Dune: The Battle of Corrin
Encyclopedia
Dune: The Battle of Corrin is a 2004 science fiction
novel by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
, set in the fictional Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. It is the third book in the Legends of Dune
prequel
trilogy
, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune
. The series chronicles the fictional Butlerian Jihad
, a crusade by the last free humans in the universe against the thinking machines
, a violent and dominating force led by the sentient computer Omnius.
The events of the novel take place a full century after the beginning of the Butlerian Jihad, and are divided into two parts, the first beginning in the year 108 B.G. (before Guild) and detailing a biological war waged by the thinking machines on the humans. The second part of the novel begins in 88 B.G. and covers the events after the Great Purge, leading up to the fateful Battle of Corrin. At the conclusion of the Legends of Dune series, several storylines started in the previous two novels lead to the political and social climate that is well established in Frank Herbert’s original Dune series.
is designed by the captured Tlulaxa
Rekur Van and the independent robot Erasmus. Omnius then launches capsules containing the retrovirus to infect the planets inhabited by the hapless humans. With a 43% direct-mortality rate, the virus succeeds in effectively crippling the League of Nobles, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
It is discovered that consumption of the spice melange has the effect of both bolstering immunity to the retrovirus and stopping its progression in some of those already infected. Omnius, unaware that the virus has been effectively stopped, prepares for the second phase of its attack. Gathering the bulk of the machine armies stationed at the different synchronized planets, the evermind launches the massive fleet towards the League capital Salusa Secundus
. After learning of the imminent destruction headed their way in the form of the machine fleet, Vorian Atreides
formulates a plan whereby the humans can launch pulse-atomic attacks on all of the undefended Synchronized Worlds, ridding the universe of Omnius altogether. However, this plan called for the use of the still unreliable space-folding technology in order to carry out the attacks before the machines have a chance to recall the fleet en route to Salusa. The Great Purge is successful in destroying Omnius on all but one planet, albeit with an appalling cost in human lives because each planet was turned into slag, and while all the machines were obliterated, all the captured humans and slaves on these planets were also killed. Each time the human armies fold space to a new location there is a 10% attrition rate due to the undependable space-folders because of the uncertainty principle. In all, it amounted to billions of lives lost. The humans are also unable to destroy Omnius on the primary synchronized world, Corrin. While the other Evermind incarnations are being attacked, the cogitor Vidad travels to Corrin and warns Corrin-Omnius of the human counter-offensive. The machine fleet is recalled to defend their last remaining stronghold. Despite this, Serena Butler
’s Jihad is declared over. The Great Purge ended with an impasse between humans and thinking machines on the planet Corrin. While unable to destroy the machines, the human army is able to trap them on Corrin by surrounding the planet with a net of scrambler satellites, so that any thinking machine attempting to leave would have its gelcircuitry mind destroyed. This situation continues for almost 20 years with the machines unable to escape, and most humans unwilling to enter another battle.
Omnius, again at the suggestion of Thurr, sends machines with primitive minds that can evade the scrambler network to attack Salusa Secundus and Rossak. These attacks have a limited effect, but are enough to remind the humans that the machines are still a threat. Touting his victory over the Titan
s (see below), Vorian Atreides convinces the League to attack Corrin. Facing robots using human shields and unable to use their main tactical weapons due to treachery by Abulurd Harkkonen, the Army of Humanity is bogged down around Corrin. They are forced to use most of their atomics to destroy the robot defenders. There is a ground offensive by Ginaz mercenaries that finally destroys Omnius, but not before he sends out an unknown radio message into space. Following the Battle of Corrin, Viceroy Faykan Butler renames himself Faykan Corrino in commemoration.
Led by Rayna, the Cult of Serena causes more mayhem for humans than the thinking machines. Despite inherent hypocrisy (such as the destruction of some technology, but the continuous use of spaceships) within the group, the cult’s legacy endures. The primary commandment in the Orange Catholic Bible
, “thou shall not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind” is attributed directly to Rayna Butler. Furthermore, the group is responsible for the strict laws banning all thinking machines under pain of death (and sometimes torture) thus making them anathema.
’s death, and how it was Iblis Ginjo who betrayed humanity and not Xavier. Abulurd changes his last name back to Harkonnen
, which is reviled by most in the League. Though this bogs down Abulurd’s military career, Vorian still manages to promote him to Segundo in the Army of the Jihad, and finally Bashar
in the Army of Humanity. Together they vow to win the war against the thinking machines, and once this goal is met, to clear the name of Xavier Harkonnen.
Their relationship takes a bad turn during the Battle of Corrin when faced with the human-shield situation. Erasmus has placed two million captive humans in an array of cargo containers rigged to explode once the human fleet advances, called the Bridge of Hrethgir. Vorian believes that sacrificing the captive humans is a necessary loss, but Abulurd disagrees. The two argue until Vorian relieves Abulurd of his command and has him confined to quarters. In a final attempt to save the captives, Abulurd deactivates the weapons for the entire fleet, making the Corrin attack more difficult and dangerous and eventually causing much higher casualties. Unknown to either, the robot Erasmus disabled the human shield programming, saving the humans in orbit. Following the victory, Abulurd is discharged and branded a coward by Vorian, though not branded a traitor like his grandfather Xavier, and banished from the League. After Abulurd is sentenced to exile on Lankeveil, his children hear stories about how their nobility had been stolen from them. When Abulurd dies of a fever, his sons claim it was Vorian Atreides who had brought the fever to destroy the Harkonnens. When House Harkonnen
returns to the empire, their wild accusations at House Atreides
are accepted as truth. Thus begins the feud between House Atreides
and House Harkonnen
.
sisterhood when a resurgence of the machine plague occurs after the Great Purge. Raquella Berto-Anirul (granddaughter of Vorian Atreides) and Mohandas Suk, two doctors, arrive to assist with the new outbreak. After being infected herself, Raquella makes a miraculous recovery due to substances found on the planet. Paranoid and feeling that the doctor might somehow usurp her power, the leader of the Sorceresses, Ticia Cenva, poisons Raquella with the Rossak Drug. Rather than killing her, the ordeal awakens Other Memory within Raquella. She manages to internally convert the poison into a harmless substance, thus being the first to undergo what would later become the Spice Agony. Ticia kills herself, and it is implied that Raquella becomes the first Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. After the Butlerian Jihad, Raquella assumes authority over the Sorceresses of Rossak and their breeding programs and founds the Bene Gesserit school of thought.
experiments on herself by sealing herself inside a tank filled with gaseous melange. After mutating horribly, she finds out that she is capable of guiding a ship through foldspace. At the end of the book you see Norma and her son administering the training for the next generation of Navigators. VenKee Enterprises continues to hold their monopoly over Space Folding and continues to strengthen their company, later transforming into the Guild of Navigators.
. After seventy years it becomes clear that the independent robot loves his “son” even though he has no problem brutalizing other humans. When Gilbertus sneaks onto one of the cargo haulers of the Bridge of Hrethgir containing a Serena Butler clone that he is infatuated with, Erasmus disables the explosive trip mechanism in order to save him. In doing so, Erasmus dooms the entire machine empire. Realizing that hrethgir will rule the universe, he suggests to Gilbertus that he teach the other humans to “think efficiently.” Erasmus apparently survives the battle when Gilbertus smuggles away his memory core.
. The novel follows the struggle between Ishmael, who wishes to follow strict Zensunni
tradition, and his stepson El’hiim, who wants to profit from the off-worlders. Unable to sway El’hiim, Ishmael challenges him to a sandworm
duel and loses. Though defeated, many of the Zensunnis choose to leave the community and follow Ishmael as Free Men of Arrakis.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
, set in the fictional Dune universe
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
created by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
. It is the third book in the Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
, which takes place over 10,000 years before the events of Frank Herbert's celebrated 1965 novel Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
. The series chronicles the fictional Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
, a crusade by the last free humans in the universe against the thinking machines
Thinking machines (Dune)
Thinking machines is a collective term for artificial intelligence in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Butlerian Jihad a human crusade against thinking machines is an epic turning point in the back-story of the Dune universe...
