Mentats of Dune - by Brian Herbert & Kevin J Anderson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The second volume in the landmark Schools of Dune trilogy -- the inspiration for the HBO Original series DUNE: PROPHECY!

In Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's New York Times bestseller, Mentats of Dune, the thinking machines have been defeated but the struggle for humanity's future continues.

Gilbertus Albans has founded the Mentat School, a place where humans can learn the efficient techniques of thinking machines. But Gilbertus walks an uneasy line between his own convictions and compromises in order to survive the Butlerian fanatics, led by the madman Manford Torondo and his Swordmaster Anari Idaho. Mother Superior Raquella attempts to rebuild her Sisterhood School on Wallach IX, with her most talented and ambitious student, Valya Harkonnen, who also has another goal--to exact revenge on Vorian Atreides, the legendary hero of the Jihad, whom she blames for her family's downfall.

Meanwhile, Josef Venport conducts his own war against the Butlerians. VenHold Spacing Fleet controls nearly all commerce thanks to the superior mutated Navigators that Venport has created, and he places a ruthless embargo on any planet that accepts Manford Torondo's anti-technology pledge, hoping to starve them into submission. But fanatics rarely surrender easily . . .

The Mentats, the Navigators, and the Sisterhood all strive to improve the human race, but each group knows that as Butlerian fanaticism grows stronger, the battle will be to choose the path of humanity's future--whether to embrace civilization, or to plunge into an endless dark age.

Review Quotes

Praise for the Schools of Dune trilogy:

"The bad guys are deliciously evil, there's a dollop of an improbable but operatic love story, and destruction occurs on an epic scale as nothing less than the galaxy's fate is at stake." --Publisher's Weekly on Navigators of Dune

"The saga continues to embroider the original works with intelligence and imagination and also a stronger role for women." --Booklist on Mentats of Dune

"Characters and plot are thus beautifully set up, the timing is precise...the universe...is so vast, complex and fascinating that the magic lingers." --Kirkus Reviews on Sisterhood of Dune

About the Author

Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert, wrote the definitive biography of his father, Dreamer of Dune, which was a Hugo Award finalist. Brian is president of the company managing the legacy of Frank Herbert and is an executive producer of the motion picture Dune, as well as of the TV series Dune: The Sisterhood. He is the author or coauthor of more than forty-five books, including multiple New York Times bestsellers, has been nominated for the Nebula Award, and is always working on several projects at once. He and his wife, Jan, have traveled to all seven continents, and in 2019, they took a trip to Budapest to observe the filming of Dune.

Kevin J. Anderson has written dozens of national bestsellers and has been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, the Bram Stoker Award, and the SFX Readers' Choice Award. His critically acclaimed original novels include the ambitious space opera series The Saga of Seven Suns, the epic fantasy trilogy Wake the Dragon, steampunk adventures Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives (with legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart), as well as the thrillers Stake and Kill Zone (with Doug Beason). He is the publisher of WordFire Press and the director of the graduate program in publishing for Western Colorado University. He also set the Guinness-certified world record for the largest single-author book signing.