Seller list in its second week of publication.[2]

References

  1. ^ "SCI FI Channel Auction to Benefit Reading Is Fundamental". PNNonline.org (Internet Archive). March 18, 2003. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2007. Since its debut in 1965, Frank Herbert's Dune has sold over 12 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling science fiction novel of all time ... Frank Herbert's Dune saga is one of the greatest 20th Century contributions to literature.
  2. ^ a b "Hardcover Fiction: September 12, 2004". The New York Times. September 12, 2004. Archived from the original on November 28, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
  3. ^ Herbert, Brian. Dune:The Battle of Corrin. Tor, 2004. p. 570
  4. ^ Herbert, Brian. Dune:The Battle of Corrin. Tor, 2004. p. 519.
  5. ^ Herbert, Brian. Dune:The Battle of Corrin. Tor, 2004. p. 664.
  6. ^ Herbert, Brian. Dune:The Battle of Corrin. Tor, 2004. p. 640-641, 646.
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