Destination: Void before The Jesus Incident?

Cafe Society
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A copy of The Jesus Incident was donated a couple of weeks ago so I snatched it because I adore the DUNE series. I guess it takes place in the same universe as Herbert’s Destination: Void, which I have never read.

Now, the J.I. is a collaboration with Bill Ransom, and is the first of a trilogy, but should I read D:V first? Is it kind of analogous to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings? Of course, some may think that The Hobbit is essential reading before LOTR, others don’t.

So my question is whether I should read Destination: Void first, but feel free to hijack this thread into a discussion about Prof. Tolkien’s work.

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The Jesus Incident can be read as a stand alone book. Destination: Void will definitely fil in the blanks but TJI doesn’t have a whole lot of blanks to fill in in the first place.

Though a shorter book, I found D:V to be a longer read that TJI, because it seems to lack somewhat in entertainment value.
I suggest reading The Jesus Incident first. If you liked it as much as you like the Dune Saga, than Destination: Void becomes a must read. Reading out of “order” has little effect on Herbert’s non Dune stories.

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These books are actually a four part series called The Pandora Sequence. The Lazarus Effect and The Ascension Factor are the other two.
Proper order if you’re going to do them all:

D:V
TJI
TLE
TAF

But they will all stand alone, too.

The series is actually pretty good over all. D:V being the weakest read, but mandantory if you’re going to tackle the whole series.

The series explores what might happen when an exercise in AI actually creates sentience and the consequences thereof. Also, the question of religious thought is examined and some disturbing characters are created both by Herbert and by some of his characters. Stories within stories, clones, manipulative mindplay, and tortuous detail fill these books. Recommended only for the true SF geek.

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FTR, the above post is not a spoiler. You can get more info from the book jackets.

I really wish we had limited post editing so this could’ve been one post. Oh well…