, a violent and dominating force led by the sentient computer Omnius.
The events of the novel take place a full century after the beginning of the Butlerian Jihad, and are divided into two parts, the first beginning in the year 108 B.G. (before Guild) and detailing a biological war waged by the thinking machines on the humans. The second part of the novel begins in 88 B.G. and covers the events after the Great Purge, leading up to the fateful Battle of Corrin. At the conclusion of the Legends of Dune series, several storylines started in the previous two novels lead to the political and social climate that is well established in Frank Herbert’s original Dune series.
Plot summary
The machine evermind Omnius is continuing with his plans to eradicate all humans in the universe. After first being suggested by the traitor Yorek Thurr, an RNA retrovirusRetrovirus
A retrovirus is an RNA virus that is duplicated in a host cell using the reverse transcriptase enzyme to produce DNA from its RNA genome. The DNA is then incorporated into the host's genome by an integrase enzyme. The virus thereafter replicates as part of the host cell's DNA...
is designed by the captured Tlulaxa
Bene Tleilax
The Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Genetic manipulators who traffic in biological products such as artificial eyes, gholas, and "twisted" Mentats, the Tleilaxu are a major power in the Imperium...
Rekur Van and the independent robot Erasmus. Omnius then launches capsules containing the retrovirus to infect the planets inhabited by the hapless humans. With a 43% direct-mortality rate, the virus succeeds in effectively crippling the League of Nobles, leaving them vulnerable to attack.
It is discovered that consumption of the spice melange has the effect of both bolstering immunity to the retrovirus and stopping its progression in some of those already infected. Omnius, unaware that the virus has been effectively stopped, prepares for the second phase of its attack. Gathering the bulk of the machine armies stationed at the different synchronized planets, the evermind launches the massive fleet towards the League capital Salusa Secundus
Salusa Secundus
Salusa Secundus is a fictional planet appearing in Frank Herbert's Dune universe. With harsh conditions rivaling those of the desert planet Arrakis, Salusa is used as the Imperial Prison Planet, and is one of two planets on which shigawire is grown .-Dune:In "Terminology of the Imperium," the...
. After learning of the imminent destruction headed their way in the form of the machine fleet, Vorian Atreides
Vorian Atreides
Vorian Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The ancestor of Paul Atreides, Vorian is a key character in the Legends of Dune trilogy created by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.-Family history:...
formulates a plan whereby the humans can launch pulse-atomic attacks on all of the undefended Synchronized Worlds, ridding the universe of Omnius altogether. However, this plan called for the use of the still unreliable space-folding technology in order to carry out the attacks before the machines have a chance to recall the fleet en route to Salusa. The Great Purge is successful in destroying Omnius on all but one planet, albeit with an appalling cost in human lives because each planet was turned into slag, and while all the machines were obliterated, all the captured humans and slaves on these planets were also killed. Each time the human armies fold space to a new location there is a 10% attrition rate due to the undependable space-folders because of the uncertainty principle. In all, it amounted to billions of lives lost. The humans are also unable to destroy Omnius on the primary synchronized world, Corrin. While the other Evermind incarnations are being attacked, the cogitor Vidad travels to Corrin and warns Corrin-Omnius of the human counter-offensive. The machine fleet is recalled to defend their last remaining stronghold. Despite this, Serena Butler
Serena Butler
Serena Butler is a character in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's Legends of Dune series, a trilogy of novels set during the Butlerian Jihad, the war against thinking machines only vaguely referred to in Frank Herbert's original Dune series....
’s Jihad is declared over. The Great Purge ended with an impasse between humans and thinking machines on the planet Corrin. While unable to destroy the machines, the human army is able to trap them on Corrin by surrounding the planet with a net of scrambler satellites, so that any thinking machine attempting to leave would have its gelcircuitry mind destroyed. This situation continues for almost 20 years with the machines unable to escape, and most humans unwilling to enter another battle.
