The dosadi Experiment by Frank Herbert (Audiobook Review)

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Title: The Dosadi Experiment
Author: Frank Herbert
Narrator: Scott Brick
Publisher: Tantor Media
Duration: 10 hours, 52 minutes
Copyright: 2010
Genres: science fiction, aliens
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Tantor Media.

SUMMARY: In a far-distant future, the human race is part of a civilization known as the consentiency, which covers many far-flung galaxies, and multiple species of sentient beings. It is two of these races that make the consentiency possible: the Taprisiots, who can make it possible for any two minds within the consentiency to connect and communicate, and the Caleban, who can create jump-doors, providing instantaneous travel between any two points in the universe. But these conveniences have their downside, the most glaring of which is the ability to abduct a person, or persons, and remove them to any spot in the universe, completely against their will.
It was the Gowachin, an oddly frog-like people, who found a way to abuse this power. Using the abilities of the Caleban, thousands of human and Gowachin subjects were abducted, and placed on the uninhabited planet Dosadi. These abductees were confined to one narrow canyon, completely enclosed by the impenetrable god-wall. The environment outside the god-wall was toxic to both races. The people of dosadi were left to their own devices, but were closely observed. This was the Dosadi Experiment.
Now, more than twenty generations later, the population within the Dosadi experiment has reached nearly 89 million, and things are coming to a head. The prisoners of Dosadi, through generations of breeding for the harsh realities of their existence, have become clever. Some of them have begun to notice that there is something unnatural about the planet they live on. One Dosadian in particular, Keila Jedrik, has a plan for going beyond the god-wall, and it begins with an all-out race war between the human and Gowachin prisoners.

MY TAKE ON IT: Frank Herbert is great at creating alien races. Fans of his “Dune” books have known that for a long time. He just has a knack for making up a race, giving them a history, culture, language, and customs that are completely unique, and utterly believable.
For all that, Herbert’s writing can be hard to follow at times. There is so much detail, and the plot is so densely woven, that I had a hard time keeping up. I thought I was just missing something, butI read what some other people had to say about “The Dosadi Experiment” before I sat down to write this review, and found some similar sentiments. If you decide to read this for yourself, keep your eye on the ball, and don’t blink. This one will require your full attention.

NARRATOR: Scott Brick began narrating audiobooks in 2000, and currently has more than 400 titles to his credit. During that span, Brick has been awarded many times, including several Earphone Awards, and a coveted Audi Award in 2003. Clearly, I am in the minority when I say that I don’t particularly care for his style. Scott Brick’s diction is very clear and precise, and his warm, resonant voice is easy on the ears. His reading is just a little too clinical for me.

FINAL WORD: Frank Herbert is obviously a terrific writer, and “The Dosadi Experiment” is a good story, filled with all those things that Herbert does so well, but this may not be the audiobook for the casual reader.

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This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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