A Better Dune
5 stars
I have to admit to picking this up because it looked quite similar to Dune, which I like quite a bit. On the surface, it is about a warrior tribe living in the desert (which seemed quite similar to the Fremen).
And indeed, there are quite some similarities when it comes to setting/general plot. However, one aspect that is handled more gracefully here is imperialism and colonialism. While a human enters the tribe (an unprecedented event) he is never made their leader but is rather just part of multiple extreme, unprecedented circumstances for the people of the mri. While Dune is also intended to be anti-imperialist, the actions taken by the characters really do not bear this out. In my opinion, this is done more skillfully here as well: While there always are empires in the mix, there are also always people resisting/circumventing the bureaucratic machine.
Overall, if you like …
I have to admit to picking this up because it looked quite similar to Dune, which I like quite a bit. On the surface, it is about a warrior tribe living in the desert (which seemed quite similar to the Fremen).
And indeed, there are quite some similarities when it comes to setting/general plot. However, one aspect that is handled more gracefully here is imperialism and colonialism. While a human enters the tribe (an unprecedented event) he is never made their leader but is rather just part of multiple extreme, unprecedented circumstances for the people of the mri. While Dune is also intended to be anti-imperialist, the actions taken by the characters really do not bear this out. In my opinion, this is done more skillfully here as well: While there always are empires in the mix, there are also always people resisting/circumventing the bureaucratic machine.
Overall, if you like stories like Dune (foreign planets and cultures, court politics and intrigue) you will like this as well. I liked it even better.