Omnius, again at the suggestion of Thurr, sends machines with primitive minds that can evade the scrambler network to attack Salusa Secundus and Rossak. These attacks have a limited effect, but are enough to remind the humans that the machines are still a threat. Touting his victory over the Titan
Titan (Dune)
The Titans are a group of fictional characters in the Legends of Dune series of novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
s (see below), Vorian Atreides convinces the League to attack Corrin. Facing robots using human shields and unable to use their main tactical weapons due to treachery by Abulurd Harkkonen, the Army of Humanity is bogged down around Corrin. They are forced to use most of their atomics to destroy the robot defenders. There is a ground offensive by Ginaz mercenaries that finally destroys Omnius, but not before he sends out an unknown radio message into space. Following the Battle of Corrin, Viceroy Faykan Butler renames himself Faykan Corrino in commemoration.
The Cult of Serena
Having seen her parents succumb to the Machine (“demon”) Scourge, and barely surviving herself, Rayna Butler begins her personal crusade against the thinking machines. Claiming to have had a vision of Serena Butler herself (possibly a hallucination caused by her illness), Rayna begins smashing anything resembling thinking machines, including even innocuous devices, and desperately needed medical equipment. A new group known as the Martyrists who worship The Three Martyrs: Serena Butler, Manion the Innocent, and Iblis Ginjo, are instantly taken up by Rayna’s mission.Led by Rayna, the Cult of Serena causes more mayhem for humans than the thinking machines. Despite inherent hypocrisy (such as the destruction of some technology, but the continuous use of spaceships) within the group, the cult’s legacy endures. The primary commandment in the Orange Catholic Bible
Orange Catholic Bible
The Orange Catholic Bible is a fictional book from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
, “thou shall not make a machine in the likeness of a human mind” is attributed directly to Rayna Butler. Furthermore, the group is responsible for the strict laws banning all thinking machines under pain of death (and sometimes torture) thus making them anathema.
Destruction of the Titans
During the 20-year impasse the three remaining Titans, Agamemnon, Juno and Dante, are struggling to rebuild their cymek empire. While surveying Wallach IX, which has been devastated during the Great Purge for possible survivors in need of aid, Primero Quentin Butler (Faykan and Abulurd Harkonnen’s father) is captured by cymeks, and taken to the Titan stronghold on Hessra. There he is tortured and converted into a cymek himself. After learning about this, Vorian Atreides feigns retirement and travels to Hessra. Once there he regains his father Agamemnon’s trust. In a final coup, Vorian and Quentin successfully kill the Titans and their cymek underlings, but at the cost of Quentin’s life.The Atreides-Harkonnen Feud
A story line followed throughout the novel is the relationship between Vorian Atreides and Abulurd Butler. Abulurd is fiercely loyal to his mentor Vorian. Vorian tells Abulurd the truth behind Xavier HarkonnenXavier Harkonnen
Xavier Harkonnen is a character in the fictional Dune universe. Xavier's role existed in the Legends of Dune series, in the books Dune: The Butlerian Jihad and Dune: The Machine Crusade. He was also referenced in Dune: The Battle of Corrin....
’s death, and how it was Iblis Ginjo who betrayed humanity and not Xavier. Abulurd changes his last name back to Harkonnen
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
, which is reviled by most in the League. Though this bogs down Abulurd’s military career, Vorian still manages to promote him to Segundo in the Army of the Jihad, and finally Bashar
Bashar
Bashar may refer to:* Bashar Abdullah, Kuwaiti footballer* Bashar al-Assad, the President of Syria* Bashar Saad, Iraqi footballer* Khademul Bashar, Bangladeshi air marshal* Bashar , a fictional military rank in the Dune universe...
in the Army of Humanity. Together they vow to win the war against the thinking machines, and once this goal is met, to clear the name of Xavier Harkonnen.
Their relationship takes a bad turn during the Battle of Corrin when faced with the human-shield situation. Erasmus has placed two million captive humans in an array of cargo containers rigged to explode once the human fleet advances, called the Bridge of Hrethgir. Vorian believes that sacrificing the captive humans is a necessary loss, but Abulurd disagrees. The two argue until Vorian relieves Abulurd of his command and has him confined to quarters. In a final attempt to save the captives, Abulurd deactivates the weapons for the entire fleet, making the Corrin attack more difficult and dangerous and eventually causing much higher casualties. Unknown to either, the robot Erasmus disabled the human shield programming, saving the humans in orbit. Following the victory, Abulurd is discharged and branded a coward by Vorian, though not branded a traitor like his grandfather Xavier, and banished from the League. After Abulurd is sentenced to exile on Lankeveil, his children hear stories about how their nobility had been stolen from them. When Abulurd dies of a fever, his sons claim it was Vorian Atreides who had brought the fever to destroy the Harkonnens. When House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
returns to the empire, their wild accusations at House Atreides
House Atreides
House Atreides is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line...
are accepted as truth. Thus begins the feud between House Atreides
House Atreides
House Atreides is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line...
and House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
.
The Bene Gesserit
The Sorceresses of Rossak take their final steps toward becoming the Bene GesseritBene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
sisterhood when a resurgence of the machine plague occurs after the Great Purge. Raquella Berto-Anirul (granddaughter of Vorian Atreides) and Mohandas Suk, two doctors, arrive to assist with the new outbreak. After being infected herself, Raquella makes a miraculous recovery due to substances found on the planet. Paranoid and feeling that the doctor might somehow usurp her power, the leader of the Sorceresses, Ticia Cenva, poisons Raquella with the Rossak Drug. Rather than killing her, the ordeal awakens Other Memory within Raquella. She manages to internally convert the poison into a harmless substance, thus being the first to undergo what would later become the Spice Agony. Ticia kills herself, and it is implied that Raquella becomes the first Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother. After the Butlerian Jihad, Raquella assumes authority over the Sorceresses of Rossak and their breeding programs and founds the Bene Gesserit school of thought.
The Suk School
After the situation on Rossak is resolved, Mohandas Suk sets out on his mission to “form a medical school like none the League has ever seen.” This, of course, is later known as the Suk School.The Guild
Determined to find a solution to the space-folding problem, Norma CenvaNorma Cenva
Norma Cenva is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Mentioned briefly in Herbert's God Emperor of Dune , she plays a large role in the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
experiments on herself by sealing herself inside a tank filled with gaseous melange. After mutating horribly, she finds out that she is capable of guiding a ship through foldspace. At the end of the book you see Norma and her son administering the training for the next generation of Navigators. VenKee Enterprises continues to hold their monopoly over Space Folding and continues to strengthen their company, later transforming into the Guild of Navigators.
The Mentats
Erasmus continues his experiment with his ward Gilbertus Albans, whom he names his MentatMentat
A Mentat is a profession or discipline in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Mentats are humans trained to mimic computers: human minds developed to staggering heights of cognitive and analytical ability.- Overview :...
. After seventy years it becomes clear that the independent robot loves his “son” even though he has no problem brutalizing other humans. When Gilbertus sneaks onto one of the cargo haulers of the Bridge of Hrethgir containing a Serena Butler clone that he is infatuated with, Erasmus disables the explosive trip mechanism in order to save him. In doing so, Erasmus dooms the entire machine empire. Realizing that hrethgir will rule the universe, he suggests to Gilbertus that he teach the other humans to “think efficiently.” Erasmus apparently survives the battle when Gilbertus smuggles away his memory core.
The Fremen
During the rush for spice to aid with the retrovirus epidemic, many prospectors come to ArrakisArrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
. The novel follows the struggle between Ishmael, who wishes to follow strict Zensunni
Zensunni
The Religions of Dune are a key aspect of the fictional setting of the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Many of the names of religions mentioned in the novels indicate they are blends of current belief systems, some syncretic....
tradition, and his stepson El’hiim, who wants to profit from the off-worlders. Unable to sway El’hiim, Ishmael challenges him to a sandworm
Sandworm (Dune)
The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series.In the series, the sandworms called Shai-Hulud...
duel and loses. Though defeated, many of the Zensunnis choose to leave the community and follow Ishmael as Free Men of Arrakis.