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Sudanna, sudanna
First editon bound in red cloth and brown boards. A Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket. Mild tanning to the dust jacket's spine. Rubs to its spine tips and corners. DJ art by Ron Walotsky.
- GenresScience Fiction
251 pages, Hardcover
First published April 17, 1986
1 person is currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Brian Herbert
245 books2,169 followersBrian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Patrick Herbert.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 26, 2021
Oh, "Sudanna, Sudanna" you're such a weird book. An interesting and very weird book. There are several characters that are followed in this novel, but the primary are Prussirian, Hailey, and a Holo cop. Prussirian is the criminal rebel wannabe sort of rockstar guy who plays the forbidden instrument and with it connects with his ancestors. Hailey is the quintessential 40-ish over-bearing father figure, who is paranoid that everything is going to get him. And Holo Cops are the Good Thought enforcers, of which the particular one wants a new, shiny office. Sounds pretty normal...
Except, these are aliens who are flat as a board, eat sunshine, and have emojis for faces.
Surprised yet?
The book is incredibly Orwellian, with a little bit of Scientology's auditing sessions thrown in for good measure. Their "religion" hails to the almighty Mamacita, an aging super computer who has set forth a system of asinine, personality-crushing rules for its Ut populace to follow. The story touches the system, the world, and the alien life upon it as best as it can in its novel length, and if you viewed this through the lens of the novel "1984" you'd forget the oddities about the planet and its peoples. The characters are incredibly relatable.
But, like 1984, expect this novel to be a downer. There isn't going to be this grand victory, and the wants of the people are piffling yet human and needed. My most major gripe of this book is the stuff around Hailey's nearly 16-year-old daughter... who falls in love with the ADULT rocker guy, marries, does the diddly, and yeah. Gentlemen, teenage girls aren't that stupid. It was so dumb. So very, very dumb. And then she quickly Opheliaed her way out. Like, wow... women are misunderstood and emotional and useless creatures to this author family. That part ages poorly, and this is why I dropped it a star.
Otherwise, you can guess the cons in this by reading it and if you're the right reader for this type of work, which is to say, most people aren't. But I like exploring very alien worlds, and this fulfilled that need nicely.
Except, these are aliens who are flat as a board, eat sunshine, and have emojis for faces.
Surprised yet?
The book is incredibly Orwellian, with a little bit of Scientology's auditing sessions thrown in for good measure. Their "religion" hails to the almighty Mamacita, an aging super computer who has set forth a system of asinine, personality-crushing rules for its Ut populace to follow. The story touches the system, the world, and the alien life upon it as best as it can in its novel length, and if you viewed this through the lens of the novel "1984" you'd forget the oddities about the planet and its peoples. The characters are incredibly relatable.
But, like 1984, expect this novel to be a downer. There isn't going to be this grand victory, and the wants of the people are piffling yet human and needed. My most major gripe of this book is the stuff around Hailey's nearly 16-year-old daughter... who falls in love with the ADULT rocker guy, marries, does the diddly, and yeah. Gentlemen, teenage girls aren't that stupid. It was so dumb. So very, very dumb. And then she quickly Opheliaed her way out. Like, wow... women are misunderstood and emotional and useless creatures to this author family. That part ages poorly, and this is why I dropped it a star.
Otherwise, you can guess the cons in this by reading it and if you're the right reader for this type of work, which is to say, most people aren't. But I like exploring very alien worlds, and this fulfilled that need nicely.
December 23, 2016
one of the most bizarre sci-fi books i've ever read. has trappings of hard sci-fi in which many interesting possible concepts are explored, but it also includes intensely fantastical elements. take the design of the species of the novel.
i mean, just look at the cover. that's exactly what they look like. their heads fall off easily when their light, flat sail-like bodies are picked up by severe winds, but they can survive six minutes like this while their bodies runs around aimlessly searching for the head. they don't have eyes, ears, or a mouth, they just have a sensor bar which must remain open at all times otherwise they die of sensory deprivation after several minutes. all that, and yet the characterizations are all distinctly banal humanisms, causing a truly captivating cognitive dissonance.
i feel like in the end, WAYYYYY more questions are raised throughout the course of the novel than are ever answered, and as such the ending was mildly disappointing. however, one of the main pieces of world-building is that much of these species' lives is a complete mystery to them, having been set up hundreds of millions of years ago by a race of philosopher-warriors. so the mystery is also fitting.
i mean, just look at the cover. that's exactly what they look like. their heads fall off easily when their light, flat sail-like bodies are picked up by severe winds, but they can survive six minutes like this while their bodies runs around aimlessly searching for the head. they don't have eyes, ears, or a mouth, they just have a sensor bar which must remain open at all times otherwise they die of sensory deprivation after several minutes. all that, and yet the characterizations are all distinctly banal humanisms, causing a truly captivating cognitive dissonance.
i feel like in the end, WAYYYYY more questions are raised throughout the course of the novel than are ever answered, and as such the ending was mildly disappointing. however, one of the main pieces of world-building is that much of these species' lives is a complete mystery to them, having been set up hundreds of millions of years ago by a race of philosopher-warriors. so the mystery is also fitting.
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September 3, 2025we cant all live up to the shadows of our fathers. give it up
March 7, 2019
The most alien of aliens
After 60 years of reading sci-fi, this book stands out as the one an author creates characters with totally different motivations, biology, and abilities. Most alien characters come off as old star trek characters with maybe human bodies and alligator heads
After 60 years of reading sci-fi, this book stands out as the one an author creates characters with totally different motivations, biology, and abilities. Most alien characters come off as old star trek characters with maybe human bodies and alligator heads
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews